Best of … new hobby ideas

Contributed by Paul Seaburn, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

You have dozens of scrapbooks, piles of knitted scarves and shelves full of plates, gnomes and other collectibles.

It’s time to find a new hobby that will stimulate your imagination, impress your friends and keep you from becoming a television zombie – unless acting like a zombie IS your hobby. So get off your hobby horse and get onto one of these great new hobby ideas.

Moon Gardening

Tend your garden by moonlight

Vampires aren’t the only creatures that come alive at night – many flowers do too. Select Seeds has put together a collection of seeds particularly for gardens that look better under moonlight. That makes moon gardening a fun nighttime hobby for the insomniac and the gardener with a glow-in-the-dark green thumb. Flowers that are night-blooming favorites include Four O’Clocks and Brugmansia. Other flowers, like petunias and verbena have scents that are stronger in the evening. Evening primrose – which first opens in the evening to wither the next day – and moonflower – which open in the evening and close when touched by the morning sunshine – are appropriately named for a nocturnal garden. Grab a shovel and watch your step as you enjoy their moonlit glow.

Spinning

Ancient craft

Not the gym variety of spinning, this ancient craft turns fiber into fabric. Find everything you need, from yarn to a solid old-world but totally modern spinning wheel at WEBS. The artistic release and rhythmic nature of this craft will soothe your soul and add a new dimension to your understanding of “hobby.”

Candle making

Beyond the 60′s

Maybe wicks and waxes are your thing and you didn’t even know it. Let go of your images of the 60′s and take a look at contemporary candlemaking, with sophisticated scents, classic containers and thoroughly modern color palettes. Candlewic has everything for the sophisticated modern candle maker. Whether you fill your home with your wax masterpieces, make custom gifts or run the most popular booth at the craft fair, you’ll discover that candle making is a hobby for a lifetime.

Dollhouses

Create your dream home

Dollhouses are not just for little girls. Designing, building and decorating your dream home – only in miniature – is a satisfying and engrossing hobby for grown up girls and men, as well. Cherry Tree Toys has everything you need to satisfy the frustrated architect, artisan or interior designer in you. Go classic, go modern … historical or from your imagination. Miniatures are addictive and you’ll find that, just like for your real home, your “doll house” always needs just … one more thing.

Sculpey beads

Jewelry in clay

in2art.com has everything you need to build a hobby around creating beads in sculpey – a clay that is easily manipulated and bakes in the oven. The possibilities are endless, and easy, but as you build your confidence and refine your designs and color combinations, you’ll have beads to create the most sophisticated jewelry you can imagine. Combine your home-made beads with sterling or gold findings, and your jewelry will become works of art.