Bringing Craft to Children in Need in San Diego

The summer was busy for Craft2Gether. We taught woodworking and textile crafts to a group of refugee children onsite at our location in Liberty Station's Arts District. The children made their own pencil boxes out of wood and rainbow felt and yarn crafts. The rainbow craft kit involves a yarn wrapping exercise that hones fine motor skills and focus. The children really loved this activity, and were laser-focused while working. It was really lovely to see. Also over the summer, a group of homeless youth came onsite to learn woodworking. We made a string art project from scratch with them. The great thing about them being onsite is that they got to use some of the woodworking equipment in our woodshop under Miss Steffi's direction. They very much enjoyed using the router to round over the edges of their boards in preparation for string art. 

We also taught indigo/shibori dye offsite at a San Diego school which is dedicated to homeless youth. The middle and highschool kids had a great time dying t-shirts and other fun wearables like baby clothes for siblings with indigo dye. We taught them folding methods in the shibori fashion and they utilized many different tools for resists like wood, clamps, clips, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, even washable school glue. We worked outside in the garden area of the school, and it was a beautiful, sunny day. The day was filled with sun, smiles, and the briliant blue hues of indigo! Indigo is such a wonderful science project in addition to craft. It has a rich history of being used as a dye, and indigo is a plant. Dyed objects come out of the dye vat brilliant green before oxidizing to a wonderful dark blue hue.

Toward the end of summer, we were invited to the grand opening of a performing arts center dedicated to homeless youth. We hope to work with the children at the center in building furniture and architectural details for the space. 

In addition to designing new string art craft kits, we're starting to add a music making component to our programming. We have met with an organization dedidated to teaching world music and instrument playing. We're excited to collaborate with them and other similar organizations to teach the children how to make their own instruments as they learn to play music. It gives new definition to the phrase, "Making Music!"  Forging these partnerships and building bonds with the kids at these organizations and schools is a big priority for the Craft2Gether project. 

Thank you for your support. We look forward to sharing more news and growth with you all. 

Best wishes, 

Steffanie