While the winter months are often comparatively mild in Colorado, it's still too chilly to be outside for long on many days.

Seniors often look for things to do in the winter months, and one of the best things to help make days a little more enjoyable is crafting. Crafting gives you an opportunity to make cute items, useful products and projects that you can be proud of.

If you're interested in finding some new crafts to do when the outdoors gets blustery, try one of these five excellent options.

Supporting Winter Birds With Homemade Birdseed Feeders

If you enjoy bird watching in the winter, one fun craft is a do-it-yourself bird feeder. There are several variations of this project, but here are the basic items you'll need and what you have to do to create a simple feeder.

To make a birdseed wreath, you'll need:

• Commercial bird feed, such as a seed mix
• Six envelopes of unflavored gelatin
• A Bundt pan
• A large ribbon, approximately 2 to 3 feet in length
• 3 cups of warm water
• Cooking spray

To assemble the wreath:

• Spray the Bundt pan with cooking spray to get started.
• Mix up the gelatin with warm water. Add the seeds as you stir the mixture together.
• Pour the gelatin mixture into the Bundt pan and push down, making sure it is pushed tightly into the pan.
• Place everything in the refrigerator. In 2 to 3 hours, it will be set.
• Turn the Bundt pan upside down and tap it. The wreath will come out.
• Finally, tie the ribbon through the middle of the wreath and hang it outside.

Creating No-Sew Holiday Characters

You can easily make penguins, snowmen and other holiday characters without needing to stitch them together, so this craft doesn't require sewing needs or a machine.

To make a no-sew penguin, you'll need:

• A black sock
• A sock in the color you like for a hat
• Rice
• A glue gun or tacky glue
• Felt in white and orange
• Ribbons
• Rubber bands
• Markers or paint
• Scissors

To get started on the penguin, follow the steps below:

• Begin by filling up the sock with rice. A few cups — 2 to 3 — of rice should be plenty.
• Tie a rubber band around the sock's opening to seal the rice inside.
• Place a rubber band where you want the penguin's neck to be while shaping the body with your hands.
• Using scissors, cut off the excess sock portion. To make the penguin extra secure, use the glue gun or tacky glue inside the pinched rubber band.
• Cut an "8" shape out of felt. This will be the penguin's white face and belly. Glue this onto the black sock with the smallest part of the "8" covering the neck's rubber band.
• Cut out a small felt beak in orange and place it where you like it on the face.
• Finally, decorate the penguin with the remaining items. You can cut the toe of the other sock and roll it to make a beanie hat for the penguin at the end.

Making a Classic Christmas Ornament

As a third crafting idea, consider making an alcohol ink ornament.

You will need:

• A bottle of compressed air
• Alcohol ink
• Clear glass ornaments

This craft is fairly quick, but make sure you're working in a space that you can cover to protect table tops or other furniture from the ink.

• Shake the alcohol ink.
• Squeeze a small amount of alcohol ink into the ornament.
• Holding the ornament away from yourself, spray the compressed air into the ornament. Hold on tight to prevent the ornament from flying away. Use quick, short blasts.
• The air will dry the ink as it is sprayed. Add new colors as you go, and you'll create a unique, custom glass ornament.

The nice thing about this project is that the ornaments dry almost instantly, so they're ready to be hung on the Christmas tree at home or in the community. This is a fun project to do with grandkids as even younger children can choose ink colors and squeeze them into the ornaments. Better handle the compressed air yourself unless you're working with older kids, though.

Understanding the Benefits of Crafting

Crafting is a good way to pass the time during winter months, and it's also a great way to make gifts for others and express your own creativity.

It's also been shown that crafting helps keep the brain stimulated, so cognitive function may be enhanced with regular crafting activities. Additionally, crafting is a fun, social activity that you, your loved ones and friends can do together.

Learn More About Enriching Activities at Park Regency Assisted Living in Thornton, CO

Crafting can be an important part of senior living. It helps encourage seniors to be social, and it may be a great way to improve cognitive function.

At Park Regency assisted living community in Thornton, there's always something to do. Regular activities, including crafting activities like these, are available to seniors in assisted living, memory care and other parts of the community.

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