5 Creative Hobbies for Moms
Every time I have a baby, I get an intense desire to create and do something with my hands. I don't know what it is about those early postpartum days. Maybe it's all of the extra time I spend sitting around and healing, or maybe its a need to reconnect with myself and feel like a person again after giving birth and spending long days with a newborn. Whatever it may be, I believe as image-bearers of God, we were created to create. A piece of us comes alive when we get to work with our hands and make something beautiful!
Having a baby changes your ability to create with your hands, and so does having older children (I have two toddlers). We moms have to be strategic with our creative hobbies because there are constantly little hands trying to grab things! We have to be able to drop it and go when we need to grab our toddler or nurse the baby. The mom lifestyle presents some unique needs for creative hobbies, but I made a list of five that I believe fit the requirements. Whether you are a first-time mom, a toddler mom or a three under three mom like me, I hope this list inspires you!
pin for later:
Ground Rules
Here are a few ground rules before we get into the list:
1. You do not have to be good at a creative hobby for it to have value.
The point isn't to create something spectacular. The point is to use your hands, feel like a person. Enjoy yourself. Have fun. Don't stress if you are bad at it.
In fact, its kind of fun if you’re bad at it when you start. you will get to measure your progress as you keep practising!
2. You do not have to monetize your creative hobby for it to have value.
There is great value in creating just to create in letting another piece of your soul come alive whether the world recognizes that or not.
3. This list is just a starting point
You are, of course, not limited to this list. There are all kinds of ways we can create as moms. A lot of ways in your everyday life, whether it's decorating your child's room, baking or cooking a fabulous meal. There are so many opportunities to add a creative touch to some of our regular tasks. Maybe you take great photos of your kids, or you made the best baby book ever. If that's something that fills your cup to do that kind of creative project, do it, and enjoy it!
Hobby Ideas for Moms
1. Caligraphy
This one only requires a few supplies; a calligraphy pen, and some kind of paper. You can do it on the couch, at the table, or while your kids are colouring. Be careful with those calligraphy pens because you know if you leave them out your toddler's gonna grab them!
There are so many great free resources to learn calligraphy online, if you can get it to a point where you really like how it looks, it's a practical skill to have to create art for your home, or write out Bible verses. If my kids are playing well independently and my hands are free, I find it enjoyable to sit and do some lettering
2. Watercolor Painting
I consider myself creative, but not artistic. I don’t consider myself good at watercolour art, but I enjoy spending time doing floral doodles or painting watercolours around some bible verses.
If you want to do any kind of painting watercolour is definitely the choice for busy moms! It dries quickly, so you can pull it out, do a little bit, put it away, and let it dry. It won’t be ruined by working on it in short bursts.
I got started with a simple watercolour palette.
3. Blogging
Blogging is another great hobby to work on in little snippets of time. You don't necessarily need to be sitting at your computer. I find working on my computer doesn't work well with toddlers around because they want bang on the keys and “do work” too!
I often write blog posts into my phone using voice-to-text. Writing has always felt like a great way to release what's on my mind and, hopefully, serve someone else.
If blogging is something you want to try, leave me a comment and let me know. I love chatting with other women at the beginning of their blogging journey! It took me so long to get into and stick with, mostly because I was afraid of what other people would think.
4. Crocheting
I come from a family of knitters, so it's a bit funny that I have chosen to crochet instead. I find crocheting works especially well for busy moms because you don't need to worry about dropping a bunch of stitches and losing all your hard work. You only have one stitch on your hook at a time.
A lot of crochet projects are also really small. I started off making granny squares. I just looked up tutorials on YouTube. Crochet also requires minimal supplies. All you need is a ball of yarn and a hook to get started!
5. Embroidery.
I started with a simple embroidery kit from Amazon. This was an inexpensive way to get all the supplies I needed. Embroidery is another craft that you can work on in small chunks of time and easily pack away.
You can embroider clothing and home decor or simply work on a sampler that will never see the light of day.
pin for later:
Encouragement for Moms Who Want to Create
Again, you don’t need to monetize a craft for it to be valuable. Its okay if you never create items to sell or make money from a hobby. You also don’t need to try to get your projects done as quickly as possible.
As someone motivated by achievements, I often have trouble keeping my hobbies fun. I start a new creative hobby hoping to relax and enjoy myself, but I end up trying to produce a high volume of projects or perfect my craft. I find making up rules or setting unrealistic goals sucks the joy right out of it!
For further inspiration on creating as a mom, I recommend one of my favourite books: Create Anyway by Ashlee Gadd
Do you have a favourite hobby that works well within your schedule as a mom, let me know in the comments! If you’ve been blessed and encouraged today, please send this post to a friend.
