Keep me off the streets this winter

December 21, 2022 12:42 PM

What are some novel hobby projects one can do indoors? Things like: mushroom-growing kits, ant farms, cheesemaking, infusing liquors...

I need some hobbies to get me through the winter, but I'm bad at long-term commitment. So I'd like to try a bunch of random one-off projects.

Like, I might buy a cheap food dehydrator, just to mess around with it. And I recently learned that you can order caterpillars online, and watch them turn into butterflies.

I'm not really an "arts and crafts" person, so I'm not interested in painting, scrapbooking, furniture restoration, building models, etc.

I am interested in science, nature, cooking and eating, computers and technology (I've already done the Arduino / Raspberry Pi thing), houseplants, mixology, and electronic/experimental music (I have a few synths and a DJ setup, but I wouldn't mind branching out).

I'm especially interested in projects that made you think "whoa, I didn't know that was a thing" when you first learned about them. (The caterpillars were news to me.)

Food-related ideas are welcome, but I'd really like to find some non-food-related ideas. (I already know about home brewing, pickling/fermenting, making shrubs, and making cocktail bitters and mixers.)

Thanks!

posted by escape from the potato planet to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (25 answers total)

Get yerself a rock tumbler and make some smooveness. Very easy, mostly hands-off, and quite satisfying.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:08 PM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]

I enjoy fermenting stuff, especially hot peppers. Two weeks is about the shortest time you want to let them go. Here's a recipe that I enjoy. The result is kind of like Buffalo sauce but with a decidedly different flavor. I bought a cheap digital scale from Amazon so I could use the proper amount of salt in my ferments. It's a bit like a science project.
posted by alex1965 at 1:18 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]

I got myself this inexpensive darning kit and I have been darning socks. its fun, and feels old-timey. I have some cute socks, also trying to be frugal these days.
posted by supermedusa at 1:22 PM on December 21, 2022 [8 favorites]

If you're careful about working with lye, soap making can be fun, especially as it combines cooking-ish skills and science. I did it until the sparkle wore off, and home made soap always seemed to impress people as gifts. There are tons of tutorial pages out there.
posted by indexy at 1:24 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

You can only order caterpillars during certain temp windows. We do them with our kids in... spring? Fall? The website (or Amazon) you use will either be unwilling to send them depending on your winter locale, or will send them and they will be dead. So, please check those temperature reqs. That said, it's as fun (or more) for adults as it is for toddlers, so even if you have to wait until spring, you should still do it! I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm for the project.
posted by atomicstone at 1:24 PM on December 21, 2022

How about start growing some edible plants from seed? My habanada (tastes like a habanero but not spicy) plant died last summer but I harvested seeds from one of the peppers and it is slowly growing in the kitchen. By the time it gets warm enough to bring it back outside it should be decently sized. In January I'm planning on getting some thyme seeds so that I can fill out my yard with the plants. A plant or two doesn't require very much time or attention but if you have a couple of trays worth then it becomes a proper hobby.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:27 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

One of my indoor winter hobbies this year is going to be darning, and learning the basic stitches for hand-mending clothing/hand-sewing things. Then there's the whole art of visible mending.

Growing microgreens is really satisfying, and it can be done with just some tupperware or recycled takeout/sour cream/dip containers.

There's a ton of cheap or free ways to learn hand-lettering or calligraphy, and if you never write by hand anymore it's quite good for your fine motor skills and strengthening muscles in your hand.
posted by Lyn Never at 1:29 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

I bought this cheesemaking kit for my husband last year and he (who is not an idiot but not particularly adept in the kitchen) has had a blast.
We've had to buy some more cheesecloth and citric acid (?) and veg rennet as we use it, but the kit has been a great and helpful start.
Our (and, wow, our friends) fave has been using it to make ricotta to bring and share smitten kitchen's summer ricotta and grilled vegetables, sometimes w homemade sourdough.
posted by atomicstone at 1:30 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

you probably already know this but just in case you don't, there's all kinds of cool intersection between the microcontroller / small computer world and the music world.

I've got a rock band keytar here that someday will be a teensy-powered synth and in the past I've built big programmable LED matrix lights rigs that respond to MIDI and make sparkle. That was a nice cross-disciplinary project between music brain, software brain, hardware brain, ears, and eyes. whole brain stuff, was all-consuming for awhile.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:31 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm making coin rings in a corner of my garage.
posted by AzraelBrown at 1:36 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

Forcing bulbs? You can get good options for bulb forcing at most garden centers (in fact, they may be just going on sale now since this is a VERY popular Christmas gift), and you may even find nifty little "kits", that sell you a bulb prepackaged with a fancy-ass container designed to cradle the bulb in optimum forcing conditions. But you don't need the fancy-ass container, you just need a bulb (one that responds well to forcing) and a container either shallow enough to just barely hold things in a puddle of water or deep enough that you can plant the bulb in a bit of dirt. You may even be able to find amaryllis bulbs coated in wax, those you can just let sit there near a window and will likely have to do literally nothing.

If you have pets check first to make sure that the bulbs you're checking out aren't toxic (paperwhites are a common bulb that people force, but they're bad for cats). Otherwise, you can get a few bulbs now and space out when you start batches of them. I've got about 4-5 bulbs set aside myself, and worked out how to time things so I'll have flowers blooming throughout the winter and into spring.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:54 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]

Knit; you can make so much useful, beautiful stuff.
Learn to tie useful knots. Tons of great websites will have videos and instructions. It's useful to have 2 lengths of rope that are different colors. Being able to tie a bowline is really useful.
In late Spring, depending where you live, start vegetable seeds.
Your library might loan out a telescope, skies are more clear in winter because of low humidity.
Make kimchi and/or sauerkraut. Fermented foods have health benefits as well as being tasty.
Sourdough bread or regular yeasted bread.
posted by theora55 at 2:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

You can order slime mold growing kits. Slime molds are an interesting kind of organism you may not have heard of. They used to be classified as fungi but now they're considered protists. They look a lot like fungi and reproduce like fungi but they can move around (slowly.)
posted by Redstart at 2:33 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Canning! Jams, pickles, etc. The joy of being able to make tasty, shelf-stable stuff is SO GOOD (and it can be sent through the mail to loved ones, which is a major bonus)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 2:47 PM on December 21, 2022

DIY audio equipment is a thing. The Ampcamp diy power amp was designed by renowned designer Nelson Pass.
posted by OHenryPacey at 2:48 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]

Heathkits still exist. These are electronics kits beloved of nerdy kids in the 60s. My brother was very into them. It’s possible they’ve gone downhill since then, but it seems worth checking out.

Edited to add: I screwed up the link, but it should be easy to find.
posted by FencingGal at 3:02 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

This might be too arts-and-crafts-y, but what about papermaking? It's kind of a neat novelty to try recycling your own paper, and you can buy the kits online.

Your interest in tech and music makes me think you might like making fanvids.

And, of course, there's always chia pets (and the cheaper variant, grass heads), lava lamps, and growing carrot tops.
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 3:34 PM on December 21, 2022

Christmas Stars from Soda Straws
posted by Rash at 4:17 PM on December 21, 2022

Vermiculture, eg raising earthworms to make compost. Indoor gardening, e.g. check out the book "Indoor Edible Gardening". Starting seedlings, even if you don't intend to garden, others would be more than happy to take them off your hands.
posted by ellerhodes at 4:28 PM on December 21, 2022

Molecular Gastronomy?
Do you have any pets? Any at all? I swear tthere are people out there training fish. Go with the positive reinforcement techniques.
Have you seen this YouTube story about a guy who modifies electric toy cars into mobility devices for children?
posted by BoscosMom at 4:39 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Here is a better video on molecular gastronomy. More sciency.
posted by BoscosMom at 4:55 PM on December 21, 2022

Have you ever made a coal garden? It has to be Mrs. Stuart"s bluing. I think I got it at Walmart. Use plain amonia, not the soapy stuff. I really enjoyed one last year. This year I'm combing the thrift stores for a pretty glass bowl to start another.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:58 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]

During the dark days of 2020, one of my brothers taught himself how to pick locks via youtube videos. He said it was very satisfying. He also learnt cross stick but that's probably too crafty for you.
posted by EllaEm at 10:55 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]

Winter is mushroom foraging time in my area. Sciency, food-related, seasonal, and you can use that dehydrator if you find a bunch.
posted by bradbane at 5:23 PM on December 24, 2022

Lockpicking for sure - watch the lockpicking lawer on youtube for inspiration and fall down a hobbyhole.....
posted by lalochezia at 5:28 AM on December 28, 2022