Getting crafty for a cause

Trinity Preschool craft fair

Last year, a lot of independent preschools and daycares in Arizona were hit hard with new fees from the state, including the not-for-profit preschool and kindergarten that my mom runs in Mesa.

To keep things afloat, Mom got crafty. She organized a craft fair fundraiser with handmade items, food, and products from local businesspeople. The school raised money from the entry fees and vendors were allowed to keep the profits from the items sold at their booths. Win-win.

It was such a hit, she’s doing it again!

Trinity Preschool craft fair
My sister-in-law Christine sold amazing jams and syrups at last year’s craft fair!

For any Phoenix-area crafters/vendors who would like to participate, you can download the application PDF here. (Submit it by Novemeber 1st to avoid late registration fees.) Everyone else can come and shop on November 9.

Craft fair items from Bon Collage

I debuted my Bon Collage brand of handmade and upcycled gift items, including mini-journals, fancy bobby pins, gift tags, and a holiday spice mix. Admittedly, I have not done much with Bon Collage since then, but it will probably make another appearance. (And one of these days, I’ll be able to put more time into it.)

If you are out of state and would still like to help, you can make a donation by contacting Trinity Church.

Craft Hack and mini envelopes

Craft Hack mini-envelope

US flags on table

We stayed in town for the Fourth of July, which was a good thing for us, because our friends Bryan and Joanna made us a wonderful brunch. And it’s a good thing for you, because this blog has been a little heavy on the travel and light on the craft, and it’s time to balance things out a bit more.

Craft Hack in progress

So the first craft-related thing I wanted to tell you about is Craft Hack. I mentioned going to Craft Hack when I had my journal fail (I do want to follow up on that, since I ended up finding a journal-making solution that I think turned out pretty well.) Basically, Craft Hack is a time for people to get together, work on and show off their art and craft projects. If you aren’t working on anything currently, every month there’s a demonstration, and you can try that out.

It will be this Wednesday (and the second Wednesday of every month) at Gangplank Chandler at 6pm. You can get more details on the Craft Hack East Valley Facebook page.

I also created a flyer, using this envelope template and modifying it a little. You can print off the flyer, get the info, and then fold it into a little envelope for your business cards or to tuck into a scrapbook for small mementos of your summer travels (a presssed blossom? coins? ticket stubs?).

We handed these out last month when Craft Hack had a booth at the Chandler Art Walk (which has moved to different indoor locations to avoid the summer heat). I wish I could have stuck around longer and explored the other booths a bit more. It looks like there was some great stuff there! I’ll have to go another time, when I’m not getting ready for a camping trip the next day.

View of the Chandler Art Walk from the Craft Hack Booth

If you want to make your own envelopes, here is the envelope template I used for the flyer. I scaled it down quite a bit from the original 3″ x 6″ size, so that we could fit 2 on a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. And also because the mini-envelopes are so stinkin’ cute!

Craft Hack test business card sized envelope

I also came across this page with a ton of other envelope templates and tutorials. That could keep us all busy for awhile!