For Christmas, Ryan bought me a crafts subscription that has changed my life. At first, when I opened the little cardboard box and saw it was filled with threads and beads, I thought it looked cute – but man, did I underestimate it. And now that I’ve cracked the box open properly, I’m addicted.

He signed me up to For The Makers; each month, they send you a box of materials for four projects that you can make at home. It saves you traipsing around the city looking for various fabrics or decorations that you’ll use once for a single project and then never use again.

For my first month I received four projects: a necklace, stud earrings, candle holders and sequined letters. I started with one of the simplest: candle holders.

To help you create your goodies, the website has tutorials. I grabbed the glass cups, glitter, glue and tea lights from my box and got to work.

This was incredibly simple but still very therapeutic – and I think they’d be great for gifts if I got inventive with the glass cups, the colors and designs. And I was glad to see that some of the other items – the necklace and the letters – were a little harder to make.

I hadn’t been convinced that I was going to like the necklace, but I love it. It can be worn with smart or casual clothes – and if anyone asks me about it, I can say I made it. Plus, manipulating the metal and threading the chains together definitely gave me some new skills.

I have the bug – and I’m now counting down the minutes until my next month’s box arrives. I’ll be blogging about my new skills!

If you’re looking for some crafts to make for yourself or for gifts, check out the For The Makers website or see some of their designs on Instagram.