Tired of trying to win at restrictive New Year’s resolutions that focus on fixing the “bad” in your life? I’m embarking on a new tradition full of analog fun, and you can too! The distant (and not-so-distant) past is full of hobbies, and in honor of 2026, these are 26 oft-forgotten ones worth giving a go.
Lace Making
Lace making has a long, varied history, with different regions around the world developing unique styles and techniques that are cherished today. From tatting and needle lace to bobbin and torchon lace, there are so many styles worth dabbling in.
Intimidated by traditional lace making? Knitting and crochet has their own lace making techniques that might suit your current skill level better.
Velvet Embossing
With an iron, a spray bottle, and a rubber stamp, you can bring some of the most stunning textile decorations to life. Velvet embossing is the lux kind of practice that feels too skilled to try but is far more accessible than you think.
Whittling
We’re taking pick-up sticks to a whole new level in 2026. Whittling is a classic pastime, especially fitting for you if you’re trying to uphold a no-buy or low-buy challenge this year. With a knife and a stick in hand, you can give some backyard carving a go.
@werewolfcarver Tips on how to carve wood - a few basic cuts. A woodcarving tutorial for beginners - master easy whittling quickly! #woodcarving #carving #carvingwood #whittling #carvingtutorial #whittlingwood #whittlingtutorials #woodcarvings #basswood #woodcraft #handmade #craft Happy - TimTaj
Seed Saving
If your green thumb knows no bounds, you’re the perfect candidate for seed saving. This hobby involves collecting and cataloging seeds from wild, garden, and household plants. Think of it like forming your own personal seed bank!
Mudlarking
What do trinkets, treasure hunting, and the outdoors have in common? Reduce mudlarking to its very essence, and you’re left with these quaint characteristics. But what is mudlarking, exactly?
Mudlarking is the practice of heading to a historic shoreline and sifting through the exposed mud for long-lost trinkets and treasures. The most famous mudlarking community sifts through the River Thames, discovering all sorts of worn glass, pipes, and other historic items lost to the tides.
@graceegandiary One of the coolest things I will ever do. I am very, very lame. #mudlarking #historytok original sound - albert_cancook
Mudlarking permissions vary from region to region, so check with your local waterway authorities and/or private landowners before embarking on your first adventure.
Dorset Button Making
If you’re in the market for a hobby you can start and finish in a few hours, you have to give Dorset buttons a try. Hailing from a few hundred years ago and across the pond, these decorative stitched buttons are ideal projects for when you have an hour or two to kill.
Grab some perle cotton thread, a needle, and a cabone ring (or something similar), and you’re ready to get started.
Sweetgrass Basket Weaving
My family stretches back for generations in central South Carolina, and I’ve been blessed to experience the rich cultural practices of the Gullah Geechee coastal communities. One of my favorites is sweetgrass basket weaving, which takes advantage of the abundant native flora like sweetgrass and pine needles and weaves them into intricate patterns and shapes.
Sweetgrass basket weaving does have a higher barrier to entry than some hobbies on this list, so it might not be the first one you tackle.
@expeditionsubsahara Basket weaving #asmr We use sweetgrass and recycled plastic to create our baskets. #baskets #blackownedbusiness #blackowned #handmade original sound - expeditionsubsahara
Woodblock Printing
Interested in something extra old-school? Woodblock printing is an ancient East Asian technique that involves carving images into woodblocks, covering them with ink, and pressing the print onto paper or textiles.
If you’re in the market for a more advanced artistic hobby that combines multiple forms, woodblock printing is a great choice.
Foraging
Grab your tall socks and water bottles, because I’m taking things outside.
While hobbies are often indoor activities, there are a ton of options that get your blood pumping and check off your daily quota of Vitamin D. Foraging takes advantage of your local environment, teaching you to explore your backyard with fresh eyes.
Since foraging focuses on collecting wild food like berries that are safe to consume, there is some risk, especially with amateur foragers. Thus, you may want to keep your collections off your plate until you’ve seriously developed your foraging skills.
Playing Croquet
When I think of old sports, croquet immediately comes to mind. What’s more entertaining than striking a giant mallet against a ball in your backyard? Incredibly, you can still buy croquet sets at your local sports and/or hardware stores.
If you’re competitive like me, then a hobby like croquet might be right up your alley.
Croquet might have you reminiscing about a certain competitive scene in Bridgerton. However, their game is actually a precursor to croquet called Pall Mall — not to be confused with the popular cigarette brand.
Related: 50 Old-Timey Activities to Kickstart Your Slowmaxxing Summer
Practicing Pedestrianism
If your boots were made for walking, you were born to participate in Pedestrianism.
Pedestrianism is one of those strange activities that give Victorians their weird reputation. Essentially, it’s competitive long-distance walking focused on breaking duration and distance records. While you won’t find any pedestrian competitions to enter nowadays, you can set your own goalposts to meet throughout the year.
Bell Ringing
As a child, my two favorite parts of the Christmas Eve church service were lighting a taper candle and watching the bell ringers perform. Bell ringers, you say? Yes, it was basically the Hershey’s chocolate kisses holiday bell commercials, but with people instead of chocolates.
Traditionally, bell ringers performed a variety of compositions by pulling the ropes on large church bells. Today, people use easier-to-manage handbells to create their tinkling melodies.
Signature Quilting
While quilting is alive and well in 2026, signature quilts aren’t as common as they were in the 19th century. Signature quilts were a beautiful way for people to commemorate special events like weddings or graduations, as well as to keep track of family genealogy. For some families, signature quilts were synonymous with family bibles in the way they kept a running record.
If you see big milestones in your future, starting a signature quilt might be the perfect 2026 project for you!
Foot Juggling
If juggling is a little too upright for you, might we interest you in a bit of foot juggling? This circus-ready sport will have you flat on your back and kicking things into the air like the most curious landlocked synchronized swimmer.
Sure, foot juggling isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not for you.
Pole Sitting
If planking could get its 15 minutes of fame, pole sitting deserves to have its moment in the spotlight, too. Pole sitting was an endurance exercise as absurd as planking that captivated people in the 1920s.
The premise? Find a pole, shimmy your way to the top, and wait as long as you can ala Survivor style.
While this isn’t the most practical hobby for 2026, it’s one I’m surprised hasn’t gone viral just yet.
It might be the ‘20s again but be mindful and respectful of property laws in your area before recreating this century-old pastime.
Papercutting
Toddlers love taking a pair of safety scissors to construction paper, and that is some wholesome happiness worth taking into 2026 with you.
The method? Papercutting.
Papercutting is a unique art form that creates scenes by cutting out shapes in paper and arranging them in a particular way. If you loved cutting out paper snowflakes as a child, you’ll equally enjoy this foray into professional papercutting.
Crafting Hairwork
Victorians have popped in and out of this list for a good reason. They were one creative bunch! A popular macabre art form during the Victorian period was hairwork, often used to make memento mori tokens.
This hairwork uses similar techniques to lace making and does require significant education. However, with some practice and a good instruction manual, you’ll have braided brooches in no time!
@hairanthropology Hairwork isn’t fast, but that’s what makes it meaningful. Every braid is a slow, deliberate act of remembrance. What you see in seconds takes hours to do, guided by years of practice, patience, and care. Time is the real cost. And the real gift. #hairwork #sentimental #crafttok #heirloom #victorianfashion #fiberart #handmadejewelry #braidinghair original sound - Zen - Victorian Hairwork
Netting
Long before Bass Pro Shops had everything you could need and more, people used to handmake fishing nets. Netting techniques weren’t only used to craft aquatic tools but for fashion textiles as well.
Crafters followed various instructions to knot thread into the desired patterns, and you can still find these instruction manuals on resale sites today.
Figurine Painting
Figurine painting might have been a niche — albeit nerdy — pastime in the 1980s, but with Dungeons and Dragons and ‘80s nostalgia at an all-time high, there’s never been a more perfect time to take a tiny paintbrush to an itty-bitty mage.
If precision work is in your wheelhouse, add figurine painting to your 2026 to-do list.
Chair Caning
If you feel your heart race a little bit at the beautiful rattan furniture that catches your eye at the antique store, you’re not alone. I love cane furniture and was fascinated to discover that it’s a handwoven art form you can try at home.
Playing Card Games Like Bridge & Rummy
My great-grandparents were born at the turn of the century, and they didn’t believe much in downtime. However, when they did take a rest, they always broke out a deck of cards to play Bridge, Rummy, or some other card game.
While card games like War, Spoons, and Slaps were all the rage in my adolescence (I played a mean game of five-card draw as an eighth grader), Bridge and Rummy weren’t nearly as popular.
But my fellow game night fans will know how quickly a new game can become a group hit in just a few rounds.
Playing Hacky Sack
As a '90s kid, I’m embarrassed to say that I completely forgot about hacky sacks until just recently (despite every floppy-haired teenage boy I knew breaking theirs out between class change).
But much like yo-yoing or paddleball, mastering the hacky sack is super satisfying and the perfect low-cost solo hobby for 2026.
Practicing Pelmanism
Pelmanism may sound like a mysterious hobby, but it’s not nearly as mystical as you’d think. Devised by the Pelman Institute, this mental training method hones your aptitude by finding matching pairs of cards.
Yes, it’s just a matching game. But it sounds much cooler to tell people you’re honing your mental fortitude using the Pelmanism technique than to say you’re playing a memory-matching game with your nieces and nephews.
Card Making
From Victorian Christmas cards to darling mid-century valentines, so many of us long for the days of old and their superior greeting card offerings. And you know what they say; if you want a thing done well, do it yourself.
Arm yourself with a glue stick, craft knife, some fun magazines, and die-cuts to create paper shapes, and you can bring your own custom holiday cards to life.
Carving Fruit Instruments
If the sound of a slide whistle gives you the giggles, this whacky hobby is for you. There’s nothing wilder than whipping out a carrot flute or a cucumber clarinet, and with some careful hollowing and carving, you can make your own culinary orchestra.
Flower Pressing
Pressing flowers feels like an idyllic, whimsical hobby pulled straight from the pages of Anne of Green Gables. Anyone with a passing flower fancy can press wildflowers to keep for years to come. And flowers aren’t the only thing you can press! Victorians loved their fern collecting, after all.
@hydraulis Replying to @ew let’s learn how to press flowers! Here are my favorite techniques. #pressedflowers #driedflowers #crafttutorial #flowerart #fyp #crafttok lovers’ carvings - Bibio
New Year, New Hobby
Now that we’re closer to 2030 than 2020, it’s time to shake things up! New year’s resolutions are a thing of the past, but new year’s hobbies are where it’s at.
