Crochet & Knit Night!

$15 provided for:

All supplies

A great time

$$$ for Austin Charities

Not too shabby!!!  (read this in your best Adam Sandler voice!)

  This was really really a fun night.

  We made good on our slogan … Laugh. Craft. Give.

  I’m not sure we all ended up mastering either craft, but we’ve definitely all decided   whether or not we’ll return for more of crocheting and knitting.

  Now that we all have the supplies … what’s our excuse???

That’s all for now …. see you soon!

Our first event of the year will be Monday night, January 23rd … Learn to CROCHET AND KNIT all in one evening!  Check out our Facebook Events Page for details.  (Be sure to follow us so you can stay in the, um,…loop!)

Monday, January 23rd 7:00

Secondly …

We are now OFFICIAL because we no longer need “wordpress” in our domain name!  Everybody on your feet now!

www.CRAFTCROWD.ORG

Please be sure to subscribe … we’ll be rolling in lots more posts this year including FREE TUTORIALS!!!

Well, here it is – the end of 2011.  We began this little endeavor of ours…now known as Austin Craft Crowd …formerly known as Austin City Craft in July.  (I personally am really glad we were forced asked to change our name!)  We set out to create a outlet for Austinites to craft together, laugh together, and give together.  In just six months and three events, we’re feeling pretty good about what we accomplished….

We started with a CITY-WIDE SEWING CLASS!

Our City-Wide Sewing Class introduced 21 new sewers to the wonderful craft! And yes, we DID laugh quite a bit that day!

We did CRAFT alot too, though .. here are few photos to prove it!

If you look closely...even in the crafting, there's an awful lot of laughing. Sorry, it's just the way we roll.

Next up – We hosted a great night of PAPER PARTY DECORATIONS!

We made so many decorations that night, I can hardly stop my head from spinning!

LOVE those!!!!

And we wrapped up 2011 with MAKE IT MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We made burlap wreaths...

We etched glass...

We beaded bracelets...

We appliqued felt...

Did I mention we appliqued felt?

We covered pushpins...

We rolled flowers...

We sewed yo-yos....(well, sort of)...

WEll, you get the picture…it was GREAT night!

And it’s been a GREAT beginning for us all at Austin Craft Crowd.

And to top it all off….we were able to complete the equation today by donating $550 to Capital Area Food Bank!!!  Applause, applause, applause!!!  With their connections, each $1 is worth $5 of food, so in essence, simply by crafting were were able to provide $2750 worth of food for Austinites who are hungry.  We are SO proud of this.

We have lots in store for 2012 … we are seriously just getting started … thanks for making our first six months so fun, so creative and so generous.  Please spread the word about Austin Craft Crowd this year … let’s Craft this City OUT!

Austin Craft Crowd’s

Make It Merry Christmas – A Handmade Extravaganza

Monday evening, December 12, 2011

7pm – 10pm

$40

(yep, just a mere $5 per gift!)

RSVP through our FB page…please do so by Friday, December 9th.  There are a LOT of supplies to purchase.

Robie Dodson here, from So Sew Something to share with you a little project I did with my kids for Halloween.  (Confession: I don’t do this all the time – don’t get the wrong impression!)

We spent a couple of hours one Saturday morning in early October making these paper chains…

….. and we thought you might be inspired to make them too!  You probably already know how to make these…but just in case, we created a little tutorial for you.  If nothing else, atleast I can show off my kids to you all!

You'll need: construction paper in halloween colors, hole punches with fun shapes, glue sticks, and scissors. Coffee optional - okay, it's mandatory too! (I found these punches at Walmart for $1 each)

You'll also need some really cute kids - santa hats are optional. If all you can find are sort-of cute kids, they'll work too.

Give the kids scissors appropriate for their age, and have them cut out lots of strips. You'll have to discipline yourself NOT to obsess over how wide their strips are. Just let them cut and cut. You can just simply 'avoid' the really skinny ones when it comes time to assemble the chain.

You'll probably want to cut out some strips yourself, too. If your kids are younger, you'll need to do a covert operation of replacing their super skinny and short strips with your wider and longer ones. Please do this incognito so they don't get discouraged!

Now that you have lots and lots of strips, have the kids punch holes on the sides of those strips. This is an optional step, but it was definitely the part my kids loved the best.

Using a glue stick, glue the ends of the first strip to each other to make a circle. Then, begin interlocking the strips. You'll have yourself the starting of a chain. Hollah people, hollah!

If you're lucky, you'll rangle yourself up a hot-looking daddy to help too!

Your kids will be absolutely AMAZED at how the links add up!

When you're finished, hang in a prominent place.

We had a blast making these.  Owen was the DJ and he kept us entertained with great music.  Ellie was our comedian, she kept us entertained with various voices that she makes.

This project, surprisingly, really held their attention.  I don’t know if it was because there are so many steps and tools or what, but they kept cutting and punching and gluing until the very end.  I’m sure yours will, too!

As an added bonus, you'll end up with lots of halloween confetti!

All us here at Austin Craft Crowd hope you’re making Halloween something special and fun.

Send us photos or comments of what Y’ALL are crafting together!!!

Next up in November: Handmade Christmas – it isn’t fully worked out yet, but we’re hoping to host something in the neighborhood of $50 to make TEN GIFTS!!!  And these aren’t your grandma’s crafty gifts … … … just sayin’.

Here we're beginning to make those lovely Hanging Paper Flowers - soooo easy!

We started the night off with these easy paper butterflies. We added them to straws, but as they say in Napolean Dynamite, "There's so many options."

Then we made the easiest and neatest Festive Drink Umbrellas!

Then Catherine showed us how to make those lovely hanging flowers - like the white one hanging right about her.

Next we tried our hands at Giant Paper Poppies ...

...but not many of us were ...um... successful!

So we moved on to Paper Snowflakes!

Even 4-year old Ellie was able to craft with this crowd! Thanks Tara!

sorry for the blur - I was having crafting jitters! Squint really hard and you'll see Catherine's awesome Poppy!

We really had a great crowd Wednesday night … as always, it left us excited about the next time!!!!

Fall is coming.  You can’t tell yet, but really and truly it is!

We think Fall is the season of PARTIES!!  We are ladies who love PARTIES!!!

Sooooooooooooo………….. our next event is going to be ………………………

PAPER PARTY DECORATIONS!!!!

September 21, 2011

7:00 – 9:00pm (ish!)

some hanging things, some pretty butterfly thingies, handmade drink umbrellas, luminaries, gorgeous peonies...

...and these gorgeous hanging paper stars!

As with all of our events -an RSVP is required.

Cost – $10-$15, TBD, plus something fun to eat or drink.

The location is TBD depending upon how many RSVP.  If we can all fit in one home, then we will.  If not, then we’ll scout around around the city for a fun place to Laugh. Craft. Give.

How to RSVP?

send an email to robiedodson at gmail dot com

or

“Like” us on FB and send us a message!

Our first event - City-Wide Sewing Class. July 16, 2011. More than just a few laughs!

We are Austin Craft Crowd.

We Laugh.  We Craft.  We Give.

In other words, we get local Austinites together in one room to make awesome things.  Then, we give back by sharing our excess – no matter how big or how small – with the community.  We’re still figuring this out, but basically we’ll choose one or a few local charities to give to.  Once we get a decent amount of moolah, we’ll cut them a check.

We’ve got big dreams – but we’re starting here and now.

One community.  Lots of laughs and crafts.  Big hearts.

Won’t you join us?

Check our events page to see what’s coming up!

Showing off their newly made Pajamas!