What Else Do You Make Besides Food Stuffs?

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

My Husband likes to say that I enjoy doing "busy work".

I like to Craft I guess is what you would call it.

I Paint Rocks
I like to fancy up packages that I give
I make décor for our house, both inside and out.
I used to Sew, but when we left Hawaii, I didn't want
to ship a really old machine, so I gave it to the
Charity Shop.
I've tried my hand at needle work, like embroidery, etc. I'll leave that one to my Mother.
I've also tried Crocheting as well Knitting, again, not so good.

Someone told me long ago, folks you cook are 9 times out of 10 going to make other things too and just as well.

What else do you make besides food stuffs?
What kind of hobbies to you enjoy?
... and do you have photos? I love pictures

[Cooking Goddess]

Well, K-Girl, I know that we've mentioned crafts and such in the past in these threads:

Let me tell you about my hobby...talent...skill. There are a few nifty photos in this thread.

Waiting out the "zombie attack" - Covid-19 hunkering down activities

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Besides making food stuffs, I make big messes, especially when making food stuffs. Then I have to pay some young lady to clean those messes up because I can not get down on my hands and knees (well I could, but then I would have to call the paramedics to get me back up again!) and I can't climb the little two step kitchen ladder to clean the high places, like the top of the fridge. Old age ain't for sissies!

[Silversage]

I used to knit, sew, crochet, do needlepoint, etc. I still have drawers full of stuff, but I really lost interest years ago.
Lately, my wife and I have rehabbed houses. Floors, electrical, plumbing, cabinets, etc. It has kept us busy for years. But last year we started to sell off the power tools. At 68 and 78, we're just getting too old.

But, next month we volunteered to replace the flooring in the activities room at the women's shelter. So we are keeping a few tools til that project is done.

[medtran49]

I crochet, needlepoint, petitpoint (25-75 or more stitches per linear inch, I usually work in 40 range), counted crossstitch, embroidery, dabble in egg decorating, jeweled/painted type eggs, wreath making, dollhouse minis, made the magnetic spice jars for our refrigerator, though did that because I'm frugal and wasn't about to pay somebody 3-4 times what it would cost me to make them. I've done decoupage and quilling, along with calligraphy, plus other crafty things in the past, basically anything that took my fancy. Put together a fairly fancy decorated Book of Shadows for a Wiccan friend. The nice ones can cost up toward $100 or more, and really nice ones $$$$ ready made.

Never was able to learn to knit, though grandmother tried and did teach me to crochet. Tried to learn to tat, but never could do that either. Used to sew, made costumes for DD, things for the house, but haven't had a machine in years.

[Katie H]

Since I was about 8 or 10 I enjoyed embroidery, knitting and sewing. When I was in my early 20s, a young neighbor girl taught me how to crochet. I'm a visual person and can pick up a skill when I see it happen. That's how the crocheting thing happened.

As the years progressed, I learned to make clothes for my children and myself, along with home decor such as draperies, cushions, etc. and even formed my own decorating business along those lines.

At this point in my life I've developed a doll crafting business that caters to 18-inch dolls such as American Girl dolls. I've created a full range of clothing, accessories, furniture, etc. am having a ball doing it all.

I'm basically a creative person so this avenue allows me to go forward with what my imagination says.

Here are some photos of my work.

[pepperhead212]

I like doing things in my woodworking
shop - mostly just necessity items, but sometimes craftsy type things for gifts, like puzzles, peppermills, chopping boards, and some things I might see that someone could use. Unfortunately, wood has gotten outrageously expensive, though I have a lot of wood down there, for smaller projects.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Fishing flies and streamers, currently have about $1300 worth in 4 fly boxes.

Custom fishing poles - I have two rods built, worth $1300, and one I will be making for my eldest son in Montana. I also built and sold ice fishing rods, a steelhead rod, and another fly rod for my youngest son.

I write science fiction, and fantasy novels. I have a total of 5 written, with 3 more stars. S[ell check is my friend.

I design electronic projects. My current project is a solar tracking unit.

I design balsa wood gliders, some rubber band powered, some unpowered.

I love to help my grandkids with science projects. I have helped them design wind tunnels for showing air-flow around cars and plane models that they designed. We have designed and treated our own solar hot air panels, designed and flown our own kites, and a miniature water generator, with the ability to record the voltage and current produced.

That's enough to keep me busy.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[RCJoe]

I haven't done it so much recently, but I've enjoyed brewing beer, (homebrew) wine, and carbonating my own soft drinks. Also making my own vinegar. (apple cider as well as herbal) I've also enjoyed making sausage of various types and smoking it and other meats & cheese too.

[Bitser]

Love sailing, which I learned in New Zealand. Rebuilt a 15 ft. wood skiff, very fast and tipsy.





Built a 4-season greenhouse and grow tomatoes, etc.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Originally Posted by Bitser

Love sailing, which I learned in New Zealand. Rebuilt a 15 ft. wood skiff, very fast and tipsy.





Built a 4-season greenhouse and grow tomatoes, etc.

Is that an evacuated solar tube collector for heating hot water. If so, do you heat your greenhouse with it?

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[Bitser]

Originally Posted by Chief Longwind Of The North

Is that an evacuated solar tube collector for heating hot water. If so, do you heat your greenhouse with it?

It's an old flat-plate collector that I found on a salvage lot and cleaned up. Our winters are cold, so I run a 50% glycol solution through a PEX tubing loop with a DC pump hooked to the small solar panel. That runs the pump according to the solar input. The glycol loop coils through a 400 gal heatsink under the floor.







The warm water in the tank is pumped through a maze of PEX tubing under the sand floor, which is in an insulated foundation.






That keeps the thermal mass at 50° or above all winter.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

At one time, I worked for a company called Spokane Solar, out of Spokane WA. We sold drain down, flat plate solar collectors that fed a super insulated, 100 gallon water tank.

As a demo, we set up our collector on a 40' cloudy day, and invited the public to check out the hot water we got just from the available light. We kept the tank water at around 115' degrees, all day long. Flat plate collectors, if well designed, work well. Evacuated tube collectors work even better.

I like your setup. It shows that you are truly a thinker, and plan thing out carefully. Good job.

Because of the sort, winter daylight hours, I would add LED grow lights overhead, to extend the hours of light for the plants. They could be put on a timer for automation.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[Bitser]

The greenhouse was designed for our local climate, which is savage. The roof is 6-wall poly (R 3.8) and the sides are 3-wall. Besides the floor heat, there are passive heatsink water tanks on a south-facing wall and quartz radiant heaters on the ceiling with a thermostat, to warm the foliage. When it gets down to -30°F or below, I have a propane heater on an outside tank. Also have grow-lights on a timer.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Bitser, that is an impressive greenhouse.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

[Bitser]

Ta! I had framing help from a master carpenter pal. Winter nights can be so cold here (-40°F and C) that I didn't trust a drain-down setup, hence the two-stage design, with a glycol loop through the collector and a water-filled heatsink. The heatsink can get up to 120°F in spring. I usually cover the collector and shut it down in late April or early May, as I don't need the heat. Fun project. Good eats!