Windows may be furnished with curtains. If curtains are passable, personalize them with trim added with safety pins or removable Velcro®. Scarves or fabric can create temporary swags and accents. If there are no curtains, make a rod from anything right length…a bamboo pole, baseball bat or lacrosse stick, or PVC pipe. Dress with ribbons in various lengths, ropes of artificial ivy, old neckties, sheets buttoned on to rod. Or purchase curtains or blinds, purchased to fit window width and length.

Walls, windows and floors complete, beds are largest objects in room. If cost of a new comforter is prohibitive, sheets make a bed in a bag with just straight seams sewn or glued, to refresh an old comforter. Whether buying new or creating new, consider a reversible comforter for two different looks and quick camouflage for spills. Many schools use extra-long twin beds, be certain that sheet sets will accommodate extra length.

Storage is biggest hurdle in most dorm rooms. In addition to purchased closet organizer systems, do-it-yourself storage can make sense. Heavy duty cardboard boxes with lids (copier paper boxes or shipping boxes) can be covered with fabric or paper to make storage for sweaters or old class notes. Hat boxes from thrift shops are great even unadorned. Plastic hooks are readily available, but only limit is imagination for alternate hooks and hangers. Old drawer pulls, catcher’s masks, even bent silverware makes unique holders.

Lighting is key for studies. Lamp kits can turn any heavy base into a functional lighting source. Keep with theme of room and create an accent lamp from a childhood toy, garden statue or sports souvenir. A store bought lamp is transformed with a shade embellished with ticket stubs or photos. Holiday mini-lights can be festooned across a ceiling for accent lighting.

Accessories for room are endless. Keep a list in mind of what is needed first, then add accents as budget allows. The best and least expensive place to shop is at home. An existing lamp or bean bag chair may be just right for dorm. Summer garage sales and thrift shops can uncover unique finds for lamps, storage and electronics. Internet shopping gives a fast and thorough overview of available items.

Without spending big bucks of average college student, a dorm room can be a place of refuge after a hectic day of classes that really feels like home.

The physical benefits of scrapbooking became evident to me while working with a young brain injured individual in Rehab. This person used cropping tools to increase her fine motor skills, as well as photos to help with memory recall of loved ones and others from her life. Cutting with scissors or a paper trimmer and handwriting journaling helps build good fine motor skills as does using shapes and stencils. Visual/perceptual skills are also utilized with activity.

Following directions of therapist or using an idea book help with organizing thoughts and following verbal and written instruction. The organization skills needed to complete a scrapbook page can assist a head injured individual with skills needed in many aspects of their life, from Activities of Daily Living to work skills for returning to employment. The step by step tasks of building a scrapbook page allow individual to process information and put steps together to form a completed task. Then putting all pages together to form a completed scrapbook reinforces idea of task completion and overall understanding of getting an end product from their labor of love.

Overall craft of scrapbooking can be therapeutic to all of us in some way. The companies that create scrapbooking supplies and tools are often coming out with easier and less complex ways to create scrapbooks. Someone with limited hand motion or cognitive skills can learn to master this wonderful craft with minimal guidance. I highly recommend scrapbooking as a therapeutic tool for anyone and hope that if you know someone who would reap its benefits, you will pass your love of this art form on to them.

Kathy Johnson, COTA Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant and Crop Camp Coordinator