You’ve cleaned out your wardrobe numerous times, read that leaning tower of books on your bedside table and gotten through a shameful number of TV shows on Netflix. By now, you are probably at that point where you are questioning your sanity and looking for new hobbies to fill the endless void of time.
Many of you might be tempted to try out something new, take up knitting, perhaps start a veggie patch. STOP! Before starting your next home improvement project, take note of these fiddly hobbies you just shouldn’t even consider starting if you are on the brink.
[gallery link="none" columns="1" size="full" ids="https://media.localista.com.au/2020/04/15392561480_17ab969a9c_b.jpg|"]Hand Embroidery
It’s one of those things your mother or grandmother could probably do with their eyes closed, but the art of embroidery is not easily mastered. Making personalized, embellished gifts for your family members might seem appealing, but what about accidentally stitching over your hands? You are sure to jab yourself in the fingers several times when you first start out. Plus, you’ll need bucket loads of patience – it takes at least a week to get hang of the basics!
An embroidery 'how-to' can be found here.Decoupage
I can guarantee that if you told a friend you were starting decoupage most would look at you with glazed-over eyes. The art of cutting out pictures, gluing them onto an object and finishing it off with a smooth coat of varnish may seem like a fantastic idea at the time, but let’s be realistic - as an amateur, the piece of furniture you’re covering in magazine cut-outs probably isn’t going to win any awards for design.
Remember trying to wrap protective contact over your children’s schoolbooks? Imagine trying the same thing but with an entire bookcase! You’ll be chasing those air bubbles with your fingertips deep into the night.
A beginner's guide to decoupage can be found here. [gallery link="none" columns="1" size="full" ids="https://media.localista.com.au/2020/04/2403443144_9fda71eb06_b.jpg|"]Soap Carving
Who knew this was a hobby? It’s one thing admiring the intricate design of a perfectly sculpted soap rose. It’s quite another to carve it out of a white lump yourself. To become a master soap sculptor, you’ll need imagination, practice and dedication. Without those, you could be venturing down a very slippery slope!
(Besides, with all the panic-buying going on, you’ll be pressed finding a bar to start with and murdered if you waste the shavings.)
See the process of soap carving here. [gallery link="none" columns="1" size="full" ids="https://media.localista.com.au/2020/04/Child_drawing_age_3_crayon_on_paper.jpg|"]Learning to draw
Fancy yourself the next Picasso but can’t draw to save your life? Now is NOT the time to start. There’s nothing worse than sitting down in an attempt to capture someone’s likeness only to discover you have produced something out of a toddler’s nightmare.
For some people, no matter how many drawing books they read or art classes they attend, drawing just isn’t their calling. It truly is a fine motor skill of the elite few. Save yourself the frustration and don’t.
[gallery link="none" columns="1" size="full" ids="https://media.localista.com.au/2020/04/pxfuel.com-1.jpg|"]Weaving a tapestry
Tapestry weaving is extremely labour-intensive. It can take a professional tapestry weaver a whole month to weave one square metre, and that’s by working 35 - 40 hours a week! This means it could take you years at the loom to achieve a finished product. Why put yourself through that undue stress when your time could be better spent on something else, like staring out the window?
Check out this tutorial on weaving a tapestry here.
