5 Ways People Around The World Are Making Strangers Smile During Isolation – And How You Can Do Too

During the coronavirus mandatory isolation requirements, levels of depression, anxiety, stress, unusual sleep patterns, and even high blood pressure have all been found to increase among everyday citizens.

Keeping yourself busy seems to be the easiest way to get rid of stress and unhappy thoughts. So why not try your best to make someone else happy – while still obeying social distancing laws?

These uncertain times are taking a toll on everyone, especially health care and law enforcement workers. Not only can the following ideas help strangers in social isolation, it can also relieve a bit of the stress on health care workers by putting a smile on their face – without leaving your property, coming within 1.5m of anyone, or costing you anything.

Ordinary citizens are taking initiatives and so the trend of spreading positive energy during these trying times is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. So let’s all add to it, to do our part in making the world a better place.

Chalk Art

Whip out some chalk and write a positive message on your driveway or the sidewalk so that strangers can see it, like this artist from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, reported on the ABC news Australia.

You can make your own sidewalk chalk too using this simple recipe.

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2. Painted rocks

Find some rocks in your garden and paint designs or short messages on them and leave them around the neighbourhood, like these kids in Santa Clarita, California, United States, reported in the LA Times.

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3. Door Frame Decoration

Cut out paper letters to make a positive message to stick on your door, like this family in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, reported in the CTV news.

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4. Window Messages

Write or draw something positive on a large sheet of paper and stick in your window, like these kids in Brooklyn, New York, United States, reported on the ABC News.

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5. Lawn Posters

Grab some poster board and craft up a note of appreciation to health care workers to put in your lawn, like this family in Nolensville, Tennessee, United States, reported in the ABC news.

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Do you have a way to show some positivity around the neighbourhood that wasn’t in this article? Share it with us in the comments!

Check out this tutorial for making fluffy sidewalk chalk paint

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand.

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up.

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up.

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like.

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.

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