When you are feeling the urge to be creative and you don’t want to spend all day on a project, try reclaiming something previously made. Pull out the gingerbread cookie dough that you didn’t quite finish baking because you were interrupted by the other goings-on of the holidays. Instead of gingerbread men, make gingerbread teddy bears. Caution: Don’t eat them all, even though they are warm and yummy. This is a good activity to share, as two or more cooks may prevent over-consumption.

Another idea is to take the hand-knit, felted scarf that was too short and turn it into a cover for your daughter’s new digital reader. Line it with the polyester fleece that was left over from the robe you made her 15 years ago because you like to save fabric remnants for a really long time. If you are lucky, the fleece will match the yarn. If not, who cares, the lining won’t show anyway. Fasten the cover with stick-on loop and hook fasteners.

If you are still bored after all this, you are really a hard case. Start  knitting a new scarf with the leftover yarn from all the other scarves you have been making. While you knit, you can watch TV or engage in a lively debate about scary political figures, and eat the rest of those ginger bears!