- If it’s been a while since you last took up some type of craft or a new hobby, try a kit that includes all the supplies to get you started.
- Whether you’re interested in learning to draw or canning your own pickles, you’ll find your new favorite crafting hobby here.
- Read more: The best knitting kits
We get it: you’re busy. Work, family, maintaining your home, occasional visits with friends – life has you up and running seemingly 24/7.
You could spend whatever’s left for some “me time” whether it be a Netflix marathon or playing a game on your phone. Or, you could take up a new craft or hobby that gives you a chance to develop your creativity and leads to a finished product that can continue to bring you joy every time you look at it or use it.
Learning a new craft is the gift that keeps on giving. It’s fun, you can improve your craft as you continue it, and you can make new friends who share the same interest. But if it’s hard to think of what you might want to try, here are the best craft kits that include all the supplies you need to kickstart your newest hobby.
Here are the best craft kits for adults:
- Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit, $34.99
- “Teach Yourself Visually: Crochet,” $16.39
- “The Polymer Clay Techniques Book,” $22.99
- “Lettering and Modern Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide,” $6.99
- Dimensions Needlepoint Kit, $15.48
- My DIY Garden, $35.50
- “You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less,” $11.75
- “Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days,” $17.10
- Dimensions Feltworks Kit, $13.99
- Craft in Style Box, $30
The best vegetable fermenting and pickling kit
If you can’t get enough of fermented foods such as pickled veggies, sauerkraut, and kimchi, make your own with the Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit.
You’ll get three specially-designed fermenting lids that fit onto standard wide-mouth canning jars, though you’ll have to buy jars separately. The lids let carbon dioxide escape while keeping mold and harmful bacteria out. You also get three glass weights to keep your veggies below the brine level for the best results and a pump to remove oxygen from the bottles.
Within a couple of weeks, you'll be enjoying your first batch of delicious pickles or other fermented fruits and veggies.
You also get full access to the "Fermenting Club," where you'll find recipes, instructional videos, fellow pickling fans, and everything you need to know to enjoy your new hobby.
The best book for learning crochet
With the easy instructions in "Teach Yourself Visually: Crochet" and a few supplies, you'll soon be making shawls, belts, hats, and even stuffed toys. With a little bit of know-how, a skein (roll) or two of yarn, and a crochet hook, the hours will fly by while your hands are busy creating.
While crocheting does take practice and patience, the two-page lessons, color photos of every step, detailed instructions, and thorough coverage of the basics will soon have you working the yarn like a pro.
The book covers basic stitches, advanced techniques, reading patterns, troubleshooting, choosing the right hook and yarn, edging your crocheted piece, and everything else you need to know as you advance in your skills. It also includes a wide range of patterns, including socks, sweaters, stuffed toys, and many other fun projects.
This set from LOOEN has all the crochet hooks you'll need for any project, plus stitch holders and counters, measuring tape, yarn needles, row counter, a handy carrying case, and more.
Add a dozen skeins of colorful yarn from Mira Handcrafts, which includes seven free ebooks loaded with patterns, and you're all set to start crocheting.
Mira Handcrafts 12 Yarn Skeins
Product Card Module: 12 Yarn Skeins Card size: button
"Teach Yourself Visually: Crochet"
The best book to learn how to sculpt with polymer clay
Unlike traditional clay, which comes from the earth, polymer clay is actually made of a moldable plastic that hardens in the oven - no kiln necessary. Nor do you need to paint or glaze the finished project, as you'll find polymer clay in a wide range of colors.
"The Polymer Clay Techniques Book" guides you through all the basics of working with this fun and versatile crafting material. You'll learn about color mixing, how to cut, carve, buff, and manipulate the clay, how to create millefiori and other types of beads, all about armatures, the basics of sculpting figures, and so much more.
By the end of the book, you'll be ready to move on to more advanced projects, such as those found in "Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay: Tools and Techniques for Sculpting Realistic Figures," which covers the basics before moving into the techniques involved in turning a lump of polymer clay into a realistic sculpture of a person or fantasy creature.
Before getting started, you'll need some polymer clay. The Sculpey III Multipack contains 10 vibrant colors, including red, yellow, blue, green, and brown, and is excellent for beginners.
"Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay: Tools and Techniques for Sculpting Realistic Figures"
Product Card Module: Katherine Dewey Card size: button
Sculpey III Multipack
Product Card Module: Classic Collection III Multipack Card size: button
"The Polymer Clay Techniques Book"
The best guide to hand lettering
Beautiful handwriting doesn't come about on its own: it takes practice. And really beautiful handwriting takes a bit of extra training in the art of calligraphy.
Here, you'll learn different styles for writing uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers, and the ways to connect those letters. Five projects at the end provide inspiration, but you'll also find plenty of ideas on Pinterest.
Soon you'll be posting your own framed, calligraphy sayings, or using your new skill for journaling or letter writing, or even making some extra money as a calligrapher.
In addition to the book, you'll need a set of hand lettering pens and tools. The Tombow Advanced Lettering Set includes everything you need to learn and improve at your new hobby: four colored brush pens, a blending pen, two calligraphy pens, a permanent marker, one drawing pencil, and an eraser.
Tombow Advanced Lettering Set
Product Card Module: Advanced Lettering Set Card size: button
"Lettering and Modern Calligraphy: A Beginner's Guide"
The best beginners needlepoint kit
It's easy to learn to needlepoint with a Dimensions Needlepoint Kit, and you'll enjoy the relaxing and mindful craft while creating a work of art ready to frame or turn into a pillow.
I first learned to needlepoint, embroider, and macramé back in third grade. Thanks, Mrs. Mauz! In the decades since then, I've finished several large needlepoint canvases, most of which I stitched while sitting through my son's several years of karate classes.
In fact, needlepoint is the perfect handicraft for such situations. It takes just enough focus to engage your mind, but it's very easy to pause and look up whenever necessary.
Dimensions Needlepoint Kits include everything you need to learn this simple needlecraft. You'll get a 5"x5" canvas pre-printed with a design, a needlepoint needle, enough embroidery floss or yarn to complete the pattern, and detailed instructions.
There are loads of designs to choose from, including an adorable ladybug that's perfect for beginners. But if that's not your thing, try a red poppy, a white horse, or colorful koi. They're easy enough for a newbie to needlepoint, are small enough to tuck in your purse or backpack, and will make nice framed wall hangings once completed.
The best gardening kit
If you have a green thumb but aren't always sure how to use it, you'll appreciate the monthly themed everything-you-need gardening kits from My DIY Garden.
With My DIY Garden, you a new box each month filled with everything you need - plants, soil, container, decorations, growing tips, and design directions - to create a themed garden.
Past themes include "The Art of Bonsai" and "Jungle in There," but every month brings something different. If you run out of room for more plants, these make great gifts as well.
The best book to teach yourself to draw
If you've ever wished your drawing skills surpassed stick figures, give it one month with "You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less," and your wish will be granted.
Whether you tackle one lesson per day for a month or spread the 30 lessons out over an entire year, the end result is the same. You might not end up with Da Vinci level skills, but you definitely will draw much, much better than when you started.
The lessons, which are written in a clear and fun style, build on each other, so by the end of the book, you'll have covered all of the basics of drawing, including shapes, shading, perspective, and foreshortening.
The book includes practice pages, but it's best to have a separate pad of drawing paper, such as the Strathmore Series 9x12 Sketchpad for extra practice as well as trying out the techniques in drawings of your own creation.
You'll also need good set of drawing pencils and tools. Try the Pro Art 18-Piece Drawing Set, which includes eight graphite pencils, three charcoal pencils, one sketch stick, two charcoal sticks, one pencil sharpener, one charcoal sharpener, one kneaded eraser, and one white plastic eraser.
Strathmore Series 9x12 Sketchpad
Product Card Module: Series 400 Sketch Pads (9 x 12, 2-Pack) Card size: button
Pro Art 18-Piece Drawing Set
Product Card Module: Pencil Set Sketch & Draw Card size: button
You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less
The best book for learning to paint with watercolors
You'll be creating lovely watercolor paintings in a month if you follow the easy, build-from-the-basics lessons contained in "Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days."
Go ahead and do a lesson every day, or spend more time and spread it out over as long a period as you'd like - either way, you won't believe your improved painting skills by the last lesson.
The book starts with the basics, including simple shapes and brushstrokes, and then slowly eases you into more advanced topics such as layering, blending, shadows, foreshortening, and perspective. Finally, you'll tackle a week's worth of landscapes that put all you've learned to practice.
Of course, you can't paint without supplies, so you'll want to include the Bianyo Professional Watercolor Set, which includes 30 watercolors, the Crafts 4 All Set of 12 Paintbrushes, and a Watercolor Sketchpad from Bellofy.
Bianyo Professional Watercolor Set
Product Card Module: Watercolor Set Card size: button
Crafts 4 All Set of 12 Paintbrushes
Product Card Module: Paint Brushes Card size: button
Watercolor Sketchpad
Product Card Module: Painting Paper Pad Card size: button
Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days
The best kit for wool felting
Wool felting is an easy craft, but quite versatile. With the Dimensions Feltworks Kit, you'll learn the basics of this fun hobby, plus have an adorable felted llama to keep or give as a gift.
Basically, you stab a ball of wool over and over again to create a fuzzy, cute figure, like an adorable penguin or a llama. The kit includes everything you need, including the felting needle, a felting mat, wool, embroidery needle, thread, and instructions.
Once you've learned the basics with the kit, you'll be ready to duplicate the many cute projects found on Pinterest and other crafting sites.
The best craft-of-the-month subscription
If variety is your middle name, you'll love the different projects included in each month's shipment from Craft in Style Box.
This subscription plan provides everything you need to complete the projects. Past projects include gilded dinosaur planters with air plants, chalkboard mason jars with hot chocolate, marbled stationery in a wooden desk calendar, seashell terrariums, and candle making.
You can cancel the subscription at any time, but with such a wide range of projects, the odds are good you'll be enjoying the Craft in Style Box for a long time.
