Illustrated AZ of Arts and Crafts

Here are some creative arts and crafts activities that people do for hobbies or sometimes a part-time income.

They involve making things for yourself or others to enjoy and are a positive and relaxing way to make good use of precious free time.

These crafting processes require ingredients for manufacture plus your own effort.  At the finish you will have created an item that can be enjoyed, gifted or perhaps even sold.  Many successful and large businesses start from a single person with an idea and some time - working away in a shed or spare room.

Enjoy crafting as a relaxing hobby or maybe the start of a work from home dream.  For anyone who works in what can seem a pointless office job - creating something real with your hands and ingenuity is an excellent change.

Basket Weaving

Basket weaving or basketry is often performed in recreational and recovery centres.  

It is cheap, safe, easy, engaging and often therapeutic.  Those same qualities make it an ideal relaxation hobby.

Soak the reeds or willows and use them to weave baskets for beginners.  

​There are many other designs you can create but weaving baskets is a good starting point for most people.

Many arts and crafts hobbies provide a connection with our past.  Creating and crafting using traditional materials and techniques.
Weaving a wicker basket in basketry depicted by this drawing of a willow weaver with a part completed willow wicker basket in front of them. For basket weaving fans!

Basket Weaving Gifts >>

Blacksmithing

From basket weaving, a peaceful gentle occupation - to blacksmithing. Two contrasting activities!


I can see the appeal of blacksmithing. A hammer is a good start. A way to relieve the tensions of sitting in a cubicle reading emails all day.


It's metalwork. Hot metal, heated in a forge, can be worked using a hammer and anvil. For me, the bashing alone would be sufficient. But some blacksmiths can create all sorts of wonderful art, tools, and so on. Swords and horseshoes is the limit of my knowledge.

Blacksmithing Stickman is a fun hand-drawn design showing a blacksmith with hammer and anvil. The enjoyment and satisfaction of working with metal.

Blacksmithing Stickman Gifts >>

Candle Making

Candle making is a straightforward hobby to get into.  Melt and mix wax using different colours and scents and pour into a variety of moulds.  

​Starting with spare jam jars or old glasses is a cost-effective way to practice and learn.

Always remember to put the wick in.  Although candles are often purely decorative they still retain an important function in the event of power cuts.

This ancient practice is now a popular hobby with classes for beginners.  There is a huge variety of liquids, scents and moulds to purchase and it is a relaxing and creative process.  

When the candles are made they can be kept, gifted or sold.
Candle maker pours hot wax into candle mould while holding wick

Candle Making Gifts >>

Carpentry

Should carpentry be in trades or arts and crafts?


I don't have a trades section. Yet.


And when I was researching this, carpentry came under the thirteen traditional arts and crafts of Bhutan. Gotta love the internet.


So arts and crafts it is. From putting up shelves that actually fit through to artistry in wood, carpentry is a skill, whichever handmade wooden box you need to put it in.

Hand drawn Carpentry Stickman is a fun design showing a carpenter using his woodworking skills to saw a piece of wood.

Carpentry Stickman Gifts >>

Craftivism

Craftivism means crafting items that make a statement or protest about issues.

A scarf or quilt with a political statement or badges against pollution for example.

The beauty of craftivism is expanding on your craft skills to contribute towards humanity in some way.  The items can be sold to generate funds, build awareness or simply to feel part of something.

Felting

Making things out of felt.  You don't seem to need many tools or great expenditure to start with.  Just a simple absorbing hobby making felt creations.
Felting design shows a pair of felter hands crafting a felt hedgehog with the word

Felting Gifts >>

Glassblowing

Very hot glass bends and bubbles and can be worked and shaped.  This makes a fun activity where the heat forges the glass into wonderful creations.
Glassblowing Stickman is a fun hand-drawn design. It shows a glass artist blowing into molten glass forming a round shape. Glassblowing includes all sorts of heating and shaping activity to create artwork and glass sculptures.

Glassblowing Stickman Gifts >>

Horology

Horology is the study and repair of watches and clocks.  

It is a fascinating, absorbing and satisfying hobby which can also be a profession.  

​Timepieces are wonders of tiny engineering.  With many small moving parts they will eventually require some maintenance to prolong their lives.

That is where the horologist comes in.
Horology hobby design shows a horologist studying the inside mechanism of a pocket watch

Horology Gifts >>

Jewellery Making

Welding very small pieces of metal, glass and other precious things into pleasing aesthetic designs.  

Enjoy as a hobby or to create pieces for sale as a typically small artisan style jewellery business.
Jewelry maker creating a piece in a workshop

Jewellery Making Gifts >>

Knitting

There is a version of knitting called extreme knitting or maybe ironing - where people travel to extraordinary places to perform the task.  

This section refers to normal knitting - a comfortable chair, pair of knitting needles, some yarn and a pattern.

Knitting is like a secret club and once you learn the ways you will be hooked.  

​But not crochet-hooked.  That's something slightly different.
Knitting Sheep shows a contented ewe knitting from a roll of wool. Holds knitting needles surprisingly well considering being a sheep and all. For knitting fans.

Knitting Sheep Gifts >>

Needlecraft

Sewing, stitching, needlework.  A needle and thread or a fancy sewing machine.

This craft can be a chore when it is sewing on buttons or an enjoyable creative pursuit.  

​Many hours of sewing can be used to create pieces of craft art.

​Think of tapestries!

Pottery

Place some clay on a potter's wheel and shape into a vase or jar.  Satisfying and relaxing hobby that fulfils the object of taking you away from the worries of the world.

It is all about the tactile nature of moulding wet clay with bare hands.  After drying in the kiln - paint can be added to your ceramic art to keep, sell or gift.

A few pottery puns and sayings.
Seize the clay
​Glazed and confused
Potter warning - I throw things
​Totally kiln it
Pottery Making Stickman sits behind a potters wheel crafting a new piece. A fun hand drawn design for pottery makers.

Pottery Making Stickman Gifts >>

Quilting

Quilters spend time stitching together patches of fabric to make a large piece - perhaps a tablecloth or bedspread.  

​It is a slow-paced creative art form enjoyed by many people.
Quilter adds another patch to the fabric - perhaps making a quilted bedspread.

Quilting Gifts >>

Rock Balancing

Rock balancing may not be a traditional arts and crafts activity but it seems an artistic pursuit.  The idea is to balance or stack rocks on top of each other.

Take a hike into the countryside near a stream where there are plenty of stones and try to create a balanced piece.  

Many stone stackers create the temporary artwork and photograph it.  They replace the stones in their original positions, the point being to leave the countryside in its original state.

​A rock balancer leaves no stone unturned.  Something like that.
Rock balancing - hobbyist in the act of balancing two stones with a complete pile to the side.

Rock Balancing Gifts >>

Scrapbooking

Collecting precious memories of family, experiences, life history into a scrapbook.

Old photographs, menus, postcards, wild flowers - a varied collection of items to form a treasured family possession to be handed down.

Requirements are time, a scrapbook and glue.

This hobby is being taken over by the internet where online scrapbooks with audio and video can be created and shared.  

Like pretty much everything else in life the internet promises a better way and destroys the old.  Keep scrapbooking real!
Building a scrapbook or scrapbooking is a popular hobby. Family photos, treasured memories - they can all go into a valuable archive to be shown around and passed on to future generations. Fun graphic shows a scrapbooker or scrapper reviewing their album.

Scrapbooking Gifts >>

Sewing

Sewing is a hobby or occupation.  Making clothes, designing and repairing - a traditional activity that has green credentials.

Don't throw away old clothes - fix them instead!
Sewing Machine design shows some high-speed sewing by a seamstress on a traditional machine. Fun image for sewing and dressmaking enthusiasts.

Sewing Machine Gifts >>

Soap Making

Making soap is another pursuit where the end product can be sold at craft fairs, given to friends as presents, or simply used at home.

​Ingredients, time and a little skill are required for a satisfying and creative pastime.

Here's a soap making joke.

​Sud off.
Making soap - a soapmaker pours liquid carefully into a saucepan

Soap Making Gifts >>

Stonemasonry

Stonemasonry is an ancient craft. Stone stands the test of time. Magnificent buildings created thousands of years ago, for us to wonder at with modern eyes.


At it's simplest one can start with a hammer, chisel and a block of stone. Oh, and maybe, eye protection.

Stonemason Stickman uses a hammer and chisel to work away at a large stone. A fun hand-drawn stonemasonry design.

Stonemasonry Stickman Gifts >>

Whittling

Whittling is the act of using a sharp knife to crave pieces from wood. At it's most simple this might be a child with pocket knife and a stick. Remove wood, one cut at a time, ending up with a useful sharp stick. The most basic of hunting tools.


And maybe those sticks can build a fence, or a raft, or something else.


A pleasurable way to occupy free time with minimal tool requirements or expense.

Whittling Stickman shows a hand-drawn whittler peacefully carving away at a stick to craft something that could be useful or simply for the fun of it.

Whittling Stickman Gifts >>

Crafting Over

That's my collection of arts and crafts for now. As any crafter knows, it takes time to create something. More stick figure creations will be along soon.


Crafted by Mark Ewbie. Last Updated: February 9, 2026.