Weekend project ideas?

November 13, 2008 3:39 PM

I spent some pleasant time this past weekend planting a windowsill herb garden. What are some other similarly self-contained projects I can do in a day or two this winter?

By "self-contained", I mean things that won't require me to invest a lot of money in new tools, or invest a lot of time (more than a weekend) in learning a new skill — something that can be wrapped up within a couple of day. A windowsill garden was simple and inexpensive, and I'm looking for more of the same. I lean toward the crafty end of things, but would welcome (or might even prefer) other ideas.

I'm just looking for weekend project ideas to ward off the seasonal blues and make me feel like I've done something productive with my days. It would be extra nice if the results of these projects could be given as gifts.

(I'm sure there must be past AskMe posts in this direction, but I didn't see quite what I was looking for in my search. If you have links to past posts, go for it.)

posted by adiabat to sports, hobbies, & recreation (12 comments total)

Knit a scarf. Yarn can be as expensive or as cheap as you like. Look at this scarf pattern (found via the yarn harlot).

Learning to knit is super simple (knittinghelp.com videos are especially good).

If you fancy free yarn google up how to unravel an unwanted sweater. That's one weekend project and you can knit your scarf the next.
posted by Tapioca at 4:21 PM on November 13, 2008

How about stenciling? Minimal investment in stippling brushes and appropriate paints (acrylics for walls/furniture/floors, fabric paint for fabric). You can buy pre-cut stencils at many art supply and hobby stores, or get some mylar and cut your own. Lots of how-to resources on line.

You can do walls, furniture (wood or fabric), the molding around your doors and windows, even the glass of the windows themselves, clothes (buy some men's vests at a resale shop and stencil them to turn them into fun and funky women's vests), even the floor.
posted by nax at 4:46 PM on November 13, 2008

Oh man, now you've got me going. What about preserving fruit? Buy up berries, apples, pears, whatever in large quantities, and make apple or other sauce, jams, chutneys. Buy some jars and jar them up for holiday gifts if you don't have room to store large quantities of preserved stuff.
posted by nax at 4:49 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

You could make your own sugar scrub. I used this recipe, although I only added as much glycerine as it took to moisten the sugar. IMO, 50/50 is way off. I used probably more like 80/20. I used regular sugar and a bottle of glycerine I got at Hobby Lobby for like two bucks. I bought cute little jars and some scents (also around 2 bucks or less each) and mixed some up. It feels GREAT when used on your skin and could be fancied up and given out as gifts. It's very pleasant to work with things so sweet-smelling.
posted by bristolcat at 4:54 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I find one of the things I do in the winter when I start craving spring is take cuttings of my houseplants and propagate/re-pot them. Get a bag of potting mix and a jade plant and every once in awhile, pinch off a few stems, remove the lower leaves, and stick the stem in a little pot of soil (say a single-serving yogurt cup) - they are really easy to grow. Pick easy to grow houseplants to have around - popular indoor vines like a heart-leaved philodendron, or a pothos plant, are also really easy to grow from cuttings too.

Making granola on a winter day also feels satisfying and is great for gift-giving too. A big bag of bulk oats isn't too expensive and you can experiment with simple coatings and additions that aren't too costly either - there are lots of recipes online. I know some people who just coat oats with a mix of honey, a little bit of water, and cinnamon.

Making soap requires a little bit more gear and skill, but there are tons of books on this at the library and instructions online too. In an afternoon, you can make a lot of soap....
posted by onoclea at 5:07 PM on November 13, 2008

You could tie-dye a shirt or a pillowcase. It just takes some dye (like Rit which is cheap and available at grocery stores), and other items you probably have around your house. It's a lot of fun.
posted by jschu at 8:30 PM on November 13, 2008

Oh, socks are also fun to tie dye and they would make cute little gifts. Get enormous mens' socks and dye them some ridiculous color for lounging around the house.
posted by jschu at 8:32 PM on November 13, 2008

Beads are popular and pretty easy. Fun to shop for, too.
posted by amtho at 8:50 PM on November 13, 2008

i second knitting! or just looking at all the pretty patterns on ravely.com...
posted by bellbellbell at 12:00 AM on November 14, 2008

no-sew jersey scarf,

melted bead bowl (honestly, I don't think this would make a very good gift, but it looks fun and plastic beads are cheap)

gingerbread house (lots of tutorials on the web for this)

And some sites I think you should browse for inspiration

Not Martha's make page

LJC's project page

Design*Sponge's DIY page

Thimble's tutorial roundups which always include both easy and hard projects

DIY Happy

posted by moonshine at 12:39 AM on November 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

Make your own bacon. You need pork belly, salt, sugar, pepper, and spices.

I like this Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe, but I also enjoy experimenting with recipes from Maynard - Adventures of a Bacon Curer.
posted by roofus at 4:19 AM on November 14, 2008

Whoa, moonshine, thank you! Those links look like they're going to keep me busy all winter long.

Thanks, everybody! These are all great ideas.
posted by adiabat at 1:57 PM on November 14, 2008