If you’re looking for my main creative outlet, look no further. You’re reading it. But there are a few other hobbies that I do occasionally that are creative, I guess!
- Knitting. It’s been a while since I’ve done this as it’s hard for me to sit and do repetitive movements for too long, but I do love it and am hoping to get back into it once our house has been fixed and there’s less mess around.
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Coming up with activities to do with my kid. We have a preschool curriculum we loosely follow and do classes online a few times a week, but I enjoy either modifying activities in the curriculum or coming up with new things for us to do. It can be easy things like doing dot outlines of letters on our huge white board for her to trace or making a board game on butcher paper or hiding shaped confetti under baking soda to make volcanoes with floating shapes… anything is fair game. I’m never happier than when I’ve created an activity that makes my kid squeal with delight!
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Stenciling. I use to make and cut out stencils a lot. I’ve got lots of old journals with stenciled covers, and I even did stenciled Christmas cards one year. It’s been a long time since I’ve made any, but it is definitely something I enjoy.
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Writing. I love to write, and I try to write in my journal at least a couple of times a week. I don’t usually remember, but it’s something I do enjoy when I do it!
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Baking. I’ve really gotten into it now that my kid is old enough to help and loves it. We’ve learned how to make egg-free sugar cookies, several types of pancakes, buttermilk biscuits, even apple pie from scratch (it took 6 hours but it was DELICIOUS). It’s been a fun thing to do over the pandemic, especially during the winter.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head! What about you guys? What creative endeavours do you most enjoy, and do you have any special creative talents to share?
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I wish I were a better baker. I don’t have the patience to be that precise. Kudos that you are!
It’s more that I’ll do anything that keeps my kid entertained and makes me feel like I’m not totally failing at life, even if it involves a ton of measuring and mixing! Lol!
I tried knitting once, but I haven’t got the patience. I admire anyone who can.
I went through the difficult patience part of the learning curve as a kid, so now if I’m doing something simple it’s not as tedious! Just takes practice, for the most part!
I really WANT to get into baking more. I’m so intrigued by it. Are you homeschooling?
The problem is that then it all needs to be eaten….. 😉 I’m sort of accidentally homeschooling – my kid is still preschool aged, so not a formal curriculum. I’ve been doing some online classes and a friend found a playing preschool curriculum we’ve been picking through. Mostly just trying to find ways to keep learning and entertained!
Lots of good things to keep you busy
Busy is definitely not the problem! 🙂
How fun that you’ve been baking with your child! I had 4 and I taught them all how to bake. First I’d just let them watch, and smell the vanilla (they all loved that) as well as eat lumps of brown sugar. As they got older, we progressed to cookies. I have 2 recipes for cookies with no egg in them, because my kids liked to eat cookie dough (Yucky to me!) and I didn’t want them to get sick from uncooked eggs. And check out my website, because I have a page there for pies, with my never-fail pie crust that I’ve taught to kids in schools that were as young as 3rd grade. And some pie fillings that are my family’s favorites. http://www.fionamcgier.com/pies.html
We have a lot of fun with it – mostly anything that involves sifting and stirring flour is a popular choice! I will definitely check out your recipes. Thank you!
Ooh, knitting is a good one! Someday I’d love to learn how to knit. How long did it take you to learn?
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge-creative-outlets-i-enjoy/
I’m actually really lucky because I come from a knitting family. My grandmother could knit a whole sweater while watching TV without even looking at her hands (I still have no clue how she did it) and could create patterns as she knitted. My mom can also do more complex knitting, though has to pay closer attention than my Nan did. So I learned to knit as a kid – I’m another step down and can’t knit anything complex, usually just things like hats and scarves. But because of that I don’t actually know how long it takes to learn. I’d imagine if you do it every day, you could start to get the hang of it in a few weeks, though might take a bit longer to feel like you’re fluid with it. There are a lot of great videos on YouTube that teach you how to cast on and do simple knit and pearl stitches, garter stitch I often refer back to them when I’ve forgotten something I haven’t done for a while! And some yarn stores have lessons and groups for beginners and actually teach how to do the basics, so that’s another thing to check out. The biggest thing is the tension – the first few scarves I made started narrow because I was nervous and pulling tighter, then as I got more confident the stitches loosened and it got wider! I’m no expert, but if you decide to give it a go and need any tips (like what size of needles, which yarn to start with that kind of thing) feel free to email me or send me a message! I’m always excited to find people to share hobbies with!
Oh, I’d forgotten to include cooking. I mean, I’m not the best at it, but I do enjoy trying it out and usually it’s at least edible! And doing activities with a kiddo can be soooo much fun.
I have enjoyed it more since my kid has gotten to helping age. Also if I’m in the kitchen in the evening making dinner alone I can take a break and listen to an audiobook, so sometimes that’s nice if it’s been a rough day! We have been trying various preschool curriculums and Outschool classes, but things like baking (mostly playing with the flour), planting seeds, doing yoga, and anything sciencey! What kind of activities do you enjoy doing with yours?
When I homeschooled (a million years ago) I loved finding new ways to do things. And, I have gotten more into knitting this year. Crochet I can about do in my sleep, but I’ve been knitting everyone scarves…lol…. very simple garter stitches, but I’m getting to where I can knit and watch tv without too much difficulty. For writing, check out LASR’s writing challenge!
I have yet to try crochet! I have heard it’s easy, but I still feel a bit intimidated. Good on you for learning a new one! Thank you for the tip – I will check it out!