Ball, Hanger, and Ruler

A simple creativity exercise using simple objects

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The first creativity exercise I can remember comes from a high school psychology class. Our teacher gave this assignment: "Write down as many ways as possible to use a hollow rubber ball, a ruler, and a hanger other than for their intended use. They can be used alone or in combination with the other objects." I think I came up with almost 50 ways.  

This exercise is good for helping you look at the ordinary in extraordinary ways. Sometimes a crafts article idea will spring from using an ordinary object in an unconventional way. Your character may be faced with a seemingly impossible situation and, with MacGyver-like genius, make use of some simple object to get out of trouble. Even devotions can be found in the ordinary objects of daily life if you look at the object, not for what it can do, but for what it can teach.