JUNE Crafty Night: FINDERS! KEEPERS!

 

 It was a sparse crew for Crafty Night last night. I blame summer & all the busy schedules---& the fact that I was so busy myself that I didn't have time to send out postcard reminders. No biggie though! We had a small crew, yet the fun was GRAND!
We started out the night with a sidewalk weenie roast & hot dog bar. Chili, cheese, sauerkraut, onions...YUM!!

And then we all packaged up handmade items we had brought. We sealed them in ziploc baggies & included some information about Crafty Night. The basic concept for doing the handmade drop was inspired by The Toy Society. I specifically wanted Crafty Night to give a little bit of happy to the community. And in no way did I intend to take away anything that The Toy Society is doing.

 

 

 We packaged up 36 bags & broke into two teams to deliver our goodies.

It was so special for me to have my 8 year old out there with us too!
She told me over & over how much fun she had.

 

 

One of my favorite drops was on a bench outside the library.

My other favorite was on top of this slide at the playground.

 

 

 

The teams joined up back at the Crafty Night base & ate ice cream bars.

Everyone left with homemade English Muffin Bread that the girls (sorta) helped me bake earlier in the afternoon.

 

I'm excited to hear about any possible stories of "strangers" that found the goodies. Just minutes after making our drop, we drove around to see if any had disappeared--& already one was missing. YAY! And after returning home from Crafty Night, I was facebooking with a friend & she shared how one of Zoey's classmates from school had found a few of our crafty treats around town---& it happened to be his birthday & he was so excited!!

 

You can view all the pics from June's Crafty Night by clicking HERE.

UPDATE:

I'll be posting any responses I get from the Crafty Night FINDERS! KEEPERS! drops here... (yay!)

 

Nikki-

   My boys thought it was like manna from heaven last night. Joshua in particular thought the bags were placed out in celebration of his 9th birthday!

   We were taking our walk and noticed a first bag containing a bug catcher necklace -- Joshua thought it was cool and grabbed it! Joshua proudly wore his new bug catcher necklace on the way home.

   We walked by several bags on our now new quest to help Jonah find a bag for him. He eyed a rather large and bulky bag and called out that was his.... He grabbed it and ripped open the package much like Bam Bam and out popped a fuzzy pillow! Jonah had to sleep on his new pillow and even was on the look out for a blanket to go with it!

   Both boys were so delighted and then got the giggles as to why someone would do this.

  Thanks for making their night and thanks for letting me know about the Crafty Nights.

-Lisa Bryan

•••••

Lucky me, Lucky me. What a great mid-week surprise to come to work this morning and find a hondmade craft on the bench outside the library. Glad I was the first one in this morning. Love my owl, elf and cat. Thanks Crafty Night.



-Tammy Covalt

•••••

♥

May 2011 Crafty Night

The girls & I learned to finger knit four months ago. When I recently found THIS tutorial about using jersey knit fabric to make finger-knit bracelets, I KNEW this HAD be the project for the May Crafty Night. The Crafty Night crew had a blast! What started out as simple bracelets turned into many projects! And I was inspired by their kooky creativeness.

We knit bracelets with one color of fabric.

We knit bracelets with two colors of fabric.

We made bracelets with pretty bow embellishments.

We knit rings for your fingers....& some for your toes (not pictured).

But what IS pictured is someone knitting WITH their toes. haha!!

We knit headbands.

And even a cat toy.

We knit anklets.

I even knit a bracelet for Zoey's American Girl doll.

And then I knit a necklace...

...or two.

We had the most amazing Cool Veggie Pizza, Chinese Ramen Noodle Salad, & frozen fruit slush dessert for dinner! (Thank you Sarah, Sadie & Laura for the food! I love you for feeding us every month!)

Guests left with Jones soda--in Berry Lemonade, Green Apple or Cream Soda flavors. Each bottle was tied off with a whimsical paper sphere. (These paper globes were leftover from Pazely's Ice Cream Summer birthday last year. I made garlands of these & they got SOOO tangled after her party. They've been sitting in a heap in my studio ever since. I snipped several off & tied one to each bottle.)

I just love hanging with my creative friends! (Thanks for showing up & crafting with me every month!)

Click HERE to view the entire set of pics from May's Crafty Night.

More deets:
• The blue fabric was purchased at JoAnne's, but I had the best luck finding the rest of the fabric on amazon.com.
• Though the tutorial for the jersey knit bracelets shows a different technique for finger knitting, my girls & I learned how to finger knit HERE. Not much different, but it's how I taught the Crafty Night crew. This link also shows a different way of ending. I liked it better for some reason & always use this way.

And get ready for the June 14th Crafty Night! We're doing a "Handmade Drop-off". Bring a handmade item to give away. Or just come 'cause there will be lotsa extras. We'll package up our goodies & scatter them about town for finders to keep!
♥

Crafty Night: April 2011

I cannot tell you how giddy I feel when I see this banner hanging up each month for Crafty Night. Right on Main Street. Swaying in the breeze.

 And this month I was especially giddy because it was our biggest night yet: There were 18 of us crafty folk that gathered to get all creative-like! (And 7 of those were newbies to the Crafty Night scene!)

This month we embellished Chinese paper lanterns.

I couldn't decide between painting them with watercolors or using a decoupage technique with colored tissue papers. So I chose to have both options available.

I painted a sample with large flowers & small polka dots.

 

Supplies even included magazines for design or color inspiration & paper-n-pencils for sketching ideas. I found the small squares of tissue paper at Michael's, & the 14" paper lanterns & light kits online.

 

 

I already knew, beforehand, what my favorite part of the night would be: getting to see all the ideas everyone came up with!

 

Guests all left with a 'Can of Spring'. Unfortunately I didn't plant the grass seeds soon enough--so there was no green to show. But the little buggers will sprout. (I'm crossing my non-green thumbs.)

I wrapped emptied cans of food with woodgrain contact paper & then wound several feet of colored yarn 'round the middle. I made the plant picks with bamboo skewers, a 2" round punch of cardstock, a sticker & a gem.
(At a loss for gathering all the cans I needed for this projects, let's just say there's a lot of corn & beans in plastic bins in my fridge...)

To view all the pictures from our night of crafty fun, click HERE!
To view the Crafty Night facebook page, click {& like!} HERE.

Next Crafty Night is...

Tuesday, May 10th

6-8 p.m.

ON3 Photography

Main Street, Bridgeport

**Reserve your spot! Limited Seating!**

♥

Crafty Night Encyclopedia

Hand-painted Crafty Night banner

I have had a lot of people ask me about Crafty Night. I'm hoping this GIANT blog post will answer your questions. I've spoken with several crafty peeps who are interested in starting a craft group of their own & I thought maybe this would help motivate or inspire you. If anyone has other questions, PLEASE let me know & I'll update with more answers.

January 2011 Crafty Night "Embellished Gloves"

When did you start Crafty Night?

I LOVE making stuff & getting all creative-like. I thought it'd be fun to get together with other people & share that. So, in early 2010 I started meeting with a few people in the activity room of my church. After several months, I decided that, being in a small-town, I wanted to shy away from the "church" setting & hold Crafty Night in a more centralized locale instead. I knew some people might be turned away from coming to Crafty Night simply because it was held in a church. And I want EVERYONE to feel welcome. It is, afterall, an event open to the community. So, in January 2011 we started meeting at ON3 Photography. It's on Main Street & it's perfect! You just have to do what works for you. In a different setting, I might meet at a church---churches often have large meeting rooms with LOTS of space & even kitchen facilities. 



View of postcard & center of crafty tables (January 2011)


 

How do you get the word out about Crafty Night?

Every month, about a week before Crafty Night, I mail out postcards I designed. So far I have just a small contact list of crafters. Word of mouth has prolly brought most of my Crafty Night guests. I also have a Crafty Night facebook page---which is a fun place to post pictures of each month's crafty happenings & to send reminders or updates.



Our big celebration after moving to a new location!


 

Walk me through a typical Crafty Night...

Guests arrive at 6 p.m. & fill out a name tag. First-time guests also fill out an information card. (I use the info to mail out the postcard reminders each month.) For the first 15-20 minutes we have a light dinner buffet. (Soup, bread & dessert or something simple. I'm lucky enough to have a couple friends who take care of that part for me!) Then, I teach a craft. Sometimes I have drawings for prizes, but not every month. And everyone always leaves with a little handmade favor.

 Every craft group is different. Some groups have more of a "bring your own craft to work on" setting & everyone gets together to hang out & craft.(This is the most simple craft group to get started. No cost. No fuss.) Other groups have several different craft instructors set up at different tables teaching a different craft. When crafters arrive, they hop from table to table (in no particular order) learning a new craft.

Some groups meet a couple times a year. Others meet quarterly. It all really depends on how much you have to plan & prep, how much help you have in doing the planning & prepping, & how much time you want (or have) to put into your craft group.

 

What is the cost of attending Crafty Night?

Crafty Night is free. I don't require people to pay. BUT, I do ask for donations. I won't turn you away if you don't donate though. (I have a donation bowl set out.) The cost of running Crafty Night comes out of my pocket & then I use the donations to offset the money I've spent--& to pay for the next month's crafty supplies. I don't make a penny off of Crafty Night. Crafty Night started with a gathering of 6 people & is nearing 20 now. If Crafty Night gets much bigger, or I find that the financial burden is  too much for me, I may have to start charging a fee to attend. And that's not a bad thing at all. Most crafty groups that provide this sort of service DO charge for attending.

Susan teaches Randy how to knit

Where do you get your ideas for Crafty Night?

I scour the internet, peek at my favorite blogs, flip through library books, look through my crafty mags, etc. Sometimes I simply make a craft because it's something I've always wanted to try. I have also made it a goal to have AT LEAST 2 months of crafts planned out. This helps prevent me from doing things last minute & getting all crazy hectic about it.

One month I had a friend teach knitting. I plan on bringing in other talented crafters or artists to teach as well. Another month I plan on having a "hang out & bring your own craft to work on" night too. I want to mix it up. I've even toyed with the idea of doing some yarn bombing (a.k.a. "graffiti knitting"). I also have an upcoming night planned in the summer where we will do something similar to The Toy Society: secretly dropping off our handmade goodies all over the town with a simple note attached that says "Take me home." I think it'd be a great way to creatively give back to our community.

Laura & Sarah gluing it up at the March 2011 Crafty Night "Book Wreaths"

Do you have any Crafty Night pet peeves?

YES. I ask that guests please reserve a seat by letting me know if they're gonna come. It's really frustrating as I'm buying supplies, not knowing if 5 people are going to show up, or 25. This month (April) I did something a little bit different. I purchased supplies online. And I decided to buy enough for 20 people. I got the word out that I only had 20 spots available---& people have been signing up quicker than they ever have. More new people too! It's so much easier to buy supplies this way! So, I'm thinking I might start organizing Crafty Night with limited seating. See, I'm still working out kinks--I don't have everything figured out. I'm sorta learning as I go along. And that's the main thing: just do what works for you & your craft group. The hardest part of Crafty Night for me is not knowing the exact number of people that will be there every month. So, having a limited number of seats just might be the answer!

Have you ever taught a craft group before?

For 4 years I was the Creative Activites Leader at my MOPS group in Richland, WA. So, I got practice in purchasing supplies for a large group (30-35) & teaching once a month.

 

Any other tips or advice??

•Crafty Night is about creating & getting crafty. But it's also about hanging out & being together & having fun. I try to find crafts that are fairly simple to explain in just a few minutes time. That way, once the group knows their mission, they can start crafting on their own--- & chat & giggle all at the same time. (Of course I'm always hopping around helping those that need help. I basically don't plan on making a craft of my own on Crafty Night because I'm either helping people or taking photos.) If I were to lead a step-by-step craft each month, it would just be me at the front of the group talking, going through each step, while everyone else quietly listened. My group would lose out on my favorite part: building friendships (& being loud & giggly)! 

 •I have tossed around the idea about whether or not to announce what the craft will be each month. I, personally, would rather know what craft was being concocted before I decided to go to a craft group. But I get more feedback from my crafty peeps that they enjoy NOT knowing & they love the surprise of showing up & finding out then. So, I've decided to keep the topic of each Crafty Night on the down low. I do have a few people that always ask "What are we going to be making?" & I don't mind sharing. Again, I may change my mind & start announcing the craft each month if I keep getting more & more people asking.

Marble magnets---first Crafty Night, March 2010

To view the Crafty Night photo collection, click HERE.

March of 2011, Crafty Night celebrated it's 1-year anniversary! Thanks for crafting with me all you creative peoples!
♥

Crafty Night • March 2011

Crafty Night (March 2011) was so amazing!!

We created wreaths made from pages of vintage books. Old, discarded books.

While everyone crafted away, I wandered around & snapped photos. It was just so much fun to see everyone's spin on this project. AND I munched on THE most amazing cupcakes---EVER: Chocolate chip cookie dough. (If I can get the recipe, I'll share it with you.)

I gave away 2 of the 3 wreaths I had made earlier in the day. And there were handmade cootie catchers for everyone to take home. (Made from pages of a vintage dictionary.)

To view the rest of the pics, click HERE.

Can't wait for next month!!

April 12th

6-8 p.m.

ON3 Photography

Bridgeport, NE

Reserve your spot!

((Crafty Night operates via donations.))

♥

Crafty Night FEBRUARY 2011

 I cannot tell you how giddy I get each month as Crafty Night approaches. It's such a fun night to hang out with friends! This month we knitted. I only learned how to knit about a month ago. My friend Susan led the group, along with some help from a couple other well-experienced knitting gurus. It was a smaller group this month, but a PERFECT size for that extra attention we newbies seemed to need! 

 Everyone in the group went home with their own pair of knitting needles & a skein of yarn.

We had oodles of knitting books available to browse through too---such inspiration!

The girls & I made these yarn hearts for decorations. Tutorial found HERE.

This month everyone also went home with a felt fortune cookie. 

I handmade them. 

With love. 

Tutorial found HERE. 

(The girls' school teachers will be getting these for Valentine treats as well!)

We also ate amazing homemade soups & bread from the bakery next door. Not to mention my awesome pistachio torte.

And then, oh, we measured our heads for fun.

(Because we aspire to make great things. Like hats!)

And guess who had the biggest head of the bunch?

*sigh* It's my hair. I swear, I have BIG hair.

Crafty Night is the 2nd Tuesday of every month.

ON3 Photography • Bridgeport, NE

6-8 p.m.

Next Crafty Night: March 8th

Save your spot!

To view the entire set of photos from 
Crafty Night FEBRUARY 2011...click HERE.
♥