Melanie Toye's Hobbies

Image by Agata from Pixabay New Year New Hobby Projects Happy New Year! I hope this year is amazing for you! I am very excited about my hobbies in the New Year. I hope to bring you even more cool hobby blog posts and cool hobby digital products at my Etsy store:  MelanieToyesHobbies - Etsy Australia . This is my hobbie projects for the New Year: Diamond Painting  I am still working on one arty style one for the last year. I love diamond painting but I don't make time for it. This year, I am going to focus on finishing the diamond painting (about half way through) and completing another diamond painting. I have about 10 in stock. So it's going to take awhile, if I only complete one a year. So hopefully I will complete more but at this stage, lets just finish this diamond painting that has taken me a year! I may even frame it! Why not? Crocheting I look back at what I created in 2025 and I feel it wasn't as much as I wanted. Maybe that is a theme. I always want to do more. I...

Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay   So one year, I went on Facebook on a Christmas group and said, can you suggest any Christmas gifts for me? I said I like pampering and arts and crafts. Hundreds of gift ideas poured in, ranging from spa days to gift cards to one of Australia's craft stores.  But if you are stuck and someone is asking you for ideas, here is what I suggest: Choose your most favourited hobby.  Then either get a gift card to your favourite hobby shop that sells you items for your favourite hobby. Or if its an online store, send them the store and then pictures of what you would like. Also, its perfectly ok to buy Christmas gifts for yourself .... one idea, is to buy your gifts earlier in the year, like October and go shopping and wrap the gifts and then place them in a cupboard or a tub. This way you may forget what you bought yourself and its much as a surprise for you on Christmas day. If you don't have time to buy early, still wrap your gift...

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay ^Please note, I use affiliate links in this blog post. This means I receive a percentage of the sale from the seller. Crafting hobbies is super fun and sometimes you need full focus to dive right in and just relax. But a shared experience is even more special, even if just done once together, you could create a special memory of bonding with your child, if you craft together. Also you don't have to do some craft at the same time. So if your child is young, give them age appropriate crafts, while you can do the hobby you want.       Here are 3 cool hobbies you can do with your children: 1. Paint by numbers So pending on your child's age, you can give them a sheet of white paper and some paints and let them finger paint. Or you can buy yourself and your child a paint by numbers kit . Look for simple paint by numbers. Super tiny sections are harder, so you want a picture that uses about 10 paint colours. Most are about 2...

Image by  Надежда Дягилева  from  Pixabay  I have to say writing this blog topic and then thinking about all the hobbies I do, I have to question myself… what hobby is the cheapest?  Considering if you have read my blog post about how much craft supplies you should have, you would know I have a year’s worth of craft supplies for nearly all of my hobbies. Because let’s face it, buying hobby materials is just as fun as making the hobby itself. So let’s talk about these hobbies and how much it costs to find the answer together what is the cheapest hobby. Now, I can’t write down all the hobbies in the world, so I am just going to write down all the hobbies I do (which is a fair amount). Plus, I live in Australia so this is based on AUD currency. 1. Crocheting I have said before crocheting isn’t a cheap hobby. It appears cheap. The yarn is only $2.50 for Acrylic 8-ply. The supplies, such as hooks etc are relatively good priced. From $2.50-5.00 for one hook or about $...

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay Well from my hobbies such as miniature DIY kits, diamond painting, scrapbooking, crocheting from animals to scarves to blankets, painting, reading and even gardening I order them as from the hardest to easiest in hobbies. Let’s start at number ten of the hardest hobbies:  10. Miniature DIY kits  Miniature DIY kits are right up there for one of the most hardest hobbies from my list above. You need so much patience, ability to work with miniatures using tweezers or your fingers to fold, shape and glue items together. Basically using a set of craft wood, paper, wire and fabric to make all the objects. A lot of extra cost goes into buying the resources you need to help such as a ruler, tweezers, scissors, glue and more as you go forth and work with what you will think will help. However, if you love miniatures it feels amazing and looks amazing, once complete.  9. Crocheting amigurumi When I started crocheting, I decided to crochet amigu...

  So this year, I am looking at making crafts to then sell. I won’t be setting up a market. I will be just selling on Facebook Marketplace and through word of mouth.  I also don’t have too much spare time, just part weekends and at nights but again, not all the time.  So my plan is to build up my stock first so I can sell multiples at a time, rather than make one thing sell it. This way, that one buyer may want to buy multiple items at once and it’s an easier sale than if I was just selling one item at a time.  What is my timeframe to craft and sell? Like any plan, you need a timeframe to work towards. For me this is a year of crafting to sell. A year because I have a goal to try and save. And I feel a year is enough time to go through the seasons and experiment with colours and types of materials to see what people buy the most of and then produce more of it.  What am I going to craft and sell?  Well I have six years of miniature homes that I have built an...

Image by Bilge Can Gürer from Pixabay   For a few years, a few years ago (lol), I did some paint by numbers. I really enjoyed the painting and the end result looks amazing.  I have quite a lot of hobbies now and my last two paint by numbers I never finished. I think because some of the paint had dried, because I left the painting too long at times and the other painting I just didn’t enjoy the picture, so they didn’t get completed. I then got distracted with new hobbies such as diamond painting, which is similar to paint by numbers. With diamond painting you match the drill to the number to create a picture.  However, I have redecorated my home and put up my finished paint by numbers. So I decided to try another one. A few years ago, I had to buy the wooden frame with the canvas and build it together but now you have the option to buy a ready frame, where the company puts the frame and canvas together for you.  If you are interested, please find the affiliate link o...