DIY’s comeback has reconnected me with my younger self

by ANN KARR

Staff Writer

2026 is the new 2016. Or at least that’s what social media’s been telling us. From music and filters to unicorn frappuccinos, it seems as though trends from 2016 just keep coming back. For me though, this “new 2016” trend has mainly been about the year of DIYs’ comeback. Along with all these trends, I’m seeing more and more people just creating–bringing new life to a 10-year-old trend.

All of a sudden, I feel like I’m 11 years old again with my DIY YouTube channel, making anything and everything I could think of. Looking back, it’s all I ever watched and made on YouTube. And lately, seeing active 2016 YouTubers such as LaurDIY or Aisha Marie preach about “creating something new that’s totally you” has started to hit home more and more.

Although when you look closely at the comeback, it’s not totally the same as it was before. I’m not being bombarded with a bunch of five-minute craft videos or useless DIY hacks I’m never going to use. Instead, the things I’m seeing are just people celebrating things they’ve created and wanting those who are similar to themselves to be able to feel that same joy. This “resurgence” is almost a way for our generation to fully get back to our creative roots and create something useful that shows off our personality. 

“I think growing up with the times, as someone who is 21 now,  I feel like I’m much more interested in making stuff on my own,” said Quinn Davenhall, a senior marketing major.

Davenhall went on to talk about how, for him, DIYs have turned more into creating real-life objects and things he can truly use on a day-to-day basis. It’s a huge shift from the types of DIY videos from the past, mostly focusing on arts-and-crafts-style works, Davenhall said. 

“I remember slimes being pretty big. I would make picture frames out of popsicle sticks for my parents for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day,” he said.

Rather than thinking of this as a resurgence, or a trend coming back from the dead, Madeline Timmons, a junior philosophy and law major, argues that DIY never went away.

“I almost feel like DIY kind of never fully disappeared. I just think things kinda shift to the trends and then kind of come out of them again,” she said.

Timmons described her growth since 2016 when she was watching YouTube tutorials for DIY fidget spinners. As this year has continued, those DIY’s have changed into heartfelt gifts and home decor. 

“I think people, especially like in these recent years of kind of you know begin to kind of reminisce over the simplicity of the years of the later 2010s”, Timmons said, “I think there’s a lot of nostalgia associated with those times”

“I think they are making a comeback because of people wanting to save money but they have evolved so much and there’s so many new and more challenging things to make and do,” said Megan Fallin, a senior business administration major.

“I made a cross stitch orange pattern, a bikini box, I do my own nails, I made a flower bouquet and made my own sweatshirt designs.” Fallin said, “I saw it online but knew it would be cheaper to make myself.”

For me, this year has been a year of rediscovery. I started doing my own Gel nails many years ago; however, I was never proud of what I made. That is, until this year. Something just stuck. It felt very serendipitous, especially doing it now on the 10th anniversary of the DIY craze. I started being proud of the nails I did. It’s almost like I started seeing more people embrace the things they’ve created and it made me start to feel the same.

It didn’t just stop at nails. I started creating collages and graphics that I printed out and displayed. I would scroll on social media and see new DIY trends that I just had to try, even something simple like pasting pictures onto fabric and framing them to add some whimsy to my room. It just took over somehow. Like the years were going backward and I was little me again, in my room, just wanting to be creative and make something that felt like mine. 

Except now I’m not binging DIY videos all day long on YouTube, desperately trying to find one I want to make; instead, I’m scrolling on TikTok, Reels, or Pinterest and suddenly getting videos that actually make me think, “wow, I want to make that.”

From what I can tell, besides the nostalgia, there are two main reasons why DIYs are coming back all of a sudden. The first is money. More and more people are choosing to create something instead of buying it, because the thing they want is just too expensive. 

“I think people are realizing making their own versions of things is so much cheaper and saves them money,” Fallin said. 

The second and my main reason is the way you’re able to create something that has been fully made by you and the pride that comes with that. 

“They can be just a fun little craft you wanted to do on a random day, or maybe you’re trying to create a new piece of decoration and you know want something long lasting in your home,” said Timmons. “They can be whatever you want them to be.” 

Is 2026 really the new 2016? For me, I think it is. Being able to embrace the things I’m making while finding a way to make old things new has been what this year’s all about for me. 

For years, I tried to push my love for DIY aside. I stopped watching the videos I used to love and deleted my old DIY YouTube channel, almost as if I was trying to forget that part of myself. But I think little me is still there, just trying to get out. Maybe that’s what this “trend” has really given me, just a way to let her out again. With every new thing I make, I feel like I’m finally allowing myself to enjoy something I spent so long trying to move away from.