You can swear up and down all day that you’re an accountant, not an artist—but everyone has at least one creative bone in their body. There’s more good news, too: it’s never been easier to dust off your passion for making, growing or baking things. We’ve rounded up our top picks for the high-tech tools, apps and devices—ranging from beginner-friendly to more advanced—that we’re sure will leave you inspired and excited to hone your creative skills or embrace a new hobby.
FOR VISUAL ARTISTS
Canva
Although the name of this app might make you think of paintings on gallery walls, it’s actually an incredibly versatile design tool and easy to use. Canva allows you to customize everything from social post graphics to videos, flyers, party invitations, logos and more. With thousands of templates across colors, themes and uses, there’s no limit to what you can imagine, design and print—fast.
Download from the app store or visit Canva.com.
Procreate
Chances are good that if you own a tablet, it’s an iPad. And there’s an unassuming app—at a one-time price of less than ten dollars—that is blowing creatives away across the globe. Procreate has essentially replaced Adobe Photoshop for many professional designers, but we love it for novice artists, too. With very intuitive tools and a broad range of features, you’ll find everything you need to create digital paintings, drawings, animations and more.
Download from the app store or visit Procreate.art/ipad.
FOR NATURE LOVERS
Wanfei Plant Monitor
Gardens – light and colorful like a living painting – are a great way to express your creativity. We love these soil monitors from Wanfei, which keep a metaphorical eye on the health of your plants—letting you worry less about the little things, and focus more on what you love. These sensors dig into the soil of your indoor or outdoor plants and send data like temperature, light levels, humidity and soil nutrient levels to your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Visit the Wanfei Store on Amazon.com.
FOR CREATIVE FOODIES
Anova Precision® Cooker
If good food is your recipe for a good life, you’ll love digging into sous vide cooking—and this top-rated precision cooker from Anova makes it easy. With intuitive settings and features that produce Michelin-starred dishes with very little hands-on effort, this sous vide immersion cooker will leave you hungry for new recipes to try and any excuse to throw a creative dinner party.
Explore models and more at anovaculinary.com.
FOR HANDS-ON CRAFTERS
MagicNeedle and StitchSketch
It only takes a quick Etsy search to see that cross-stitching isn’t just for grandmothers anymore. Quirky, sassy and irreverent designs are everywhere—but so are pet portraits and sweet reminders. You don’t have to be deft with a needle to enjoy this relaxing hobby, and these two highly rated apps have simplified the process of putting your own unique spin on a design, turning photos into instant patterns.
Download both MagicNeedle and StitchSketch from the app store.
FOR UP-AND-COMING DIRECTORS
iMovie and RØDE VideoMic ME-L
Calling all film buffs: you could be shooting and editing your own video content, home movies and short films. That might sound hard to believe, but in reality, it’s a lot easier than you think thanks to intuitive apps like iMovie and portable, powerful tools like the RØDE VideoMic. iMovie has a suite of built-in features, themes and color correction, and the VideoMic equips your smartphone to record professional-quality sound.
Download iMovie from the app store and find the RØDE VideoMic ME-L at BestBuy.com.
