My First Terrific Experience Of Woodworking In Malaysia

This Malaysian’s first women’s woodworking in Malaysia conducted by Aida Ihsani is an opportunity for you to discover what woodworking is all about.

This post was updated in June 2023. AdiAida has been rebranded to Aida Ihsani. Aida established Malaysia’s First Women’s Woodworking Workshop as part of ADIAIDA and now is flying solo leading her woodworking workshop to inspire all women from different walks of life.

I’ve been wanting to participate in some sort of woodworking in Malaysia. Back in France, I found it much more difficult to find a decent, affordable one. The price was just sometimes way over the roof.

I stumbled upon Aida Ihsani while scrolling through Instagram one day. I did a little research on what her workshop was all about, and god; I fell in love with it.

About Aida Ihsani

She is a superwoman and also the furniture maker! She offers you a carpentry workshop to build cool projects like a jewelry organizer, bookshelf, a workshop trolley that could store your tools and kits, and other cool stuff!

She offers two categories of woodworking sessions: women woodworking workshop or, if you’re looking for a fun day with your colleagues at work, you can also choose the corporate woodworking session.

What I like about Aida’s sessions is that you don’t have to be an expert in woodworking to participate in one of her sessions. You just need to be you.

Imagine building something you want for your house or personal space with your hands! Just scroll through creative woodworking on Pinterest and drool on.

My husband and I tried the Couple Workshop (launched by AdiAida back then), and I thought it could be a fun session to spend with my partner.

Hands On and Get Crafty

We spent our Saturday afternoon building a jewellery box for one another. Each of us had our project to build.

To kick off the class, Aida showed us all the tools that we were using throughout the entire class. It was simple and easy to understand.

We then moved to our working tables and were given a wood set to chamfer, polish, assemble and finally, try not to ruin it.

It was sweaty, and I was a little bit (read: sooooo) nervous. Imagine holding tools for the first time and figuring out their functions! At first, I felt slightly lost, but Aida was lovely. She helped us out and guided us step by step. And once I get a hang of it, I was off building my jewellery box.

On top of that, she made us feel at home and DEFINITELY made me fall in love with her dessert, which I can’t recall the name of.

We were hammering nails, trying not to mar the wood. Glueing pieces of wood to keep it in place, we chamfer the sides of the wood. My favourite part was polishing the wood. It was weirdly satisfying to feel how the wood went from a rough, edgy surface to a smooth baby bum-like surface.

It felt like a victory when I was done with my product. So proud of myself. I couldn’t believe that my jewellery box turned out well.

Woodworking in Malaysia – Bucket List Checked!

The day was spent really well. Honestly, it is my first hands-on workshop, and it was great. I felt much more confident by the end of the class. It is always a scary thing when we first do it. But once we get a hang of it, it’ll be alright 🙂

The location was easy to find, with tons of parking. So no need to worry about that. You will have so much fun learning from Aida, as she will always help and guide you on what to do next.

If you want to have fun and kick-start your woodworking in Malaysia, I recommend taking up one of her sessions. I would return one day to join another session and have fun with other ladies.