Rediscover An Old Crafting Project Or Find A New Hobby Like Drawing

New Year's Resolutions are beautiful and sparkly ideals that come to life on January 1st each year. Sadly, many New Year's Resolutions are so lofty that people are destined to fail right off the bat. Of course it is wonderful to set yourself on the right track by deciding to find a new job, lose weight, meet new friends, meet your soul mate, start a new hobby, finish an old project, or whatever your goal may be. However, do not get so caught up in the frenzy of over committing to your New Year's Resolution 180% to only set yourself up for disappointment. Many experts can give you great advice on how to start a new diet or find the best college this year, but my suggestion is to start with a more realistic goal, such as bringing more enjoyment to your leisure time. I love Anne Shirley's saying about how we can start each new day without regrets, which is far more realistic than many head in the cloud New Year's Resolutions. Decide this year you will finish an old crafting project, or start a new hobby to add quality to the quality of your free time. For goodness sakes, stop watching the clock and enjoy your life for a couple of hours at least! Spending time at the computer can be a fun and wonderful thing, but do any of us feel like maybe we could spend less time with the computer, cell phone, or TV? Use this New Year to finish an old crafting project or start a new one as a way to give new life to your imagination. I love how Graeme Edge, the drummer of the Moody Blues, once said that when you watch even the best movie it becomes stale after few or five viewings, but how listening to a song is much more creative because you become involved in the story line. The same is true for creating a beautiful painting, dusting off your laptop and finally setting aside time to write that book, or just taking the time to learn how to make simple jewelry. The added bonus of tackling a small, but enjoyable arts and crafts project means you will have far more motivation and drive to reach your bigger goals in life. Remember, all work and no play makes the Johns and Janes of the world very dull people, so grab a sketch pad, writing pad, beads, or whatever your addiction may be to discover some great new/old arts and crafts projects.

Start creating art for your own walls this year by drawing pictures of things you love and enjoy. For instance, if you love Hawaiian or tropical settings like I do, then you could find some beautiful pictures of sunsets to sketch. Decide if you prefer colored pencils, drawing pencils, charcoals, paints, oil pastels, or a mixture of all these mediums. Creating art for your own walls is so much less restrictive than taking an art class where the professor often tells you what to draw, but taking art classes this year can be a great way to start out if you want a few new ideas. Art classes are also a great way to meet new people, which kills to birds with one stone for those of us looking for new friends, and maybe new paramours.  If going to an art class would conflict with your work schedule, or maybe you are too busy at home with the kids to go to brick and mortar classes. The good news is that with the world of online education you can take art classes online through schools such as the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

My philosophy is: why pay twenty-five dollars for a bracelet you could make for a fraction of the price! Making your own jewlery does not only menan you save your money,but it is also a great way to relax and to express your own personality. When you buy a piece of jewelry at a department store it will reflect the ideas of the manufacturer, but when you create it from scratch it will speak for you and you alone. One thing I love about jewelry making is I can create unique and beautiful pieces in all colors to go with all of my outfits, which is much cheaper than if I went to Kohl's of JcPenny's to buy a few pieces. Do not get me wrong I think there are some beautiful pieces of jewelry at department stores, but I just prefer to create my own and not have someone else tell me how it should look.

Making jewelry is simple and to begin with you will only need a few supplies, such as:

• beading wire (memory wire is best)
• elastic cord
• a variety of beads
• pendants
• buttons (you can turn these into pendants and beads)
• wire cutters
• crimping pliers
• jewelry pliers
• crimp beads
• barrel clasps (my favorite type of clasps)
• any other jewelry supplies you can think of

The other day I received an email from a Hubpages user asking where I buy my beads, so I shared that I prefer to go to places such as Michael's Jo'ann's Fabrics, or Walmart to find jewelry making supplies, but you can also order these online from companies such The Beadery.  This company is actually  manufacturer of many of the beads I like to buy at Walmart and Jo'ann's Fabrics. One reason I really like The Beadery company is because many of their beads are produced in the US, which helps our local economy in these unsure economic times. The Beadery does specialize in making beads that appeal to adults, but another wonderful thing about their company is that many of their beads actually appeal to beginning crafters such as kids. Another wonderful way to start a new hobby this year is by sharing this with your kids, which is something that is easy to do when you can find beads that are suitable for little hands. So start a new hobby or rediscover a new one this year, but do not forget to have fun!