Some time ago I was in your place w/ different tech. I’d “clone” some projects (e.g. Twitter) and then host them on Github so that I could refer their source code in my CV. I think that helped me to get my first job on a new tech stack.

If you struggle to find an idea that you like do an app for something that you like. Let's say you like games -- do a calculator for some more efficient gameplay. Then you'd be able to show that you have something. If you don't have a background in maths you may have it somewhere else. For instance if you like history you could download wikipedia and do something with the texts.

Here is an idea. Most open source projects accept pull requests. Find one you like and contribute a few patches. If it is a popular project, it looks really good on your portfolio. P. S. Many projects tag easy fixes as beginner friendly. And you can always ask for pointers from the project maintainer.

I want to add that it does not matter if you have a college degree. It is not that important in the web dev. From what I experienced, the companies prefer to hire/interview someone with a good portfolio rather than a degree. If you want your portfolio to stand out, create something interactive and visual (Something that you can click/play with by not only tech people, although they will appreciate it too), then host it so you can show it easily. If you generally look for ideas for projects to learn programming, there are many programming challenges on the internet. But it is better to focus on one/two projects and do them well than to create a bunch of projects because nobody will click through 30 projects when they have a lot of candidates. Remember to use branching and commits properly. Tech recruiters often look at that. Add documentation and tests. Also you could ask people in the community here, to look at your code and give you tips (but do it in small portions, nobody is going to read for free 1000 lines of code)