National DIY Day Date in the current year: April 2, 2025

DIY is an acronym for the phrase “do it yourself”, which refers to building, customizing, or repairing things yourself without direct professional help. Modern DIY began to take shape in the early 20th century with the appearance of magazines such as Popular Mechanics and Mechanix Illustrated, which offered advice on repairs and home improvements. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the term “do it yourself” entered common usage in the English language.

Originally associated primarily with home repairs, the term DIY is now used in a wide variety of contexts. It can be applied to physical things one makes with one’s own hands (clothing, jewelry, cosmetics and personal care products, handmade crafts, and more), self-publishing books, comics or zines, releasing music on self-funded record labels, and more.

The DIY movement has become especially popular in recent years, thanks to the proliferation of DIY blogs and online tutorials. There are many advantages to doing things yourself rather than hiring professionals to do them for you:

• DIY eliminates the cost of labor (although this only works if you know what you’re doing and are skilled enough to do it yourself without major mistakes).
• DIY allows you to tailor products to your specific preferences and needs without having to explain them to someone else.
• DIY helps you learn new skills that can be useful in life.
• DIY gives you complete control over the entire process, from the choice of materials to the final result.
• DIY is more sustainable than buying finished products because it allows you to reuse old materials.
• DIY allows you to work on projects at your own pace without deadlines.
• DIY brings a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you complete a project.

National DIY Day was launched in 2016 by Craft Box Girls, a creative lifestyle project focused on DIY projects, kids’ crafts, party how-tos and recipes. Its main goal is to celebrate creativity and bring people together for a day of making. Despite the word “national” in its name, the holiday has gone international since its inception, with events held in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries.

National DIY Day events include live demonstrations, workshops, raffles, children’s art shows and more. In addition, celebrity ambassadors will offer free tutorials for all skill levels. You can join the celebration by attending an event near you or organizing one of your own, starting a DIY project, hosting a DIY party for friends and family, falling down the rabbit hole of online DIY tutorials, supporting an artist or craftsperson who sells DIY items, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtags #NationalDIYDay and #DIYDay.

National DIY Day should not be confused with National Handmade Day, which is celebrated on the first Saturday in April and sometimes coincides with National DIY Day. National Handmade Day was founded in 2018 by From Scratch Farm to celebrate and support small businesses that sell handmade products.