Going away to school can really make you miss home. Whether you’re a freshman brand new to the dorm experience, or a seasoned upper classman, leaving your family, friends, bedroom, pets, and the comforts of home behind, can cause some unwanted stress and sadness. Even just leaving behind Long Island can be difficult.
With back-to-school creeping up again so quickly, dorming college students need to start getting ready and packing to go back to university. On your ‘things to bring with you check list’ will definitely be your favorite pillow, beloved stuffed animals, and memorable photos of you and your friends to look back on when you get homesick. But what if you become homesick for your home town of Long Island? What do you bring then?
Well, before it gets too close to your move in date, why not create some DIY crafts with some Long Island flair! Then anytime you start to feel homesick you can look at these crafts and remember that Long Island isn’t quite as far away as it seems, you have a little bit of Long Island right there with you.
Here are a few ways to bring a little bit of Long Island back to school with you.
Seashell Mobile: What is one of the first things that come to mind when you think of Long Island? The beach of course! Living on Long Island we are surrounded by water and spoiled by the beautiful beaches lining our coast.
On your final beach day before back-to-school find a piece of drift wood and various sea shells. Purchase some string/twine so you can hang the seashells you found on the piece of drift wood. It is easier to outright pick seashells that already have holes in them, or else you’ll have to drill in small holes to hang them from. Don’t forget to add a loop on top so you can hang your mobile up as soon as you unpack it.
Bottled Sand: Take a trip to your favorite beaches on the Island before you make the journey to campus. At each beach take a small amount of sand with you - you don’t want to take too much sand from the beach, so when you’re picking out a glass bottle for your sand go with one that is no taller than about 5 inches with a cork top.
After you’ve filled up your bottle set it aside with the other things you plan on bringing to school. Once you get to your dorm you can set your piece of Long Island by your lap top, on your dresser, or even in one of your drawers, that way when you stumble upon it, it will bring a smile to your face.
String Island: This string wall art is a great addition to your dorm room décor and a nice reminder of the place that has your heart. To start, purchase a small cork board or art canvas from your local craft store. You’ll also need embroidery floss in whatever colors you’d like and pins to stick in the board or canvas. Print up a map of Long Island, make sure it has the shape of the Island and is big enough so that you can trace the outline with the pins you just purchased.
Stick your pins in all around the outside of Long Island and then remove the printed out paper. Your cork board/canvas should have an outline of Long Island. Now using the pins create a heart in the middle. Now for the fun part! Use the embroidery floss to go around the pins from the outside outline in to the heart and back again until color has filled in the middle of Long Island.
Have a wonderful school year and remember, Long Island will be right there waiting for you when you get back.