A New Hobby Perfect for Winter or Anytime of Year!

Hobbies can be a lot of fun and learning a new hobby is especially fun. I recently learned how to make earrings from watching my daughter and now I love creating new styles. Find out what's involved!

I started and learned a new hobby this year, jewelry making! It's fun and allows me to use my creativity to design and create new styles and designs of jewelry. So far, I've been playing around with mainly earrings, but plan to expand to necklaces and bracelets soon.

So how did I get started with this new hobby? It was pretty simple actually. One of my twin daughters had started making earrings and made a couple of pairs for me. She asked me to start picking up beading supplies for her when I went to stores that she doesn't live near or go to. It didn't take long before I got the itch. I bought my own supplies and set out to see what I could make.

I purchased all the supplies I would need to make several pairs of earrings. These supplies included French hook earring wires in surgical steel, straight wires for dangle earrings, plastic backs to keep the earrings from getting lost while wearing, and a supply of miscellaneous glass, wooden, ceramic and crystal beads. I also included silver, gold and bronze spacers to add between beads. My initial investment was only about $25.00.

However, I soon found myself checking out the beading stock in local craft stores and picking up any supplies that caught my eye.

My daughter got more interested in making jewelry and we decided to open a storefront at Esty, an online website that sells handmade goods only. This was another project that I took on to design our online store and add products. It took me a couple of hours to set everything up, but then we were all ready to get down to business. Our store is called Red Stick Designs in honor of our city, Baton Rouge.

I've always loved jewelry and especially earrings. My favorite are long and dangling earrings. This new hobby of making jewelry seems to come natural for me. I love to create new designs and to see the final outcome. Sometimes the earrings do not come out exactly as I thought they would. This works both ways, sometimes they come out better and sometimes I'm a bit disappointed in the end results.

I have shopped around all kinds of different stores in town to find beads and jewelry supplies. Some of the local favorites are Michaels, Hobby Lobby and even Walmart. I have found jewelry findings at Amazon.com, Overstock.com and some bead specialty websites. Prices are about the same no matter where you shop. However, you can find some great deals when beading supplies and beads go on sale. Hobby Lobby puts items on sale at 50% off quite often. If you are in the crafting business, make a round of your favorite stores at least on a monthly basis to see what you can pick up.

I'm hoping that my other two daughters will join in and make their own designs of jewelry and make this little hobby a family affair. Making jewelry is fun, fun, fun! I highly recommend this hobby to anyone looking for a new hobby that can be inexpensive or as expensive as you let it become.