Confession: I’m not a crafty person.
This may be shocking, considering I hosted story time at our store for three years and it always included a simple craft project. However, when it came to the crafts-portion of the hour, I stood on the craftier shoulders of others. Meaning, I found online projects and used their handy templates.
Needless to say, at the holidays, my family’s expectations for my homemade craftiness is pretty low. They know I’ll be buying pre-made decorations (no stringing of popcorn garland in this house) and will most certainly get my gifts wrapped by the experts at Barrington Books. For me, it takes some of the holiday pressure off if I cop to my lack of crafty creativity.
This got me wondering, how do the pros handle the holidays? Is the pressure on to be perfect? Do they spend hours making homemade gifts, and printing their own wrapping paper, and hot gluing holiday centerpieces? How does a professional “tinkerer” keep calm through the hustle and bustle of a busy holiday season? To shed some light, I sat down with Elyse Major, author of Tinkered Treasures and the forthcoming Seaside Tinkered Treasures (Cico Books).
[Elyse will be signing books and hosting a craft buffet this Saturday, December 7th, at Barrington Books, 184 County Rd., in Barrington, from 1pm - 3-m.]
RL: Do you feel more pressure around the holidays because of your line of work? You know, for everything to be fabulous? Since I can barely tie a bow on a package, the expectations for me are pretty low–but you, you have to BRING IT.
EM: Hmm. Good question. Sometimes I think people are surprised that I don’t go all overboard with crafty stuff but I like the minute details. Like, I’ll spend a long time making gum drop guys over something larger, if that makes sense.
RL: Do you make all your gifts?
EM: Some, not all. I do generally make all teacher gifts.
RL: Fun! What do you make them?
EM: I think every teacher in the elementary school has a tinkered can, named Desk Tidy in the book. I will generally package them up in lunch bags decorated with cupcake wrappers, fastened with a tinkered clothespin. Pretty much how it all began!
RL: Lovely, I’ll bet the teachers appreciate a pretty handmade gift. I mean, how many Starbucks gift cards can you get?
EM: I like to think the teachers appreciate the handmade gifts or at least I hope they do. The teachers that know about the book are so wonderfully supportive and will show me how their cans are on their desk during conferences and events. Sometimes I’ll fill the cans with something like bath salts from Rhode Island Soap Works.
RL: Ok, holiday wrap. . . you must give the most beautifully wrapped gifts ever.
EM: Why, thank you! I enjoy making les petits tiroir which translates to “the little drawers” in French. You can put a small a gift in them, or use them to hold buttons, put a message inside, even hold a tooth for the tooth fairy!
RL: So pretty and festive! How else do you incorporate your Tinkered Treasures projects into the holiday?
EM: I love utilizing paper to making paper chains, or using a paper punch for gift tags, etc.
RL: Ok, level with me, can anyone do these? Even a self described non-crafty gal like myself?
EM: Absolutely! The projects in my books are designed for beginners–no specialist tools necessary. But I also encourage crafters to follow their own instincts rather than be bound by rules. Tinkering should be fun!
RL: Right. Who needs rules? I’m going to try it! Thanks, Elyse, for encouraging my inner Tinkerer to come out!
EM: Anytime. :)
To see more of Elyse’s Tinkered Treasures, visit her blog at tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com.