Finding Hobbies During Social Distancing
Next in our three-part series, we are going to give you a few ideas on how to catch up on the games you are missing. Plus some new hobbies.
Time to get real. Let's be honest, and I know you don't want to hear this, but if you're an avid Warhammer player you definitely have an army sitting around not painted. Or maybe it's the army you're playing with now, I am guilty. I guarantee most of you still have armies at sitting in a box somewhere not even built as well. Use all this free time and get to painting! I am trying to use this time wisely for that as well.
You could also get busy making terrain! Grab some old boxes and air-dry clay and get to work. Black Magic Crafts on YouTube has some fantastic tutorials. I made some out of old broken toys, hot glue, air- dry clay and super glue. They are primed and ready for painting. Pictured here was an old broken piece of a hot wheel track I found plus some toy rocks from an old playset and a random missile. I fixed the track with hot glue underneath, then used air dry clay to fill in the gaps from the break and where the actual tracks hooked up. I added some detail with some sculpting tools, you can use anything though. Once primed you can't tell that this is a hodgepodge of broken toys.
Dungeons & Dragons player? I'm sure you have a ton of characters that you'd like to play. Take this time to do some research and create a new character! I know you have been wanting to bring that Ogre Bard to life. 😉
Not interested in any of these choices? Pick up a new hobby. There are not enough nerdy writers or artists out there. You can learn anything you set their mind to. And I truly believe that. Just like anything in life it takes time, patience and practice. Here are a few hobbies I have picked up over the years:
- Crochet, check our Ravelry or find some Facebook groups. Check out Crochetverse on Facebook, you won’t be disappointed. Crochet is not just for grannies!
- Resin art, there are so many different types of art you can do with this!
- Polymer clay, you can create anything out of polymer clay! I will link some of my favorite YouTube artists below.
- Drawing and painting. If you aren’t confident enough in yourself start with some paint by numbers!
- Jewelry, obviously. Ha.
- Sewing, I am working on masks right now because there is a need, but I have tons of products planned.
- 3d Printing, whew there is a learning curve here, but if I can do it you can too!
- Coloring books, one of my favorites is a World of Warcraft one
- Diamond Art, I chose some designs for my kitchen for my birthday last year to start with so I would have more motivation to do them.
- Jigsaw puzzles, need I say more? I love a good puzzle.
- RC crawling or racing. We as a family have RC crawlers that we enjoy together.
Would you believe that this piece started out as polymer clay? I sculpted it out of polymer clay, then I made a mold and cast it with resin. Then I painted it and added a beaded chain I made. You can combine all sorts of hobbies!
You can also start that blog, podcast or YouTube channel you have been wanting to do! We all start somewhere might as well start while people are looking for something to listen to or read! Needs some ideas? We will tell you how to do some of these in the next post!
- Stream gaming.
- Do live crafting sessions.
- Do live sessions of building your next cosplay.
- Stream your D&D session.
- Make how-to videos! Everyone is great at something and others need help in that area. This is your chance to show your hidden talent.
- Pick a new hobby above and record videos of learning! This way people can learn with you and you can give tips or tricks along the way.
In part 3 we will go over ways to still play your actual beloved games with friends from afar. Stay tuned.
Army Painter: (my preferred paint) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X37FXNK/ref=twister_B07X37FDLR?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/
Favorite crochet Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HeartHookHome/
Crochetverse:
https://www.facebook.com/crochetverse/
Polymer Clay channels: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqrfbJpTYOQe5PHkX8aHgRA
https://www.youtube.com/user/ZanVonZed
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJsVoGo-HszKDVCqsORk_A
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ_IPlufpAb5KpSVD-DTcw
Artist channels:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRetroFaceYT