What crafting hobbies do you dabble in?

Hi froggieslover, I was wondering how old your kids were. I live with my sister who has a 5 and 3 year old (boy and girl). I like to be creative but like you, I was never sure what to do or what to make until I started living with the kids. Now I find that if I make stuff with them or for them it is fun and I enjoy it and it makes me want to check out more ideas. I just signed up for the Craft magazine which has some great ideas. I only started knitting (only the knit stitch, the purl stitch does not ever look right to me so I only knit)so I knitted a head band for my neice and liked it so much that I knitted one (or two or three) for myself! Also the family is trying to go "green" so there are all kinds of recycle items that we take and make things with. I am in the middle of making this huge castle for the kids out of boxes and its a lot of fun. The kids involvement helped me. I would like to try quilting (not a single clue about what it entails except material) but it looks like fun. I wish we had a sewing machine. I made a t-shirt tote from an old Hello Kitty t-shirt by sewing by hand. That took some time but it was a lot of fun. I made a box purse (from old jeans and a waffle box) for my neice. I think if you get enough enthusiasm from doing something, you'll find the things you are good at and the things you are not but it is really fun for me trying it out especially for the kids.

hi froggieslover, oh i love crafts i am very much into a lot of different kinds of crafting, from cross stitch, beads, molding, recycable crafts and a lot of other crafts but the one i love most is the paper craft. in reallity you don't need to actually stick to one kind of craft, for my case i don't cause it will help you become flexible and your options will be wider. you are so lucky that you got a whole room you can just dedicate for your crafting, i wish i have one too. what your can do is divide the rooms space and put a little bit od any craft your interested in doing. the plan for a project where you have to do this crafts, for example christmas season is just around the corner, you can plan to make your own christmas decorations, there are a lot that you can find in the internet, or be creative. I remember last time i bought colored reflective paper i think others call it foil paper those one side of the paper is shiny. then i cut it into strips and made a chain using stapler to connect each other then i hang it around our office are instead of buying gralands it was so nice that lots of employee from other department purposely come to our place to see it. you can try that. In each coming occasion do a project then you will enjoy it too. why would you stick to one when you can do all.:) enjoy crafting.

I do a little knitting, photography, painting, but mostly I make jewelry using sea glass I find on the beach (and purchase from a few fellow collectors/sea glass friends...yes, there is a network of sea glass lovers)
I find that doing crafts that involve my sons, has helped to encourage them explore their artistic side and they have expressed interest in what I do and how it is created...plus as the response above me indicated, it has helped to make them more aware of the go-green movement. They now think of ways things could be re-used and those that can't, they look to place in the recycle bin.
We like making popcorn balls (or using the popcorn balls that my sons get at Halloween), spreading peanut butter on them and then covering them with bird seed...they are great snacks for the birds that remain during winter. The birds love them and my sons and I love watching through the window, as they take turns getting a unexpected meal.
Do whatever you enjoy, even if you don't think it turned out very good...children will pick up on your enthusiasm and want to participate when they are old enough (my youngest son was so ready to sit with me at my crafting table and play with the pretty sea glass...and now he takes smaller pieces and helps me make pictures with them... we worked on the image shown together!)

needle point, cross stitch, beading, I only know one stitch in crochet myself, but I've made a bunch of stuff with that one stitch... Polymer clay, soap making, candle making and some scrap booking - now that's one you might actually want to go for with kids, making scrap books of pix of your kiddos...

...Hi froggieslover, I love to write, so paper and pen or my computer are my friends, I also like to paint and draw when I am inspired. If you have a sewing machine, and a lot of scraps of cloth material laying around, or old skirts and blouses, that are basically worn out, why not start sewing together pieces to make a quilt. I have always found quilts to be fascinating pieces of art work. You don't need a design, you just cut up triangles and rectangles and sew then together until you have a large square, for a twin or double bed, or a throw quilt. The backing can be any soft, bunting type cloth that you get from a material store. Congratulations on quitting smoking, that's a big accomplishment. Take care.

when i was younger, i used to make dresses for my own dolls. we didn't have a sewing machine but i did it manually. i love sewing and i have been trying to cut and sew my own short pants and house dresses before. maybe, u can start out by making small items which ur kids love. u can make tassels out of thread and hang these in ur windows (i saw this on tv yesterday) or tie them into cut, colored cardboard and make them bookmarkers. because christmas season is just around, maybe u can start with things to liven up ur house. i always look around the house and check what beautiful-shaped pebbles, twigs or anything i can find and i spray them with gold paint. they make good decoration pieces for christmas especially if i just decorate them with small red, green, or silver ribbons. i also make use of the eggs shells (just carefully bore a hole to get the yolk and white out) and i draw a face on it; put a bit of cotton to represent a beard and then make out a read cap on top (cover the hole with the cap)... it is santa claus! i used to hang them on the christmas tree. i am sure there are a lot more ... sometimes i get ideas from doing my window shopping or from watching tv.

I dabble in almost every craft imaginable. My favorite and the one I make money at is designing and making teddy bears. I have been a bear artist for the past 25 years and have enjoyed every minute of what I have been doing. It was a long hard haul getting my name known and making a profit at what I was doing, but it also was extremely fun work too. Also I have made many bears as gifts and each recipient has been thrilled with their gift.
One thing you might do is go to your county fair and see what kind of things are on exhibit there. It might spark some ideas. Also set aside a few hours and cruise through your local craft supply store.

I do cross stitch and i love it. started out a few years ago with a simple pattern to get me going and i'm now on really complicated stuff. Because you concentrate on the pattern, you don't have to think aboiut anything else and so the stresses of my day just ease away. it makes good presents too, I do things for kids bedrooms, pictures for my mum and mum in law, and also pretty names for school bags etc!

I make my own birthday and christmas cards to send to friends and relatives I also dabble with making earrings for my grandchildren, I have also done cross stitch cards in the past. You could also use the sewing machine to make cushion covers, curtains or even throws. Give it a try its all rewarding when you see your finished article.

i love cross stitching. I love collecting bottles and decorate them with alot of bead work. I also do sketching and put them in my scrap book. It applies to the article i found either in the newspaper or online and recipes too