To ask about ways you remember your parents being creative

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(And other adults in your family, such as aunts/uncles/grandparents.)
Both my parents were good at making up stories, in different ways. When we were little, my mum used to write stories about us, often based on places we had been to; she drew pictures in them as well. She was also keen on diary writing, and tried to encourage us to do the same, but none of us did it as much as she did.

My dad didn't draw so much, but he enjoyed making up bedtime stories.

Were there creative things your parents did?

This is a lovely thread. My mum and dad both had a massive appreciation for all types of music, theatre, plays, ballet, opera. The house was always filled with music. Mum also taught me sewing, cooking, baking, reading and singing for pleasure and gardening. My dad was great at DIY and costume making. He made models and was excellent at drawing and painting. My mum taught me that you don't have to be excellent at crafts to be enthusiastic about giving things a go. My nan and grandad made up bedtime stories, my gran encouraging reading and singing.

My mum would make things we couldn't afford to buy, such as a dolls' house out of cardboard (I pined all my childhood for a Victorian/Edwardian style wooden dolls' house). My dad made us a very rough and ready 'go kart' and a 'tree house' consisting of a plank of wood we could sit on and a rope ladder.

My mum and both my grandmas were good at making up stories; in particular we prevailed on my paternal grandma to tell stories for hours when she visited. They didn't live nearby so she would send me a story every week when she wrote to my dad; and I would send her a letter and my own story, usually liberally illustrated, back with his weekly letter - in those days phone calls outside the local area were for special occasions only. After my grandparents died my dad found all the letters in a box, so I have them now.

My paternal grandma had been a seamstress before marriage so she was great at sewing and made lots of dolls' clothes for us, and I learned to sew by making them alongside her. My maternal grandma was a great knitter and crocheter but sadly she died when I was still quite young.

My mother was a writer, poet and children’s author in her mother tongue.

My mum knitted, was good at dress making - made me work clothes in my late teens. Also made crackers at Christmas and collaborated with my dad to use his carpentry skills and made me dolls toys.

dad made tables, a bed coffee tables, book ends, wine goblets, which I still have some.

My mum was good at making up games.

My dad wasn't creative but he used to take us out for walks and teach us what the different trees and plants were. The most memorable one being when he found sloes and told us they taste best when you eat a handful at a time to really get the flavour 🤣

My parents had the 4 of us from the ages of 18-25 so most of their creativity probably went on the budget bless them. We had no idea they were constantly broke.

Both my parents were very artistic, and as we had no money were quite resourceful too. They both used to paint things for us- cards, messages from the tooth fairy etc and my Mum made clothes for me and my dolls, in fact she made some of the dolls! Dad built dolls furniture for me, and in both houses( they split when I was quite young) we'd make Christmas decorations, and decorate with found / scavenged greenery, or spray it gold. We used to make Christmas cards annually together- great fun!
I used to embroider with my Grandma, or dance ( she had been a ballet dancer in her youth), or she'd play the piano, in fact both grandmothers were talented pianists.
So yes, there was a lot of creativity in my childhood.

My mother designed and made her and my and my sister's clothes.

Both could play the piano by ear.

Both were wonderful storytellers.

My Mum was an HE teacher, she sewed lots of our clothes when I was little and was excellent at all crafty activities, and was a fab cook. She loved flower arranging and AmDram. She also was good at interior design (although she'd poo poo that idea) and our house was beautiful and felt really homely.

Dad loved gardening and we had a large and beautiful garden. He also was a good photographer. He was good at woodwork but didn't really do a lot of it but I still have a dolls house he made for me.

My great aunt was an incredible knitter, and knitted us all jumpers regularly. He was plagued with arthritis as she got older sadly so lost that pleasure. I have a beautiful baby shawl she knitted that is incredibly fine and also a beautiful crocheted cot blanket, it's just granny squares but the choice of colours is amazing, it's so cheerful. Never seen another like it.

My great grand aunt was an accomplished painter, when I was a child she would paint with us. She was in her 90s by this point but always loved children (she never married) and was lots of fun.

So interesting you put this up as I had been considering this recently.
My dad made things, out of scraps because we didn't have alot of money but things that were useful around the house, like a version of a loft bed for me. Both parents did DIY and encouraged us to join in with painting and decorating (within reason). My great aunt, she was like a nan, knitted and sewed. My parents were fantastic at supporting us with getting us things like arty stuff, or allowing us to keep the worlds most giant cardboard boxes that we had decorated and lived in. Stories were constant, walks in the woods and going on adventures, so much building with lego, lots of time outside. And then also, we had to go to 'adult places' and would have to sit and not be loud and run around. We were taught to make up games, be inventive with what we had around us. We are both definitely resourceful and creative with ideas now.
We were peft to entertain ourselves. Boredom definitely supported the creativity!
Weirdly I am the only 'arty' one in my family, mum is a definite no way, brother is creative in others way, my dad wouldn't have described himself as creative but looking back he definitely was.
Hopefully I can pass on that creative mindset to my kids.
I'm now an Art teacher, I had never been to an art gallery before turning 16, we didn't have the money to do things like that.

Meant to add dad was a talented photographer who left us a wonderful record of our childhood.

My father and his brother were professional musicians and singers.

My mother died when I was young so I don't know if she was creative, however, I was told she was good at writing stories as a child.

My grandmothers sewed their own clothes and furnishings, could crochet and were fantastic cooks. My maternal grandfather grew all sorts of food and had a wild garden for bees. But they wouldn't have thought themselves creative because everyone their age did the same.

In my large wider family, there are two commercial artists, several musicians, a screenwriter, an actor, several photographers, a woodworker, two chefs, one caterer and plenty of gardeners and crafters.

Neither of my parents, nor my stepdad, were/are creative at all. My dad likes to play guitar but doesn't make up his own music; my mum doesn't do, and hasn't ever done, anything arty or fancy. They never stopped or discouraged us from drawing or painting or whatever, but didn't encourage it either.

I wouldn't particularly call my mum creative. She did a few cross-stitch kits over the years, but that's about it. She's quite "handy" though. She knitted a few soft toys over the years, she can make her own curtains and cushions, she's a dab hand at painting and wallpapering walls.

My dad was more creative I'd say, especially in his later years. He dabbled in writing stories in his last few years, and even tried poetry a bit.

Dm makes amazing birthday cakes especially for kids. Great cook. And can knit and do crossstich. Made clothes / dresses

Df- not as creative can decorate a room

Nothing

Me and my sister are the arty ones

I was taught to knit, crochet and sew from an early age. A love of fashion was also fostered. My dad tried to teach me photography but I couldn't (and still can't!) get my head around ISO settings, depth of field, exposure times etc 😊

My grandmother baked with us all the time, we did a lot of felting and made hats, she made tapestries, always doing some sort of art with different textiles, taught us the keyboard, read poetry, sang, let us put on plays for her. It was wonderful looking back.

I was brought up surrounded by music and musicians. Mum was a wonderful singer and player and continued to perform until her late 70s. We're all musical.

My mum is really artistic and creative. She wanted to go to art school after she’d finished her O levels, but my grandparents insisted she went to secretarial college to do shorthand typing instead.

She’s a wonderful dressmaker and makes lots of her own clothes as well as dresses for my DD.

In the early 90s my brother was obsessed with Thomas The Tank Engine and he had all the metal toy engines. You couldn’t buy a track for those particular toys, so my mum got a big piece of hardboard and covered it in Papier-mâché making little hills and tunnels. When it dried she painted a train track layout on it and covered the rest of it in that fake grass flocking stuff. My brother played with it for hours and hours.

Sprayed perfume in her mouth because she didn’t want my grandparents to know she’s been out drinking?

LOL no 😅

Early 1990s:
Mum: Amdram/opera, sewing a lot etc
Dad: guitar, in 3 bands
2 artist aunts
Think that’s about it! I have a VERY creative life myself.

What a lovely question to ask (and I'm wondering, reading many replies that I'm guessing may be from older mumsnetters, whether today's young people, mesmerized by their screens, get the same taste of DIY creativity). My parents both had some talent in art, actively encouraged me and my sister to draw and paint, bought us modest art supplies. Took us to art galleries when possible. Both of us ended up taking an Art A level as a fourth A level and one of my greatest pleasures, when I see my sister at irregular intervals (we live thousands of miles apart), is to go to an exhibition or a gallery with her.

There was a really special storytelling game my family used to play, which took some preparation, and was done as a treat for Christmas, a birthday, or a rainy day in summer. It would be about pretending to take us to a special place, such as a desert island, and we really had to use our imaginations for the story, because we were blindfolded. (This was after we had looked at pictures of desert islands, to make sure we knew what they looked like.) While our eyes were covered, and the magic had been performed of taking us there (spinning us round), we would hear the place being described, and be given things to feel that related to it, such as sand and shells. We might even hear sound effects, or feel the spray of the sea on us. At times, it felt incredibly real! We would then take turns to tell a bit of what happened next, which would begin ironically with being asked "what can you see?". We all loved this game, and as we got older, we children were encouraged to do it for each other. It filled many a day in school holidays!

This is a lovely idea. My Grandpa painted landscapes as a hobby. He had a studio in a lean to next to their dining room which smelled of paint and turps. My parents' home had a lot of his works on the wall. My Mum also painted and drew, right up to the end of her life, and we've each got one of her best works. She was also a great cook, had a flair for home decoration and sewed things like curtains. Dad was a musician, so obviously creative in that sense. He made home brewed beer and experimented with different homemade wines (elderberry, parsnip...).