“It's a way to express myself that's completely different from my normal life of working at a computer,” January said. “I love the outlet.”
Tutuland is just one of many studio spaces in Greater Boston that introduces the curious to innovative crafts and activities while also providing a way to socialize and de-stress in the process. Masu. Many workshops teach crafters how to create works of art using unlikely materials such as plants, glue, and glass. Some, such as pouring liquid acrylic to create marble statues, aim to provide unique experiences for visitors. There are also crafts aimed at self-expression, such as the Japanese custom of “Decoden.” This involves sprinkling kitschy layers of ornaments and rhinestones onto personalized items, from handheld mirrors to cell phone cases.
These stores have all the expensive supplies and merchandise you need to try out new, trendy (and sometimes one-off) hobbies. Buying a tufting gun will cost you at least $100. You will also need thread, tufting cloth, a frame, glue, and other materials needed to make the rug. Alternatively, Tutuland has rugs starting at $78, 17 x 17 inches, and by the end of your three-hour session, you can take home your new finished rug. And that's not to mention the value of having an instructor to guide you through the activity. Visitors like January say they would get lost without an instructor.
“I didn't know that amateurs could easily come and learn how to do it,” January said. “They had a great system to help you figure it out, and you just go.”
Jen Gouldstone, owner of Studio by Garden Street in East Cambridge, believes sustainability is an important part of her studio's experience. Studio She By She Garden Street offers workshops in a wide range of crafts, from tapestry weaving to creating artwork using colorful moss. Gouldstone explains that her studio provides customers with a shared supply of art supplies, from which each customer takes only as much material as they need for a single project. This practice reduces the amount of materials each client could consume and waste if they started at home.
“Some crafts require a fair amount of materials to get started, and if you don't like it, you just waste it, right?” Goulston said. “You come here and you only use what you use, and that's how you get the experience.”
The interior is lined with long tables and piled high with colorful trinkets and art supplies, and the scent of flowers, paint, and wax fills the air. Even when workshops are being held, there is a lot of chatter. Participants engage in kind and witty banter, from “Wow, that's a pretty yellow color” to “Your voice is perfect for a podcast.”
Sisters Natalie and Lauren Boyle, 23 and 30, respectively, participated in a blanket weaving workshop held by the studio. They often enjoyed talking in person rather than on the phone.
“I like the idea of two people eating something that they made together,” Lauren Boyle said.
Haley Sorensen, 25, was looking for an activity to do with her friend Julianna Reynolds, 25, who was visiting from out of town, and was drawn to Brookline's Craft Zone, which offers a variety of DIY activities. . The pair found themselves painting moon-shaped lamps (starting at $29.99 each) and decorating them with celestial swirls in cool paint.
“It's a more structured activity. It's not just like, 'Hey, do you want to sit on my couch and draw?'” Sorensen explained. “But it would be kind of nice if you could go to a place you want to go and have all the paint provided there.”
Many of the participants in these workshops reported that they gained more than new personal items from these experiences. I was able to escape the drudgery of work and school and the never-ending to-do list. A 2023 poll conducted by the American Psychiatric Association seems to reflect these personal anecdotes, with 46 percent of Americans using creative activities to relieve stress and anxiety. There was found.
Although the APA does not explicitly list “flower crown making” as a psychologically beneficial activity, the five makers who attended Bluebird Bouquet's flower crown workshop in Summerville said they found the activity relaxing. The group spent Saturday night, February 17th, learning how to spin roses and make carnation fluff, some of the fun of working with real flowers.
“We're all at our desks, at our computers, just glued to our devices. It's so nice to do something that's tactile,” he said of the two-hour workshop. , said Caroline Jordan, 43, who carefully wove fiery, sun-bleached flowers. her headdress.
In an increasingly busy and isolated world, unique craft experiences are just one way people can learn how to play again.
“When you're a kid, you learn arts and crafts in school. But as you get older, you forget about it,” says Mirian Alvarez, as she finishes decorating her flower crown with splashes of red, orange and purple. (35) said. “This is a way to reconnect me with that world.”
Gabel Strickland is a writer with a degree in journalism from Emerson College.