The Curious Autodidact

New uses for your paper money?

What you don’t think of yourself as artist? Take time this winter to take on some creative and fun project to use another part of your brain.

Here’s a simple one to start with that will make everyone think you are a crafty clever person. Taking time to gift wrap a gift is part of the present and here’s a way to recycle and make your present stand out from the rest, make a bow using materials that at already close at hand.

Who needs a Dollar Store when you can do some origami projects using a dollar bill? Here are some crafty ways to make a cheap gift that you can say you made yourself, certainly this is one thing that is not plastic and is not made in China! If this inspires you and you are curious what else you can do on the cheap take a look at these sculptures from Stacey Lee Webber made from coins. You may never pass a penny on the sidewalk again. Here are some more intricate uses of our legal tender to get you thinking in new directions.

If you want to be very “old school” and stand out from the crowd nothing is more endangered than decent hand writing. Take an hour to improve your handwriting and you’ll never regret this rarely shown art if you want to get noticed for an unusual talent in today’s computer world.

Teaching an old dog new tricks is what keeps us young and our brains more elastic. Perhaps you thought that you learned how to tie your shoes so long ago there is nothing new about it but here is an alternative way to tie your shoelaces that will likely never come untied when you are walking.

New use for old Scrabble tiles DIY hack

Check out Richard R. Nagy’s Scrabble computer key board and think of the clever things you could do with the materials at hand in our home.

These are all clever little things you can do in less than an hour that will open up new worlds to you and allow you to think about the world around you in a different hue. Go for it!