With the holiday season coming up, finding the perfect gifts can become a huge source of stress. Take out two birds with one stone by picking up a relaxing hobby that produces a nifty gift, like one of these five!
1. Knitting
Forever the old stand-by, knitting has many proven health benefits, not the least of which is turning out a wide variety of excellent crafts. Participants routinely report “stress relief” and “creative fulfillment” as the hobby’s main benefits. Knitting groups are quite widely available, and if one can’t be found, knitting lessons are easily found online.
2. Homebrewing
With the popularity soaring, it’s easier than ever to pick up homebrewing as more and more starter kits hit the market. The craft itself is a bit tough to master, but the product is a popular stress reduction therapy. Not recommended if you’ve got a lot of children to gift.
3. Embroidery
No matter what kind of needlework you prefer, designs are available online. For the season, try redwork designs from somewhere like EmbroideryDesigns.com to get that holiday spirit. No matter what you try, you can work in a holiday angle, and the slow, methodical work is meditative in its simplicity. Plus, it’s portable!
4. Painting
Thanks to sites like Skillshare, anyone can learn to make masterpieces with any medium. Watercolors are enjoying a particular surge, but Bob Ross’ staple, oils, are abundant as well. Why stop at painting? Try other art forms, like sketching, which you can do anywhere with a pocket sketchbook. When you finish your piece, a nice frame completes an exquisite, one of a kind gift the recipient is sure to love.
5. Woodworking
If you’ve got the space, setting up a workshop is a great investment. You can learn to craft anything you may want or need, plus make beautiful gifts for friends and family, all while getting the stress-relieving benefits of working with and being around natural materials.
If you’re somewhere with limited room, look into local makerspaces or clubs that supply access to woodworking tools for a membership fee. If you’re still having no luck, don’t despair: there are numerous resources online to learn woodworking with just hand tools. Extremely tried for space? Consider whittling!
As the weather cools, indoor activities have more and more appeal. While you’re cooped up, keep from going stir crazy and handcraft personal gifts for your loved ones with these easy-to-pick-up hobbies.
