Make silver (precious metal clay) jewelry
Hike
Camp
Travel (recently only USA)
Bookclub
Volunteer at national park (recently outdoors only)
Snowshoe
Portrait photography
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I have discovered a new favorite hobby - miniature house kits. I had my eye on one for the longest time and finally ordered - and am very happy I did! I like crafting and there’s a satisfaction with completing each tiny little piece. I even had the fun of substituting my own (long gone but not forgotten) cat’s picture in place of a couple of theirs. I bought a detail knife and some extra glue, but otherwise we had all necessary tools.
Lots of variety in crafting - sewing, cutting, gluing, painting, etc.
I admit gluing teeny pieces of wire is my least favorite part.
Next up - beach house!
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How will you keep/display these? I know there are hobbyists who refurbish doll houses!
My health professions grad school daughter ( graduation finally in sight!!) who is 24 has gotten into punch needle. It’s sort of a take on the old latch hook rugs/pillows/wall hangings.
She started with a starter kit from Amazon and recently free formed this for her first without a pattern creation.
She may try and punch needle a replica of an album cover next! Just a fun creative hobby.
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That’s a very good question which I will answer when I finish it 
.
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Those are very cool @Marilyn !
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I finally finished my miniature house kit - last step was a rose vine on the spiral staircase. It was a lot of fun and a bit of a challenge and it definitely became my new hobby. I’m trying it out in various places - right now it’s on an end table in a corner of the living room.
Next up- beach house!
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Since my retirement, I’ve been doing the following
- Oil painting, I spent more than 10 hours a week paint, pre-pandemic. Right now we have no classes, and I prefer to paint in classes, for one I don’t mess up my house and I do get a bit of socializing. My favorite part is listen to music I don’t normally listen to at home, like Amy Winehouse for example, it’s put on my by teacher. The last year before the pandemic, I got into painting nude people in class, believe it or not, it’s my favorite part, no not the nude people, but the pace we had to do, very quickly, we were allowing 20 minutes per pose. This is the part I wish the pandemic is over.
- Gardening, I’ve been gardening organically for more than 30 years, but since the pandemic, I try to garden a bit more intensely, part of my excuse is that I don’t have to go shopping more often. So glad I got back to the joy of gardening. There’s a time I thought this interest might wane down. I’m now expanded to collecting roses and peonies, and not just gardening for vegetables
-cooking/baking, I always love cooking, but since the pandemic, I kick it up a notch, try out various style of cooking, various cuisines, etc
-Playing bridge, my husband suggested bridge after we retired and now we play weekly, it’s also a group that we enjoy socializing every week. How can it not be we play almost 16 games for 4 hours with a quick break for lunch every week
-Playing American Mahjong, I just learned this recently, but it’s becoming very addictive.
-Traveling, booking, researching of where to go and what eat is half of the fun. Plus I also play the credit card games, try to score points so I pay as little as possible.
-Playing pickle ball, this is a game we picked up after we retired, it’s been fun, good place to socialize, but lately we just play mostly singles, just the two of us, we get more exercise that way - Swimming, this has been my lifelong form of exercise, relaxing and stress free
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gardening/yardening : we have slowly been turning chunks of our yard into native plantings, and we are the coordinators of a 1000 sq ft charity garden
Weaving - have loom, will weave. I never got the hang of knitting, but this , I get.
My husband made boomerangs for years, but he had to stop throwing when his shoulder went out. Now he makes garden baskets for family and friends
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Wow - impressive. How many hours do you think you spent doing that house? I’m impressed you can see well enough to do the tine details. I have a really hard time threading a needle these days.
Hmm…two+ months at maybe an average of a couple an hours a day? Maybe 150-200 hours? Luckily I am nearsighted since I did have to thread a needle! The kit included tweezers, and I used toothpicks a lot to apply glue. The hardest part was holding teeny tiny pieces of metal in place until the glue set. I admit much of the structure is not squared and fitted exactly. I would not pass @coralbrook’s inspections!
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@Marilyn - I’m not a “crafter” but I love that miniature house! I’m very impressed. Thanks for posting pictures. (full disclosure I happen to love all kinds of miniatures, dioramas, etc.).
Beach House is done. It was a different company kit - not really crafting so much as assembling. For instance, I did not have build my own trees. No painting, sewing, clay, etc. - mainly cutting and gluing. So on one hand, I felt there was less of me in it. On the other hand, it’s more polished. I’ll probably take a break for a few months or I will need a wing to house my houses. Thorne Miniature Rooms | The Art Institute of Chicago
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Reading, running, gardening, church stuff (well the committee responsibility is closer to work than hobby, but voluntary), travel, skiing when I get a chance. And of course facebook and Parent Cafe.
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