Comments on: Crafty crafts?

Question: Crafty crafts?

emptyinside — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:46:45 -0800

I need a craft that has tangible results!

I've been spending way too much time on a computer, making all these cool things which are neat, but have no tangible, lasting expression beyond some some electrons on a screen. I play music too, but similarly, this is a passing experience.

So my request, dear MeFi, is for some ideas of crafts which are enjoyable, don't have a huge learning curve or expense outlay (at least in the beginning, as much as i want to get into welding, it's not realistic at this time). I'd also like to avoid things which require excessive amounts of agility and looking at tiny things, because my eyes are strained enough already (not to mention clumsy fingers).

Thanks for your help and input!

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:52:20 -0800

As Ratatouille says, "Anyone can cook." Grab a knife and get down with your bad self.

By: PowerCat

PowerCat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:53:48 -0800

Papercraft

By: PowerCat

PowerCat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:54:27 -0800

Well papercraft can be pretty precise. Try it out to see if you're able to do it.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:55:41 -0800

To refine CPB's suggestion, if you want something that's a bit less ephemeral than a single meal, why not look into canning and other forms of food preservation? Pickles especially are quite easy to get the basics down (I'd suggest finding the Good Eats episode that talked about making them), but you have infinite variations of flavouring and so on. And homemade pickles (or jams or jellies or chutneys or what-have-you) always make spectacular gifts.

By: BobbyDigital

BobbyDigital — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:56:13 -0800

Ceramics, with some luck your work will still be around thousands of yours from now when people finally are ready to appreciate your aesthetic.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:56:27 -0800

You could make dioramas out of the stuff you design on the computer. In other words, if you design websites, you could make a diorama (or a Cornell Box) of a site you made with doors where the links are that open to reveal other rooms/pages beyond.

By: fiercecupcake

fiercecupcake — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:59:52 -0800

Knitting is good, and you can make it as simple or as difficult as you want: tiny needles, big needles, very fine yarn, very thick yarn, round, square, flat, three-dimensional, plain garter stitch or lace.

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:02:16 -0800

chain mail definetly produces a tangible product. It can be quite a workout on the forearms, during the winding/clipping phase.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:02:22 -0800

We recently began our welding hobby with an outlay of around $150--a 70 amp welder, helmet, gloves, electrodes, and 20 or so pieces of rebar. We were successfully joining pieces together by the end of the first weekend, and built a grape arbor in short order. It's not really very hard or expensive.

By: emptyinside

emptyinside — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:09:50 -0800

wow, what a response! i'm so impressed by the variety and diversity! please keep em coming!

i like to cook, ceramics are also interesting, knitting and chainmail i've tried, and could pick up again. and i didn't know welding was so cheap to get into! (alas, i have no garage / workspace beyond a living room sofa and coffee table)

By: tristeza

tristeza — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:13:10 -0800

Embroidery! Simple, fun, cheap, cute gifts!

www.sublimestitching.com

By: chan.caro

chan.caro — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:14:26 -0800

Even though I've had no experience with it, woodworking always seemed appealing to me, though I hear it can get pretty expensive.

By: box

box — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:14:57 -0800

Homebrewing.
Soapmaking.
Gardening.

By: MrMoonPie

MrMoonPie — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:18:04 -0800

We did everything outside, in our 13-foot-wide rowhouse back yard. I mean, I don't want to harp on this; I just want to convey it's really a pretty easy hobby to pick up. And $150 is a generous estimate, really--the complete welding kit was $100, but I needed some Dremel cut-off disks and raw materials and such. No way you could do it on your coffee table, though--you do need outside space.

This is all associated with another hobby you may want to consider--wine making. There's a whole industry supporting home beer and wine making, and you can go pretty much as simple or complex as you like. Craftsy and tangible!

By: trbrts

trbrts — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:22:49 -0800

I've recently begun homebrewing. It's fun and in the end you get to get drunk!

By: asras

asras — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:32:28 -0800

wood-block carving. make stationary for yourself, or for someone else as a gift, print your own holiday cards to send to people...if you do digital artwork, you could make wood-block prints of those.
crocheting/knitting, as someone mentioned above, is also good.

By: Hugh2d2

Hugh2d2 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:42:06 -0800

I'm thinking of canning my salsa recipes (a mango/pepper salsa and a traditional tomato/cilantro salsa) and selling them at the local farmer's market.

Fun, easy and profitable.

By: piedmont

piedmont — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:54:13 -0800

chain mail tip: wind with a drill (carefuly), and rather than clip, use a dremel with a cutoff wheel.

By: troybob

troybob — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:55:17 -0800

Knitting is cool in that you can make stuff as simple or as complicated as you would like. And girls totally love knitted scarves as gifts. Some boys, too. It's like having little pieces of traveling art matched with your friends.

By: pluckemin

pluckemin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:10:50 -0800

Have you considered turning your electronic crafts into tangible goods? Graphic art can be easily printed out onto iron-on sheets and then ironed on to tote bags or t-shirts. Tote bags make really good gifts (everyone needs to carry stuff!).

For more crafts inspiration, I suggest checking out Craftster. Go to each of the different categories (e.g. knitting, jewelry-making, glass crafts), and look at the "hot new projects" listed at the top -- this will give you a sense of all the different things people are doing, and perhaps one particular technique or genre will stick out to you as something you'd like to try.

By: cabingirl

cabingirl — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:14:20 -0800

I like knitting too, especially when I stopped trying to make scarves (too long and boring!) and started making things like hats and fingerless gloves and socks. Plus if you buy nice yarn you can make simple things that look like a million bucks.

You may also like weaving. I've never done it but people seem to enjoy it. Look for a local weaver's guild to find someone who can tell you about it.

I am also getting ready to try my hand at cheesemaking. Simple mozzarella cheese can be done quickly (that site says 30 minutes), and then if you like it you can ramp up to the hard, aged cheeses, or soft cheese, or whatever. Note that you need a good source of milk for this...it can be grocery store milk, just not the UHT Parmalat stuff.

Lastly, since it's either already berry/fruit season or it's soon to happen (in the Northern hemisphere, anyhow) you could try making jams/jellies/salsas and canning them.

By: bjrn

bjrn — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:30:27 -0800

I would recommend crochet over knitting because recovering from mistakes is a breeze with crochet, and it takes a bit of work if you're knitting; especially when you're starting out it's not fun to spend lots of time fixing mistakes.

By: Flying Squirrel

Flying Squirrel — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:41:01 -0800

My favourite craft website, and I find it a bit more easy to navigate than craftster (though I love craftster) is craftzine.com/blog

By: mistsandrain

mistsandrain — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:45:39 -0800

floor cloth/ floor paintings

Get your piece of canvas, apply coat of polycrylic or gesso to prime, with acrylic paint apply your design of any kind, coat again two times w/ polycrylic... voila, floor covering and art.

By: Good Brain

Good Brain — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:59:18 -0800

Do you like Beer? Brewing is fun.

By: Good Brain

Good Brain — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:59:53 -0800

More importantly, do your friends like beer? Because if you brew your own, there is lots to drink (typical batches are 5gal)

By: car01

car01 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:25:19 -0800

Cardmaking does it every time for me. There's always an occasion to give a card to someone - even if it's only just to say hello! The other advantage to card making is that you can incorporate other crafts onto them. Like making jewellery? Attach to cards, and you have instant gift. Teeny tiny knitted items look cute on baby cards; beadwork can look stunning on a card - especially if it doesn't have to go in the post. Lots of papercraft techniques to master as well.

By: philomathoholic

philomathoholic — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:15:34 -0800

emptyinside: alas, i have no garage / workspace beyond a living room sofa and coffee table

Do you lack the space to build a workspace / shed somewhere on your property? If not, then that'd be tangible and useful.

By: vodkaboots

vodkaboots — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:40:37 -0800

Agreeing with all who have mentioned Craftster, it is always my source of inspiration when I'm looking for something new to take on.

You might enjoy screenprinting - a starter kit can come pretty cheap, and it's definitely tangible and lasting if you are printing on stuff you wear.

By: medeine

medeine — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:46:12 -0800

Whenever I'm needing a little inspiration for new stuff to make or crafts to try, I check out Craftster as pluckemin mentioned above, as well as Craft blog and Make blog.

By: skwm

skwm — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:17:45 -0800

Sew some stuffed animals! Here are a few things that my wife and I have made for my newborn son: http://daniel.jurnove.com/photos/v/Isaac/Crafting/

Both of these books were great:
Aranzi Aronzo Fun Dolls (Let's Make Cute Stuff)
Stupid Sock Creatures: Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-off Socks

By: jayder

jayder — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:19:20 -0800

I just made my first quilt. My wife taught me how. The thing I really enjoyed about quilting is that is is a creative hobby, but the actual cutting, piecework and quilting is pretty mindless and easy. And the end result is nice.

By: emptyinside

emptyinside — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:29:44 -0800

@philomathoholic lol... property! what a concept! i'm a perpetual renter.

thanks for the craftster reference that is certainly an excellent resource for learning new things and seeing what others are doing

By: boy detective

boy detective — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:40:10 -0800

Ant farming. How-to instructions for that and many of the above suggestions can be found in Tina Barseghian's book Get a Hobby!: 101 All-Consuming Diversions for Any Lifestyle.

By: quin

quin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:47:20 -0800

Leather working. I still find myself handling things I made ten years ago and marveling at how well they've held up. And it's pretty neat to have someone compliment you on your hat or wallet or whatever, and be able to say "Thanks, I made it."

Tandy has a lot of useful supplies. But don't go too crazy buying tools. The main things you need to get started are a sharp knife for cutting out the leather, a punch for making the stitch/ lacing holes, a needle and some waxed thread. With just those, you can make a lot of stuff.

By: jammy

jammy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:00:33 -0800

learn how to make & bind books - lasting, tangible, & make great gifts for friends & loved ones (there's nothing like giving a handmade book to someone & have them look at you wide-eyed & ask "you made this?")

By: Susurration

Susurration — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:05:06 -0800

How about papier mache? All you need is lots of newspaper, a glue made out of flour and water, and patience. You can mold small items around a base such as a plastic lid or a (drained) egg. Or you can really have fun and make papier mache animals, using a chicken-wire base that you shape out roughly before starting with the papier mache. The nice thing is that you can't mess it up - you just keep adding bits of paper to various parts of the sculpture until it looks the right shape. Then you paint it.

By: shelleycat

shelleycat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:52:26 -0800

Good quality fabric paints aren't very expensive and with a somewhat steady hand you can make all kinds of cool stuff. This could be mixed with screen printing to make one off pieces that are just that wee bit cooler than straight printing.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:06:46 -0800

Along the lines of what tristeza recommended, I would say try cross-stitching. I find it's easier than hand-embroidery because you don't have to worry about your stitch size and doing neat little stitches. It's cheaper than needle-point. Also faster than needle-point because you generally only stitch the foreground design, you don't have to fill in the background. I highly recommend Subversive Cross-Stitch. Their kits are affordable and fun. Then when you get more comfortable, you can design your own snarky patterns!

By: Alabaster

Alabaster — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:04:09 -0800

I also recommend homebrewing.

You can start with a fairly small investment in equipment (most homebrew shops sell starter kits that provide all the essentials) and make good beer with little knowledge by following a recipe.

But like any craft/hobby you can also choose to go very in-depth, learn many complexities, subtleties, nuances, brew several different styles, formulate your own custom recipes, etc. The hobby can grow with you for a lifetime.

You can also make wine, mead, barleywine, cider, root beer, etc. with the same basic principles and gear. You can bottle your beer or keg it.

Homebrewers are a lively bunch and they love to share their knowledge. Chances are there's a homebrew shop near you -- stop by and start asking questions, I'm sure the shopkeeper will be glad to give you pointers or suggest a beginner book/kit. Some links to help you get started:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html
http://byo.com/
There are also several instructional videos on YouTube, some demonstrating advanced techniques and some demonstrating basic beginner stuff.

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:06:55 -0800

I was really into baking, which was delicious and fun with great results. Then I realized how fat I was.

Serious answer: Knitting is awesome. The best part is being able to customize anything to exactly the way you want it. Always wanted fingerless gloves in a particular shade of teal with "THUG LIFE" in purple on the knuckles, but your hands are unusually small and you could just never find any that fit? Spend a couple hours and $10, and you've got the gloves of your dreams. Right now I'm making this, and all my friends are already jealous -- you won't find those scarves in any stores.

Knitting incorporates the best of all worlds: really creative when you're designing precisely what you want; social whenever you want to meander down to your local yarn store to drool or to get advice; thought-engaging when you're laying out how you're going to accomplish the pattern; and more or less mindless while watching TV (after you get some experience). There's also a lot of room to improve, but it's never necessary. You can have fun for years just making scarves and other easy rectangular things, or you can steadily push yourself to learn more difficult new techniques.

By: Joleta

Joleta — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:34:24 -0800

Buy cheap wooden furniture at garage sales and paint it in bright colors and designs.

By: mcbeth

mcbeth — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:40:11 -0800

* Jewelry making. Tools are fairly inexpensive as are most beads, and you can keep them all together in little plastic containers in, say, a tool box.

* Photography. Digital is wayyy more forgiving (and less expensive) than 35mm, especially if you're just getting started. Take a crapload of shots, delete whatever you want. And if your camera's resolution is high enough, you can make prints to give as gifts or to decorate your own walls with.

* Tie-dying. Super fun and takes a fabulously small investment -- dyes, rubberbands, dunking buckets. I've purchased bulk t-shirts (Walgreens). You pick the colors, you pick the designs, and you can dye nearly anything. My blue, purple and white swirly socks are my very favorites. It helps to have a garage or basement or some place to spread things out a little.

* Jigsaw puzzles. Again, need a little space to spread out, but very simple and, if you're not one of those obsessive *must finish now no matter what* types, you can both walk away from and return to it whenever you want to.

* Gardening. Spending time digging in soil and prettifying your home can never be a bad thing. I also get nearly blissed-out pulling weeds. Not a craft but just sayin'.

Enjoy finding that whatever-it-is thing that works best for you!

By: bilabial

bilabial — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:20:01 -0800

Nthing knitting. My suggestion - knit socks. They are infinitely more impressive and way better conversation starters than handwarmers.