Everyone should have a hobby; if you don’t have one, maybe you should start looking… Spending time on doing something you really enjoy is not only relaxing and good for your health, but can also provide some extra income, if you decide to monetise it. Amsterdam is quite an inspiring city — the bohemian atmosphere will give birth to many creative ideas and you’ll need some supplies to put them into practice. It’s not easy to find the shops, especially if you moved here from another country; I know that because I had some difficulties finding what I needed when I first moved to Amsterdam, because many of the websites are (or were, a few years ago) in Dutch only, and I didn’t know how to look for them. Nowadays things are much simple and the number of shops is a decent one, not to mention that after the pandemic most of them made it possible to order online.

Below is a list with shops in Amsterdam where you can find supplies for all your hobbies and creative activities (updated 2024):

Art supplies

• Van Beek Art Supplies — this is a dream shop for artists! It has everything you need as an artist, be it art supplies (such as canvases, brushes, acrylic paint or clay), drawing materials, paper, aerosols with paint, graphics, design and presentation materials or frames. There are a few Van Beek shops in Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands, but the one on Stadhouderskade is the first one, open in 1895! A lovely shop to visit!
• Van der Linde — art supplies and craft materials, from paint for every medium to clay and design materials
• Gerstaecker — great variety of painting and drawing supplies; also workshops
• Vlieger — paper & art supplies (envelopes, foam board, plastics, book binding materials and much more). This shop’s story goes back to 1869 and it’s an interesting one (you can read it on their website).

Various assortiment

• Pipoos has a variety of materials, for every hobby, for adults and kids alike. From beads, to decoupage, to making soap or painting, you can find everything in this shop. When I visit Pipoos I feel like a child in the candy shop, and I want to start every hobby possible. It is a place where one could find an interesting gift as well, so check it out when you are without ideas. The shop in Amsterdam is located on Ceintuurbaan, but there are shops in many cities in the Netherlands (and online, of course)
• Koud Kunstje, close to Westerkerk — deco-patch paper, glitter, paint, pencils, mosaic and kits for DIY decorative objects or gifts
• H. Bruinink — a big assortment of hobby materials.
• Crafts&Co — various items like miniature buildings, journaling and scrapbooks, textiles.

Modelling and games

• The Luchtvaart Hobby Shop or “The Aviation Store“, on Molenweg 249 — aviation books, aircraft scale modelling, aircraft model collections, flight simulation, pilot supplies and aircraft videos
• Harlaar Modeltreinen — a model trains shop, with everything you need for this hobby (trains, scenery, rails) and also cars models
• Warhammer – is the place for games miniatures. You can buy here all the materials you need for painting miniatures and some more
• het Paard — chess and other games
• A Space Oddity — action figure toy shop.

Beads

• Beadies on Huidenstraat 6 — everything for jewellery making
• Beadazzled — in De Pijp, jewellery and accessories materials
• Coppenhagen — beads and all the other necessary ingredients for jewellery making.

Knitting, embroidery, tailoring

• Weldraad — a unique collection of wool and yarns, fabrics and buttons, all fair-trade and environmentally friendly
• Jan de Grote Kleinvakman — a small hidden shop at the Albert Cuyp market, a heaven for seekers of tailoring materials, but not only
• Hooks and Yarn – a shop on Haarlemmerdijk where you can buy everything you need for knitting, crocheting or embroidery, from an impressive wool collection to knitting hooks and books.
• Knopenwinkel (The Button Shop) — an impressive collection of buttons in all shapes and sizes
• Studio Handmade Heaven — mainly macramé. They also offer a good selection of workshops
• De Afstap — knitwear and embroidery (materials and courses)
• Stephen and Penelope — yarn boutique, selling yarn, tools, books and magazines
• Undercover Otter — sustainable yarn, fibres, haberdasheries.

DIY cosmetics

• De Kruiderie — ingredients for self made cosmetics and natural remedies (online shop)
• Soap Queen — online shop for hand made soap products
• DIYS Soap — here you can buy raw ingredients and DIY kits, or attend one of the workshops. You can also buy ready made products (hand-made, zero waste, recycled and sustainable). They moved to Leiden recently but you can still order online.
• Olie Meesters — oils and waxes for hand-made cosmetics (not in Amsterdam but you can order online).

Mosaic

Mozaiek Lagarto — mosaic making materials and workshops, in Spaarndammerbuurt. Lagarto is the Spanish name for lizard, and the owner Janna Hagen chose it because her adventures with mosaics started in Spain, with Gaudi’s beautiful lizard at the entrance of Parc Güell in Barcelona.

Other

• De Posthumus Winkel — This is an amazing shop for stamps, beautiful paper, envelopes, inks of all colours and sealing wax.

In the end, let’s not forget that even at “regular” shops like Hema, Blokker or IKEA there is a lot of raw material to be found for hand-made crafts.

It’s a long list, and I hope everyone can find what they are looking for on it. Some of the websites are in Dutch only, but Google Translate is an expat’s best friend; also, once you have the address you can easily make a trip to the shop and ask for advice directly. I hope you’ll find some interesting nuggets among these, and if there are any that I missed, please feel free to suggest them in a comment.

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