As a kid, I always found myself head down in something creative. Whether typing up Shel Silverstein inspired poems on my mom’s electric typewriter or recreating 90’s cartoon characters with acrylic paints, I always gravitated toward the arts. Not much has changed in my mid-30’s because I still find myself creating similar things, but I also still yearn for new hobbies to try. Below is a list of hobbies for adults ranked by effort level that you can try out for yourself.
Hobbies are a great way to relieve stress, boost creativity, and meet others who share your interests. The patience you develop while trying to construct a shelf or problem-solving skills you build while deciphering a puzzle can come in handy with your day-to-day activities, including work and relationships.
For some, the pursuit of a new pastime is in itself a hobby. For others, the idea of taking on an activity for the first time can feel tricky. If you’re in the latter group and have found yourself asking, “Where do I start?” then this article should hopefully point you in the right direction.
Low-Entry Hobbies
1. Thrifting
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low
Although people have been doing it for years, thrifting has significantly regained popularity in the last decade. It’s likely due to a shift in environmental consciousness and a wave of retro fashion trends. Whatever the reason, thrifting offers a way to upcycle clothing and home goods and add your own touch to them, all for a reasonable price. Retail therapy, anyone?
2. Gardening
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
The satisfying feeling of successfully growing your own food is unmatched! Believe it or not, this can be a low-effort hobby to pick up because there are a bunch of beginner-friendly things to plant, such as strawberries, tomatoes, and cilantro. You can learn about the germination process and start from seeds, or you can purchase baby plants from your local Home Depot and continue to nurture until you’re ready to harvest. Raised flower beds and hydroponic gardens have made it super simple for those with little to no yard space.
Check out Bonnie for more info on gardening.
3. Collecting
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
From limited-edition high-top sneakers to discontinued colored crayons, there is a plethora of items one might take a liking to. Depending on what that is for you, collecting can be your outlet because collecting is a hobby—no matter what anyone says. Digging in and diligently researching the value and availability of a product, plus the act of seeking it out whether online or in person, involves focus and determination. Who knows? That action figure you’ve been holding onto from your childhood may just be your retirement fund one day.
4. Journaling
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low
There are so many benefits to journaling from emotional relief to boosts in memory. It can be a great low-cost pastime to help gain clarity in your everyday life and increase creativity as well. The art of journaling opens a world of stationary items to learn about and try from notebooks to specialty pens.
Michael’s has a good selection of notebooks.
5. Foraging
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low
A bit like gardening, educating yourself on self-sustaining survival acts like foraging can be very interesting to learn and come in handy in the event of a zombie apocalypse—just saying! There are tons of resources on gathering wild and free food and what to avoid out in nature. You’ll be one with the trees and get to take home nice treats.
6. Adult Coloring
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low
Don’t knock it till you try it! There’s a reason our younger selves find coloring inside bold black lines hypnotizing. Getting yourself a coloring book for adults and some nice quality crayons, watercolors, or pastels can offer therapeutic entertainment in between your hectic schedules. Add color to birds, patterns, swear words—there’s something for everyone. Seriously, have you seen the selection of coloring book themes out there?
7. Scrapbooking
Difficulty Level: Low
Initial Investment: Low
Depending on the level of products you decide to invest in for this craft, it could be a low-entry hobby. Scrapbooking is all about gathering colors, photos, stickers, and other stationery that are uniquely you. A great way to preserve memories and keepsakes, you can start with an album, some stylish patterned paper, stylish embellishments, and markers that pop.
A Polaroid Instant Film Camera can be a fun addition to your scrapbooking
Low-Medium Hobbies
8. Embroidery
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Low
You can start this hobby with as little as five supplies: an embroidery hoop, a needle, embroidery floss, fabric, and a pattern. This hobby is also lightweight, so you can take it on the go and craft as you wait for your car to be inspected, between doctor’s appointments, or while waiting to board your plane. Think of all the items you could customize!
Here’s a thorough starter guide
9. Etching
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
Etching is a cool way to stylishly label that glass cup you don’t want others to use in the kitchen. It’s a good skill to have when it comes time for gifting holidays and determining potential business opportunities. There is no shortage of products that can be customized. You’ll just need to invest in protective gear, etching cream for glass and/or metal, your surface, an applicator, and a stencil.
10. Resin Crafting
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
By now, I’m sure you’ve come across countless YouTube videos on making your own resin table or coaster. It’s probably because resin crafting is a fairly easy hobby to get into depending on your desired project. You really just need a resin kit and your imagination. It can be a finicky medium to learn, but like everything else, practice makes perfect.
This starter kit at Michael’s has a nice variety of supplies.
11. Floral Arranging
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
In the age of the internet, anything can be self-taught, even floristry. If you have a love for color theory and tulips, then this may just be the hobby for you. Learning floral arranging techniques will give you the ability to create beautiful bouquets, wreaths, canvas wall art, and whatever else your creativity blossoms into.
12. Candle Making
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
Who needs Yankee when you can develop your own fragrance and clean quality candles? There are endless possibilities when you learn how to make your own. You get to learn about different wax types including healthy alternatives to paraffin and organic wick options as well. Not to mention all of the neat containers and color combos you can make. You can never have too many candles!
I really enjoyed this beginner Hearth & Harbor Candle Making Kit.
13. Mixology
Difficulty Level: Low to Moderate
Initial Investment: Moderate to High
A part-time job for some, and weekend fun for others. You don’t have to have a home bar to learn to make a good cocktail. Admittedly, I’m not much of a cocktail gal, but I can appreciate the artistry that goes into crafting a balanced recipe. They also look absolutely stunning! Gathering some basic ingredients like spirits and syrups in addition to some fancy cups should be all you need to get started.
Medium-Entry Hobbies
14. Photography
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Moderate
You could choose to take on this hobby with just your smartphone or invest in a DSLR with all the bells and whistles. The level of investment is truly up to you. There is so much to learn in the world of photography from equipment to photo developing and editing you can quickly get engrossed. You’ll just need to determine the style of photography you’d like to produce and begin based on that. There are plenty of photo walk groups that you can join to find your community and learn faster.
A Nikon D3000 series is a good option for getting familiar with aperture and shutter speeds. You may be able to find a refurbished one at a decent price.
15. Baking
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
I’d be lying if I said I never tried to recreate a delightful-looking dessert on The Great British Bake Off. I have, and twice! Patience is key in baking as mine has been tested time and time again. However, once mastered, baking can offer an excellent way to spend your free time. You’ll be the star of the party when you make an entrance with a kaleidoscope of vibrant macarons and delicious puff pastries. It’s amazing what you can make with flour, sugar, water, and time.
16. Amigurumi Crocheting
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
I’ve stumbled upon Amigurumi TikTok and have to say I’m obsessed. I haven’t personally picked up this hobby yet, but only time will tell. If you’re not familiar, it is the art of creating stuffed animals or dolls using the skill of crocheting. It requires the use of a smaller hook in order to produce a tighter knit to make the cutest looking projects. Yarn, a hook, and a pattern are really all you need.
You’ll find fun crochet kits on The Woobles, along with tutorials.
17. Wood Burning
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
You don’t have to invest in a high-end laser printer to enjoy the art of wood burning. A pyrography pen can do the trick and there are kits under $20 that also include adjustable tips. Some kits even come with various samples of wood to get you started. Custom ornaments, cutting boards, and frames are just some examples of the things you can make with wood burning. You’ll just want to make sure you have a well-ventilated space to do your new hobby.
Here’s a pyrography kit with 11 interchangeable tips.
18. Painting
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Low to Moderate
Did I really just include painting on this list? Yes, yes I did. The reason being is that many give up on this hobby before even picking it up. There is a false notion that you have to be able to produce realism in order to be “good” at painting. This just doesn’t hold true. There are so many different forms of painting and any act of painting is an art piece. Finding your own style can be rewarding if you allow yourself to practice. Again, this can be a low-entry hobby if you start with the essentials, but you can invest in better quality tools and materials as you grow with it.
19. 3D Printing
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Initial Investment: Moderate
Due to insane advancements in technology, 3D printers have become accessible for many to use at home within the last decade. This can be a moderate level investment with lower-end printers starting around $150. You may even get lucky and find someone giving up on theirs on Facebook Marketplace. There is a bit of a learning curve with CAD design software, but there are options for purchasing existing designs, which you can download and print. Choosing between an FDM or SLA printer is the toughest decision as they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Research is key before investing.
Anycubic products are highly recommended for beginner 3D printers. I personally own an Anycubic Photon M3 resin printer and love it!
Moderate-High Hobbies
20. Musical Instrument
Difficulty Level: Moderate to High
Initial Investment: Moderate to High
Music is a universal language and it can be spoken with many voices or instruments. Learning to read and write music is a remarkable skill and is even more impressive when you can play along. The critical factor to successfully learning an instrument is truly having a desire to learn it. Many often give up on instruments at a young age because they’re simply put into a class, not because they had an interest in it. This is definitely a hobby you’ll need to routinely exercise in order to see improvement, but it will be worth it.
Guitar Center offers a wide selection of instruments and one-on-one music lessons.
21. Droning
Difficulty Level: Moderate to High
Initial Investment: Moderate to High
As small unmanned aircrafts, aka drones, continue to make their way into pop culture and the hands of content creators, this hobby is becoming more and more trendy. For photographers, droning can be a new skill to add to your arsenal and for aircraft enthusiasts, it could be the closest way to touch the sky. This hobby lands on the high-entry list because of the average cost of drones. However, depending on your reasoning for getting into the sport, it may not require such a high upfront cost. You’re going to want to invest the big bucks on a $500-$1400 drone if quality aerial photos are what you’re into, but if you’re just looking to take it out for a spin then you may be able to swing one under $50.
By investing in a DJI fly more combo, you’ll get additional batteries, propellers, and a quality carrying case. I don’t take trips without my Mavic Air 2.
22. Laser Cutting & Engraving
Difficulty Level: Moderate to High
Initial Investment: Moderate to High
One of my favorite hobbies and skills would have to be laser cutting and engraving. It’s a great fit for those who enjoy crafting and tech and bringing their visions to life. The initial cost of a laser cutting and engraving machine can range from as low as $200 for a basic machine to upwards of $6,000 for stronger and much larger machines. There is a slight learning curve with the laser machine and software, but once you get the basics down, creating works of art with wood, acrylic, and other materials becomes easy and fun.
As one of the top tools in my shop, I share a bunch laser cutting & engraving tutorials, project downloads, and tips for getting started here on the blog, as well as my Youtube channel.
