Melanie Toye's Hobbies

Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay Ok, so I like a tidy home but I am no where near those homes where you arrive and it's perfect, every single time.  Nope. I have just so much fun with my hobbies, that I will clean when I finish my hobbies for the day.  But I am trying something new ...  If you are like me, cleaning is a chore. I don't wake up and go, "Wow, what a day to clean!" No way. Not Ever.  So it might seem weird, but I definitely have to create a game or challenge for doing every type of cleaning. I do absolutely enjoy a clean and tidy home. And I find I am more at peace when it is tidy and my hobbies are away and so is the mess.  Here are three games you can play to get you cleaning: 1. Do one hobby and then once it's complete, do one cleaning task.   So for me, I love so many hobbies... if I really wanted to (and I try) I can spend my whole weekend doing hobbies. Generally writing is at the top of the list because that is how I share my hob...

For those who are in business or are wanting to start creating online courses, you will appreciate my latest online course, " How to create an online course ."  You can literally create an online course about any topic or industry. You can even use this resource to create training courses for your staff to learn more about a topic. The person writing the course does need to be a subject matter expert in the topic you are creating the course on. I did complete the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and also Train the trainer course. I only create courses that I am a subject matter expert on and that of which I feel people are seeking some guidance in the area taught on. That's why I created an online course for other businesses and individuals to learn what's acceptable, how it works, it doesn't have to always be all video content either. I am a writer, so I find writing and creating courses much easier in PDF format for individual's to print. Why create...

When you feel uninspired change up your craft space  So I haven’t been scrapbooking as much because I have a set of drawers with stickers, washi tape and other cool stationery and then I have my tub of scrapbooking paper in my cupboard.  I was thinking about what I could do to bring my scrapbooking closer. Here’s a photo of my tub of scrapbooking paper. Look how undesirable it looks. Inside I have large paper about A4 size and A3. Then I have 12x12 inch paper. Plus an ice cream tub full of scrap paper.  It just made me feel unsatisfied and what makes me excited to work on a hobby is that I can see the resources and get excited to get started. But this set-up was not empowering me. I started brainstorming about maybe making a craft space. I found a table from IKEA with draws on both sides that I could put my scrapbooking paper and accessories in as well as my diamond painting. I also found a desk backing which is like a three level high shelving that attaches to the table....

So I have this blog, which I love writing for.  If you come to my blog to read about crocheting, scrapbooking, diamond painting, writing and more then I suggest you subscribe to my email newsletter. I will only email you once a week and I will share with you my blog posts for the week. I am trying to build my views per month on my blog and I need your help, by reading as many of my blog posts as possible.  You can literally type in the search bar, crocheting, scrapbooking, diamond painting, hobbies or writing and read all the related blog posts on your favourite topic. Have a read-a-thon.  And then subscribe to my email newsletter, so you can read more blog posts that come up so you don't have to remember to look for my blog every week. My blog posts will be literally emailed to you every week. Too easy! You just click my home page, under the first blog post it will show the above image. In your message just type in, subscribing to your email and my favourite hobby is ......

Image by Mircea Iancu from Pixabay This is how I start a conversation with a person I sort of know, or have never spoken to ... after the initial... Hi, I am Mel... etc etc.  "Do you have a hobby?" I ask. It is a simply question and one that generally sparks a surprisingly response. It honestly surprises me when people say, they don't have a hobby. This is intriguing to me. Because, if you don't have a hobby (and absolutely no judgement here) but if you don't have a hobby ... what do you do with your spare time?  I also find it interesting, reading in retirement Facebook groups (and no, at this stage I am not retired) ... but so many people say... I don't have a hobby. I am extremely bored. I don't know what to do with my time. And this is the case for many people. Many people just do not have a hobby. A hobby can be anything, I wrote a blog post, about what is a hobby.  Have a read after you read this blog post to spark some ideas, if you don't have ...

Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay I don’t know about you but I love gift making and as the New Year has begun, I am also already behind. Hah. What do I mean by that? I crocheted a year of gifts and gave them away at Christmas but now I have friends and family experiencing life events and I want to give them a gift from my heart. Through crocheting, I am gifting a piece of happiness from my heart to theirs. And this is why even in today’s age, where you can even buy crochet gifts online or at the markets, it feels so much more when you make it and then gift it. This is why gift giving, and any type of home made gift is just priceless. See when we make something for someone who we think might like and appreciate it, we think about them throughout the whole project. For example, first you think … I should make them a gift. And then you think what would they like? And then as you choose what to make … you think as you crochet the gift, they are going to love this. And you think about ...

Image by Vicki Becker from Pixabay Left over yarn, can be very annoying. Ha! Because, you want to use it all but you also don't want to run out. So we play this balancing game, buy more than we need and then wonder what to do with the left overs. Here are 5 ideas of what to do with your left over yarn: 1. Chuck your left-over yarn Let's be real, if you are crocheting amigurumi. If you are like me, I end up with little bits of all different colours that have been cut off throughout crocheting amigurumi.  I have tried to place the left over yarn, inside the amigurumi as stuffing. The problem here is, if your outer yarn is a light colour, like white and you are stuffing with bright colours, like green and hot pink... you can actually see the yarn that's been stuffed on the inside.  Also, it is annoying to stuff. For example, I use pillow stuffing (it is cheaper than cushion stuffing) and it just sits how you want it to sit inside the amigurumi shape. I guess that's what I...

Image by Pexels from Pixabay So I used to create craft time every second weekend and that weekend I would just craft, for hours, well really over 2 full days. Now I craft whenever I want. But if you struggle to craft, you need to block at time, even an hour on the weekend and just do it. Maybe even wake up an hour before everyone in your home and start crafting! So here are 5 creative habits for the weekend ahead: 1. Take out your craft supplies and then put them away When I want to do a craft, I simply take out my resources for that craft. Get my craft space ready and make sure, I have a glass of water nearby. Then when I am ready to start, it's all there ready for me and waiting.  Most importantly, as soon as I finish the craft, I put everything away. This may seem silly, because I may want to do more in the same day or the next day. But by putting everything away, if I change my mind later to not go back to that craft, it's already put away and I don't have to worry abo...

Image by Jose Antonio Alba from Pixabay  "A hobby is something you do or make that gives you time to yourself." Whatever hobby you choose. A hobby carves out time for yourself to immerse yourself in something special. Creativity is at the core.  There are many types of hobbies you can start.  Here are ten hobbies you can start today: 1. Crocheting 2. Scrapbooking 3. Diamond Painting 4. Reading 5. Writing 6. Gardening 7. Miniatures 8. Painting 9. Drawing 10. Building  The above is 10 cool hobbies, the top 5 is what I feature on my blog now. But you can do anything as a hobby. As long as you love it, it's a hobby. It's not about how much it costs to hobby. It doesn't matter how much space it takes in your home or garage or outdoors. It brings a smile to your face when you talk about it to others and you feel good when doing the hobby. You could spend hours a week working on your hobby or even just 5 or 10 minutes. It doesn't matter how much time you spend on it...

Image by Charles Thompson from Pixabay Check out my  Etsy store  for heaps of digital products Do you ever find yourself smiling as you are working on your hobby? Or notice that immediate feeling of joy when you open up your hobby resources to start prepping for hobby time? I find this. Sometimes, I spend so much time planning, prepping and working that when I actually just sit down to do my hobbies, joy fills my being. I feel good. I actually feel like I am meditating. Because I feel at peace. I don't have to think about what I have to do that day or what stresses are playing out. I just have to live in the moment and focus on my hobbies.  Self-care is so important. I actually wrote a blog post on burnout.  and a blog post on working too hard and how to bring back the fun with hobbies . So I really believe that if you want to focus on self-care, you make time each week, even if it is just 30 minutes to work on your hobbies. I feel this is so important for you....