A Favorite Past Time: Hobby Ideas You Will Like

What is your favorite past time? Hobby enthusiasts know that spare time is not to be "spent" but savored. If you have a past time you enjoy, you will never look at your spare time in the same way again. If you're not sure what past time hobby you would enjoy, here are some suggestions.

Many people listen to music as a favorite past time. There is much you can learn about any style of music. You can learn composers, famous melodies, and all about performers past and present. You can develop sophisticated tastes in jazz or classical music or collect a large assortment of CD's. Music makes a great past time hobby.

A lot of people love animals. Pets of all sorts can become your hobby. Perhaps you enjoy watching birds. If you have trouble finding them in the trees to watch, maybe you'd like to get a pair of canaries, a budgie, or a cockatiel. People who live in the country sometimes become interested in raising ornamental chickens, pigeons, or pheasants. It is very interesting to watch a mother bird take care of a nest of young chicks. Perhaps you can even raise some prize winners!

Dogs make a great hobby, too. Walking and enjoying a pet dog is one thing, but breeding and raising show dogs is something else entirely. Show dogs may require a bit of an investment, but many puppies are free. There is also the aspect of training a dog in obedience. Dogs give a lot of love back to their owners, too, so if you start a past time hobby of caring for a dog, you will never be lonely. However, dogs require quite a bit of work and attention, especially when they are being trained, so keeping dogs is not for everyone.

Bicycles can become your favorite past time. Hobby bicyclists are becoming more and more common to see cycling along lesser traveled highways seeing the countryside up close and personal. Bicycling requires a helmet and suitable clothes as well as a small tool kit for roadside repairs. Or maybe you would enjoy cycling on a smaller scale, simply taking fun rides with your family. The choice is yours.

The world is full of interesting things to learn and do. Don't merely sit back and watch TV. Get interested in a past time hobby. It's good for your mind. In fact, it might even keep you from going senile in your old age, if you stay active in a past time hobby. And it's a good example to our kids and grandkids if we spend our time doing something meaningful.

Wedding Crafts Ideas for Saving Money

Weddings are a joyous occasion but can get expensive in a hurry. With wedding crafts you can insert a personal touch and hold the price down as well. Here are a few ideas for wedding crafts to add sparkle and creativity to your big day.

It is not that hard to create your own wedding veil. To make this wedding craft, you will need a length of bridal illusion in the desired length. You will also need a comb to attach it to your hair and a hat or headpiece to cover the comb. Sew large running stitches about an inch from the end of the illusion and gather it tightly. Now sew the veil to the comb. Top with hat or headpiece. As an alternative, you can decorate a wide-brimmed straw hat with silk flowers, ribbon, and pearls.

The bouquets and floral arrangements can also be personally crafted. For a simple outdoor wedding, consider wild flowers. They are free and have a charm all their own. Bouquets can be arranged in large clear vases, with a bow tied elegantly around.

Favors for the guests are particularly appropriate wedding crafts. Refrigerator magnets are a simple and well-received favor. A really nice idea is to make a magnetic picture frame and include a picture of the couple. You could cut a frame out of craft foam in one of the wedding colors, arrange over the photo, and glue all onto a cardboard backing. Place self-adhesive magnet tape on the back of the cardboard. Decorate the front of the frame with foil heart stickers and a monogram of the couple's last name.

Bows for the ends of the pews or rows make simple wedding crafts. Wide velvet ribbons are nice for fall and winter weddings, while satin is more appropriate for spring and summer weddings. Loop some flat lace in with the ribbons. In the center of the completed bow, attach some silk flowers and pearl sprays with a hot glue gun.

Perhaps you'd like to try your hand at decorating your own cake. Check the craft section of the department store for pans and gadgets of all types to help you create a cake to remember. Do remember, though, that it takes a steady hand. Be sure to practice before starting on the real cake.

Preparing for a wedding can be expensive, but with wedding crafts, you can take some of the sting out. Plan early, however, because it will take a little while to make favors for everyone and all the other little details you will want to take care of. Maybe creating wedding crafts will even relieve some of those wedding jitters. In any event, crafting your own wedding items is a way to have a personal, beautiful, and less expensive wedding.

Bored? Look at These Hobby Ideas!

Have you ever played one too many computer game or watched one too many old rerun? You just can't get into another mystery and you just feel flat? Maybe you are suffering from boredom, that familiar accomaniment to our automated, precooked lifestyles. If so, you need to check out these hobby ideas. Hobbies have been found to be therapeutic as they relieve stress and get the mind active. In this article, you'll find hobby ideas for every sort of person, from the intellectual to the athlete, from the homemaker to the attorney.

Many times we are bored because we have become too inactive. If this is your problem, you might like a sports hobby. Have you ever tried tennis? How about golf? Many people simply love bowling until it becomes an important part of their lives. Sports hobbies get you out of the house and often are a way to make friends with others. Then again, some active hobbies can be enjoyed in our own homes, such as weight lifting and doing aerobic dance to a video.

Speaking of aerobic dance, dancing is another great pastime. When you think of hobby ideas, don't forget the many forms of dance. Square dancing is fun for people who like getting together with groups, while ballet and modern dance appeal to the more contemplative souls. And while we're on contemplation, you might enjoy doing yoga stretches as a hobby.

Maybe we're feeling bored and listless because we've been cooped up in the house too long. If that's the problem, here are a few hobby ideas to get you out in the fresh air. Have you ever thought of taking up canoeing, hiking, or trapping? How about getting involved with an environmental group? In many states, you can form groups to clean riverbanks and monitor water quality, and the state will provide perks such as t-shirts, work gloves, and first-aid kits. Or maybe you'd like studying the flora and fauna of your region. It can be great fun to stroll through the woods and fields with a field guide, learning to identify each wildflower, insect, tree, and bird.

There are almost as many hobby ideas as there are bored people in the world, because everyone puts their own spin on their favorite hobbies. Maybe you'd enjoy decorating your house with antiques, or learning to bake specialty breads from around the World. Maybe you'd like to take part in a little theatre production, or learn to play guitar. What about the fine arts of weaving tapestries or painting with oils? Candle making, soap making, and many other old-time crafts are being enjoyed again. Truly, with all these hobby ideas, there is no reason to stay bored for long!

A Wealth of Kid Hobby Ideas

Every young person needs a hobby. An interesting kid hobby will help children learn as well as keep them entertained for hours. It might even help them stay away from a bad peer group and stay out of trouble. Some kids might think of video games or TV as an appropriate kid hobby, but most parents would like to see their kids doing something more challenging or educational.

A good kid hobby is playing a musical instrument. The guitar can often be self-taught from a book if a child has the interest, but for piano playing or other instruments, you will probably have to invest in lessons. Practice is, of course, an essential part of mastering any musical instrument.

Another type of kid hobby is pursuing an art or a craft. Kids can learn to draw, paint, or make scrapbook pages. They can learn needle arts, such as embroidery, sewing, knitting or crocheting. Beginning carpentry is a very useful kid hobby that may turn into a career, or at least skills that will be used for a lifetime.
Tinkering around on gas engines or electronics is another kid hobby that can lead to useful skills.

There are all sorts of things that kids might like to collect for a hobby. Some of the more common collections are of stamps, coins, and rocks. Stamps are interesting because they can be from many different countries, becoming a geography lesson. Coins and stamps both are of historical significance, and encourage reading to learn more about different eras in history. Rock collecting as a kid hobby requires looking into science books.

Other collectibles include bean bag toys or figurines of a certain thing, such as owls, frogs, or unicorns. Anything a child has an interest in can be collected. If a kid is interested in dolphins, for instance, she may not only collect dolphin figurines and posters, but also be motivated to read books about dolphins.

Construction sets also make a good pastime for kids. Many people may think of these only as toys, but children who have grown up with these sets and added components to them down through the years can create some pretty impressive models. They are also gaining skills in reasoning and perception as they build.

Making model, such as cars, boats, and airplanes, has always been a popular kid hobby. If your child is interested in making models, be very encouraging in the beginning. Model car kits can be very complicated and require a great deal of precision. If your child's first few creations leave a little bit to be desired, don't laugh or scold, or he is likely to never want to try to make anything again! Get the easiest kit he is willing to make and then patiently help him as much as needed.

Many kids enjoy sports, making any athletic activity a great kid hobby. Soccer, basketball, and little league baseball all come to mind, but don't forget about track and field events. Maybe your child would enjoy distance running or gymnastics. An active kid hobby will help your child stay in shape as well as make an interesting pastime.