Crafting with a Crowd

Crafting for me is usually a quiet, meditative activity. But for the past few weeks I have experienced crafting as an inspiring, community-building group activity. Parents at my son's Waldorf school got together to transform an old gymnasium into a magical Elves' Holiday Faire.

A group of moms dyed silks in a rainbow of colors that rippled on the line on a sunny November day. We oohed as ahhed as each silk emerged from its colorful bath, shimmery and vibrant. We exclaimed as our overdyeing experiments created teals and purples and plums and pinks. These natural colors were echoed in the sheets that draped wooden frames to create cozy crafting "rooms" at the Faire.


Students and parents together folded paper into the nesting tiers of origami trees (tutorial here) and lanterns (tutorial here) for table decor. We folded hundreds of simple paper stars and hung them in strands from branches. The kids also worked over several weeks to make other decorations, too, including multi-tiered God's eyes on long branches.

We also assembled branches from a downed hickory tree to make a mini-forest of trees in the gym, decorating them with twinkly lights and paper ornaments.

(Unfortunately I was too busy enjoying the faire to take any pictures! I'll leave it to your imagination.)

It was exhausting work, but so fulfilling to see children absorbing the magic of the transformed space. It came alive with music, laughter, and the joyful sounds of play.