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The Craft Area at Maker Faire 2013 was inspired by a donation of over 1000 used t-shirts and over 400 women’s slips donated from New Bohemia. The challenge was to figure out ways to use them. T-shirt yarn, weaving, t-shirt bags and screen printing were all incorporated into the area and we used about 800 t-shirts throughout the day. It was my first time making T-shirt yarn and it has changed the way I look at a worn out or ugly T. Rather than thinking “rag-bag” now I think, “T-SHIRT YARN!” and in seconds I am cutting and rolling up a beautiful new ball of yarn to use for weaving, tying, gardening, and wrapping gifts. When I say it changed my lens on this ridiculously abundant material, I kid you not.

This year, the craft area will be all paper projects. The theme of paper was inspired by a package from Perigee Publishing which contained two of what are now my favorite books: The Art of Getting Started by Lee Crutchley and This Book Was a Tree by Marcie Cuff. Both of which encourage a creative approach to life in general.

And the wheels started turning. Hmm, paper projects? I started scheming and dreaming and pondering and reaching out. Perigee Publishing responded big time! They sent us books to donate to all our makers. They sent us fun print-outs of projects to give to all our attendees. They sent us sponsor money too for the paper craft area. And they are even helping to get these authors from their respective homes in Australia and Massachusetts to come to the Faire!

So what will we be doing in the craft area? We’ll be drawing, folding, bending, spindling, and mutilating all different kinds of paper. Drawing out words. Making a collective poetry wall. Making seed balls from paper egg cartons. Paper airplanes from old phone books. Paper Cranes for McCallum High School’s No Place for Hate campaign. Open build origami. And a collective paper mobile which by the end of the Faire should be a most amazing site!

I want to thank Perigee Publishing first for creating such a host of amazing maker books like the two mentioned above. And for donating such books as The Art of Getting Started by Lee Crutchley, This Book was a Tree by Marci Cuff, Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith, Fold Me Up by Michelle Taute, How to Make Jewelry by Tatty Devine, Outside the Lines by Souris Hong-Pourretta, Slow Family Living by yours truly, and The Trickster’s Hat by Nick Bantock.
I hope you make it to the Faire and I hope to see you in the Paper and Book Craft area. Because, not only are we going to be making some amazing things, but we hope too to get a new lens on paper, projects and endless possibilities!