The Best “Granny Hobbies” I’ve Actually Tried (and Loved)

As a lover of all things crafting, handiwork, gardening, and baking; the fact that “granny hobbies” are trending is unbelievably exciting to me. I even wrote an article on the topic recently for Better Homes & Gardens, which was a blast to dive into.

I’ve always loved being creative and making things with my hands. It started with drawing and painting when I was a kid, then baking and cake decorating as a pre-teen. In university I started exploring writing and gardening/houseplants, and my twenties have been filled with various endeavours from bread making to sewing and embroidery to gardening and everything in between.

One of my most impactful “granny hobbies,” growing and caring for houseplants, even helped launch my freelance writing career with The Spruce and get me to where I am today. So you never know what will come from shamelessly pursuing your passions!

If you’re looking to take up a “granny hobby” for yourself, I have quite a comprehensive list of interesting, mindful, and rewarding ones that I’ve personally tried (and loved). Read on for my favourites, plus tips for getting started!

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Embroidery

Embroidery is a classic granny hobby that has come back into style. If you love intricate handiwork, you’ll love this delicate hobby. Personally, it’s one of my favourites and the best part is that it’s pretty easy to learn with minimal supplies required. I’ve used embroidery to add decals to clothing, create DIY Christmas gifts, and craft artwork for my walls. I love how mindful this hobby is, and the detailed results. All you need is some fabric, an embroidery hoop, thread, a needle, and some inspiration to get started!

Sewing

Knowing how to sew is like a superpower. There’s truly no overstating how handy a basic knowledge of sewing is. I’ll admit that it can feel overwhelming and intimidating to get started, and trust me; I’m still learning, but for the most part everything is pretty straightforward. You don’t even need an expensive machine to get you started. If you don’t already have a sewing machine, try scouring Facebook marketplace for affordable secondhand options, or check Amazon for a starter machine (that’s where I got mine!).

As for actually learning how to sew, there are endless resources online to help you get started. Once you get the hang of it, sewing is a skill set that can be used in multiple ways, from practical applications like alterations and patching to sewing your own clothes and fun hobby projects. Since I’m still getting started I have yet to tackle anything huge, but I love sewing small items like pillowcases, bandannas for my dog, and dolls/doll clothing for my girls!

Handmade Toys

Making my kids toys has been an unexpected joy in my life. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as making something with your hands and watching the people you love enjoy it on a daily basis. So far, I’ve tried DIY felt food, dolls (see below), and felt animals, but there’s no shortage of options depending on your interests and skills. Since I love needlework and hand-sewing, felt creations were a natural fit, but you could also try wood-carving, painting, and more.

Doll Making

I got into making dolls a few years ago when I was searching for fun DIY Christmas gift ideas and stumbled upon the Studio Seren patterns. These adorable animal dolls look like something straight from Pinterest and they are surprisingly easy to make, too. All you need is a basic understanding of how to operate a sewing machine and a few yards of fabric, and the detailed Studio Seren patterns cover the rest. Of course, there are endless patterns you can choose from online if these dolls aren’t your vibe, but I think they’re so cute! So far, I’ve made five of them and I don’t have any plans of stopping!

Making Bread

It seems like almost everyone is dabbling in sourdough bread or bread making these days and I love it. My journey with sourdough started back in 2018 when a work friend of mine attended a sourdough basics class and passed along the knowledge, and some of her starter, to me. Since then, I’ve been baking sourdough like it’s going out of style, much to my husband and family’s delight. Since I eat gluten-free I don’t even eat the bread I make anymore – I just truly enjoy making it to share with family and friends!

With a lot of people getting into this hobby, there’s no shortage of inspiration and advice available online. My biggest recommendation for beginners is to start simple and not over complicate it. Sourdough can be incredibly easy to do, so don’t let what you see online intimidate you out of even trying it!

Baking

My passion for baking started when I was around 11 or 12. I’ve been gluten free for (almost) all my life, and I was determined to learn how to bake delicious gluten-free goods that would allow me to enjoy my favourite treats. Back then, the gluten free world looked nothing like it does today, and it was very hard to find yummy gluten free alternatives to basically anything, but especially treats like cakes, cookies, muffins, etc.

Since then, baking has been a steadfast part of my life, and I’ve expanded well into regular gluten-filled goods too. I’ve dabbled in pastry making, cakes, pies, cookies and muffins, and more. For me, baking is rewarding and mindless – all you need to do is follow the recipe! At the same time, baking does demand skill and you will acquire knowledge on the fundamentals of baking as you gain more experience.

I love being able to bake someone their favourite treat, make homemade birthday cakes for my kids and loved ones, and participate in holiday baking. Plus, I’ve never given up on my first passion for gluten free baking, it’s just a lot easier and more successful these days!

Gardening

I didn’t truly get into gardening until my husband and I bought our first home. By this point, I was already a few years into my houseplant obsession, so the transition to outdoor gardening was a natural one. Plus, our fixer upper home needed a lot of landscaping work.

Growing up both my mom and my dad were passionate about gardening and landscaping our homes, so I wasn’t starting from scratch knowledge-wise. However, there’s certainly still been a learning curve! Gardening is so versatile and there are so many ways you can do it, which is one of the reasons I love it. From vegetable gardens to container gardening to cut flower gardens, border gardens, and more – the opportunities are truly endless.

I love scrolling Pinterest for inspiration as well as browsing online gardening articles to learn more about techniques and best practices. Writing about gardening for a living doesn’t hurt either!

Cake Decorating

In hindsight, I started decorating cakes at a surprisingly young age. I can’t remember what initially sparked my interest, but it became a hyper-fixation of mine pretty quickly. Soon I was decorating elaborate cakes for all my sibling’s and family member’s birthdays.

I learned how to use fondant, make buttercream, ice a cake, pipe icing, and use candy and chocolate to create elaborate scenes (early cakes include a treasure chest filled with chocolate coins and a ski slope, I wish I had pictures).

Today, I love making cakes for my daughters’ birthdays and I’m always learning and trying to get better. Recently I think I finally nailed the perfect smooth, light, and creamy buttercream icing. After nearly 20 years, go figure!

If you’re interested in cake decorating, I HIGHLY recommend taking a beginner class to help teach you the basics. Cake decorating is a surprisingly intricate process with many factors that play into the perfectly decorated cake. In my experience, it can be tremendously frustrating at times, especially when something doesn’t work out at the last minute. I’d also recommend using boxed cake mixes, at least at first, to help speed up the process so you can practice your decorating skills more often. This will also help the whole thing feel less high pressure if the design or cake doesn’t work out. There’s nothing quite as crushing as spending hours baking the perfect from-scratch cake only to have it ruined at the end. Trust me.

If classes aren’t your thing there are so many cake decorating tutorials online as well. You could also try the sheet cake makeover trend, where you purchase a pre-decorated sheet cake from the grocery store and give it a makeover to test your skills.

Arranging Bouquets

Arranging bouquets has come naturally as I dive further into gardening. I’ll admit, this is one I’m still in the early stages of learning. However, I love displaying vases of fresh flowers in my home during the spring and summer months, so it only felt natural to start growing and arranging my own.

I’ve fully transitioned my vegetable garden to a cut flower garden, which I’m absolutely loving. If I’m honest, most of the vegetables I tried to grow went to waste anyways. I’ve been enjoying learning about the methods of flower arranging, and playing around with my own bouquet arrangements. It feels like a valuable life skill to have, somehow. Whether that’s true or not, I’m enjoying the process!

Growing Houseplants

Houseplants are such an important part of my life. Growing and caring for them is more than just a hobby for me, it’s a mindfulness practice too. They help me feel grounded in my space, I love caring for them, I feel happy when I see them thrive, and they quite literally helped launch a very successful freelance writing career for me. Luckily, getting started with houseplants is simple – head to the store, grab a plant you like, and just dive in!

My best advice to those who are new to growing houseplants is this: have patience, understand there will be a learning curve, and have fun with it. Oh, and also, you will kill some plants, it’s inevitable (we all do it). In fact, I just managed to give my large, beautiful ZZ plant root rot for the second time, so it happens.

Having a green thumb is a learned skill. It takes practice, being observant, and truly loving the process. So don’t give up if you kill your first plant! Simply take the lessons you learned the first time around and try again. Also, there are a ton of resources for houseplant growing online (trust me, I’ve written a lot of it!). Google is the houseplant lover’s best friend, whether you’re trying to figure out which plants you have or how to best care for them!

Macrame

I got into macrame so I could make macrame hangers for my plants, and I was delighted to discover how simple it is! If you ever made knotted friendship bracelets with embroidery string as a kid, macrame uses many of the same knots. Of course, you can get very advanced with macrame, too. However, something simple like a plant hanger is quick and easy to complete. This makes it a rewarding and fruitful hobby to try. All you need to do is make sure you know your knots!

Crafting a Dollhouse

Of course, I can’t forget my current hyper-fixation granny craft: restoring a dollhouse! Handcrafted dollhouses used to be a lot more common than they are today, and it’s such a lost art IMO.

However, as I’ve come to find out, the world of “miniatures” is actually vast, super skilled, and incredibly knowledgeable. You can find clever, in-depth tutorials on how to make almost anything in miniature for a dollhouse, from food made from polymer clay to popsicle stick flooring and handmade furniture. Plus, making a dollhouse can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. You can work on restoring a vintage dollhouse (Facebook marketplace is a great place to source them!), purchase and build a dollhouse kit, or renovate a simple dollhouse such as the IKEA FLISAT.

While it’s easy to go down a miniatures rabbit hole once you start (guilty!) don’t be afraid to keep it simple and low key to test the waters and see if it’s a project you’ll enjoy. Personally, I love how intricate the work is, and that you can chip away at it slowly. Even if you only have 15 minutes a day to dedicate to it, you’ll notice a difference quickly. It’s fun and rewarding, and BTW, you don’t even need to have kids to try it! Display dollhouses or miniature display boxes are totally cool too.