365 Ways to Live Happy (25 page)
Consider your hobby as a way to raise funds for your favorite cause. Let's say you paint wooden ornaments and tie them with red ribbon to hang on Christmas trees. You fashion napkin rings out of Christmas dried floral items, wire, and floral tape. Or, you make wind chimes out of spoons or little Mexican crosses. You make birdhouses, sew placemats, or breed orchids. Think of four or more ways you could spin off your hobby into fundraising. For example, you could:
Host or participate in a holiday boutique
Approach a hospital to organize a silent auction to purchase a piece of equipment
Sell your item through your own website
Auction your items on an online auction site and donate the proceeds
When you feel passionate about your hobby, nothing gets your creative juices flowing like attending a convention or a trade show. From scrap-booking to cooking, quilting, designing (everything from furniture and boats to clothing), and collecting (wine, coins, stamps, sports or movie memorabilia, religious items, dishware, glassware, or virtually anything), you'll likely find a trade show for it. Locate one for your hobby by searching the Internet or perusing magazines and newsletters for enthusiasts who share your passion about your particular hobby and for discovering the latest and greatest innovations or products. Many industry trade shows and conventions are for wholesale buyers only, but some do welcome hobbyists and the general public.
Hobbies can be an expensive enterprise. Take photography, for example. Cameras and lenses can cost a small fortune. Oil painters have a similar problem if they want high-quality paint and premium canvases. But if you have time and persistence, you can often find items you need for your hobby at competitive prices on the Internet. Teaming up with others who share your interest in a particular hobby can sometimes help you get a better price because you can buy in bulk. Search for those good deals and share them with your friends and colleagues. Buy two for one when possible, such as tubes of oil paint or bags of beads, and look for other ways to reduce your cost of buying hobby materials.
If you and your friends enjoy the occasional glass of wine, consider forming a club. Host monthly blind tastings and share information about oenology or the science of viniculture. Before each meeting, decide on one type of wine you will taste that session, for example, pinots, cabernet sauvignons, burgundies, chardonnays, sauvignon blancs, zinfandels, or something different. Have each person bring a bottle of the selected wine and one appetizer to share with everyone. Place each bottle in a paper bag with a number. Put out pencils and note cards so guests can write remarks about each numbered bottle they taste. You might even suggest a trip together to Napa or other wine region to visit the wineries and taste some great wine. Learn to pair wines with good food and for a heightened culinary experience.
If you like to dabble in watercolor, take your paints with you on your next vacation. You'll also need paper, a tablet, a stack of cards made for watercolor painting, or a sketch/paint book. When you return home from your sojourns into the world, you'll enjoy looking at your paintings and remembering the places you visited. You'll probably remember more details about your vacation travels long after your trip is over. You might even decide to frame a few of your works of art for yourself or as gifts for others.
Indulge your interest in photography by planning your own photo junket to Europe's most beautiful and historic cities. These days, cameras come in all sizes and weights, so there's no reason not to take one or more of them along. Many of the newest digital models enable you to take professional-quality photos in a rapid sequence. All you need to do is point and click. Once you have taken a variety of stunningly beautiful pictures of Paris, London, Prague, and other legendary cities, simply remove the camera chip and slip it into your computer. E-mail them to your family and friends who'll think you are simply amazing. And, of course, you are.
If you are a budding Henry Ford and you love tinkering with automobiles, take your hobby to a new level. Enlist the help of a friend and build your own vehicle from a car kit. Be aware of the fact that some kits may supply many, but not necessarily all, of the parts and materials that you will need to complete the project. An engine, for example, may have to be harvested from another automobile in a junkyard or acquired from an online source if it is not included in your kit. Some of the best-known kit cars are the Lotus 7 and the AC Cobra. In fact, the manufacturer of Lotus started out as a maker of kit cars. But you probably already knew that, didn't you?
You know your way around the kitchen and you've experimented with a recipe or two to make them even tastier. Organize or participate in a local bake sale. Or, this summer head off with your special culinary creation to your county fair. Get some validation for your incredible baking skills. Wouldn't it be great to be able to say your razmadoodle pie was judged the best in your entire county? Sure it would. And that blue ribbon would give you bragging rights for years to come. And it's not beyond possibility that magazine editors, ingredient producers, and organizers of national bake-off competitions might call on you with invitations for you to share your secrets. You might want to start practicing your Food Network smile.
What kinds of things do you find yourself drawn to at flea markets, country fairs, white elephant sales, auctions, recycle shops, roadside sales, and in long-forgotten boxes in attics and basements? One of the easiest ways to start a collection is by acquiring something that attracts you, perhaps because of its historical significance, beauty, or value. Whether it's amber jewelry, salt and pepper shaker sets from the turn of the century, furniture with hammered tin doors, old postcards, Victorian serving utensils, or something else that captures your fancy, use it to start a collection. Set a budget for your collection, make space in your home for it, expand what you know about your collectible, and network with others who buy and sell that item. Then spend many happy hours searching for items to add to your collection.