Michaels Just Revealed the 8 Biggest Crafting Trends of 2026—Here’s What Everyone Is Making

If it seems like everyone you know is talking about analog hobbies and "touching grass," it’s not just you—many are craving a connection to life beyond doomscrolling on our phones. And new data from Michaels shows how that impulse is also manifesting in the crafts people are collectively taking on these days.

The retailer just released its annual Creativity Trend Report for 2026, and the company says we’re all deep in our offline era right now, seeking out “tactile, analog activities to reclaim time and identity in an automated world.”

The company’s report identifies eight specific ways that going analog is showing up in its sales and search data, as well as in consumer surveys and insights from its in-house trend and design experts. These ways, the company says, will define crafting trends for 2026:

1. Main Character Maintenance

According to the report, more of us are turning to curating our “personal lore” in tangible form rather than on an Instagram grid. This is evident in 63% year-over-year growth in junk-journaling searches and a 61% surge in vision-board searches. 

2. Touching Grass Crafts

Offline hobbies are serving as “grounding daily rituals” in a chaotic world, per the report. Searches for hobbies that can be taken outside to a park or on a train ride—like knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and painting—are up 136% over the past six months alone, while the company’s yarn accessory sales have grown 40% year-over-year.

3. Crafting Chemistry

Gatherings centered on a crafting project are growing in popularity, with “craft night” searches up 103% year-over-year and “girls' night craft” searches specifically up 242%. Paint party kits and guided craft kits are also seeing significant growth as many people are craving deeper connection—and less small talk—with the people in their lives.

4. Gilded Gifting

More consumers are also looking to share their love for analog hobbies by gifting their DIY output to friends and family, with searches for mini loaf pans up over 900% year-over-year and charms for jewelry making up over 400%. This trend is also popular as a money-saver, too.

5. Skill Stacking

Many people are investing their time and money in learning to sew, needlepoint, or knit—to save money in some cases, but also to better understand how things are made and to build personal confidence. Needlepoint point searches are up 251% year over year.

6. Wabi-Sabi Spaces

Wabi-sabi is a growing trend in the decor space, as more and more people are less interested in homes that look like perfectly manicured showrooms. DIY home decor searches are up 79% as many people embrace visible brushstrokes or uneven stitching that show a human created the piece.

7. Confetti Culture

Party decoration searches are up 125% year-over-year as we’re all looking for more excuses to get together, according to the report. Folks are looking to celebrate many occasions, no matter how “small” the milestone, like launching a side hustle or leaving a draining job.

8. KitschCraft & Charms

Gen Z and Gen Alpha are driving growth in playful accessories and resin trinkets to decorate everything from our phones to our footwear—and this trend might just extend to other generations too. It’s all about maximalism, individuality, and not taking life too seriously.