Hobbies I Tried in Quarantine
Baking, yoga, jewelry making, you name it!
I can’t believe it’s been a year since we’ve been in quarantine and this is my third semester online! I miss campus so much, I miss hanging out with friends in class and our design studio, and I miss just being in a classroom. When coronavirus hit, IU quickly shut down and extended our spring break by a week — I remember how excited we all were about the extra vacation! Little did we know that a 2 week shutdown would turn into almost 3 semester of online learning!
At first it was nice to just relax and not do anything. But, after spending almost every second indoors and binging as many Netflix shows as possible, I quickly started going insane. So, I started hunting for new hobbies. I tried so many different hobbies, haha — some were short lived while some stuck a little longer. If you are looking for ways to pass time, try something new, or learn a new skill — here’s some of the hobbies I tried during quarantine!
1. Baking 🍰
Like every other millennial, I also became a professional baker during quarantine. I remember in the first few weeks of quarantine, my instagram was exploding with stories and posts of home-made focaccia and banana bread, so I had to get on the bandwagon, haha! Turns out everyone had the same idea, because grocery stores was out of yeast for weeks! My favorite thing that I baked was a mango pie — it was so amazing! Here’s the recipe incase anyone wants to try it out (would 10/10 recommend).
2. Making clay earrings 💎
This was actually so fun! I was inspired to try making polymer clay earrings after seeing one of my friends try it and post on Instagram — in fact, she enjoyed doing it so much that she started selling them and now has a little side business doing it! They are relatively easy to make at home but do take a little finesse and practice — it is essentially just rolling out the clay, cutting them into different shapes with cookie cutters, baking the clay, and then assembling them. However, this hobby was probably my most short lived hobby, haha — I think I got demotivated after messing up my first batch, but I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot! I think I got all the supplies on Amaozon for under $25, so it’s not very expensive either! If you’re interested, check out this link:
3. Working out 🤸♀️
Before quarantine, I honestly barely worked out. I struggled to get myself to the gym in between or after classes and also felt really intimidated at the gym or in group fitness classes. In quarantine, I tried doing home workout videos and loved it! I tried a few different programs, apps, and YouTubers, but loved Lilly Sabris workout videos on YoutTube the most. I love her personality and the variety of workouts she has on her YouTube channel. I’m currently doing her 14 day Summer Shred program and I love it!
4. Yoga & Meditation 🧘♀️
This is a recent one that I’m still trying to cultivate a habit of. Everyone I know who does yoga and meditates swears by it and so many teach CEO’s have recommended it too as the one thing that keeps them sane in the midst of their busy and stressful lives, so I really wanted to try and get into it. In the past when I’ve tried meditation, I got really bored but the app Headspace does an amazing job of easing you into the practice and I’m starting to enjoy it more lately (they have a student subscription for $10/yr). I’ve also started doing daily yoga and I love it the feeling of starting my day with yoga. I’m currently challenging myself to do a 30 day yoga program because… why not? haha. I’m on Day 8 and I have noticed a difference in my balance, strength, and flexibility already! The program below is what I’m doing and would highly recommend it for beginners if you’re curious!
5. Gardening 🌱
I tried my hand at gardening, and let’s just say I was semi successful at it. I love the look of plants, but I hate how much work it takes to maintain them. But, I wanted to give it a try. We have a balcony at our apartment, so I started with outdoor plants. This didn’t go so well — no matter how much I tried, all my outdoor plants died. I even killed a succulent, which are supposedly impossible to kill (I disagree). I then tried indoor plants, and I was successful!! I don’t really know what I did differently, but I’m not complaining. I downloaded an app called Planta which helped me A TON — you add your plants on to the app and it sends you notifications when you need to water your plants, which is great if you have plants on different watering schedules!
Quarantine sucks, but I am glad that it pushed me to try hobbies that I might not have otherwise had the time to try.
