Crafting has become popular around the country. If you have friends who like to craft or if you would like to meet new people in your area who share your enthusiasm for the hobby, starting a club for people who enjoy crafting can be a good thing to do. Here are some tips to making that happen:
- Think about the purpose of your club. Is this for people to get together to share their thoughts on the best ribbon holder organizers or whatnot or do you want to have experts give formal demonstrations about techniques. The latter may be harder to do, unless you know experts in the area who can come and talk to your group. On the other hand, members of the club can give demonstrations on their areas of expertise and life hacks for crafting.
- Decide how frequently your group will get together. It can be hard to get people together every week. Most successful crafting clubs have meetings once or maybe twice each month. If your group is really gung-ho about getting together more often — or if there is an event you want to get ready for, you may want to do something every week or every other week.
- Who will supply the supplies? Think about how you are going to get the supplies you need for your club activities. Maybe you have a stackable cube organizer full of ribbon holder organizers and all of the accoutrements that come along with it but if you do not, you may want to either assign someone to get them every week and have people pay that person back or put together a fund to give people before each meeting so they can get the supplies that you will all need.
- Work on a budget for your meetings. Make sure you know how much everything costs and get your group to pitch in. You need to be totally transparent with how much you spend on supplies for the group. Set a budget and make sure you stay within it. Some people may not mind spending more of their own money but that can create a nasty dynamic within your group. Keep it simple by setting a foxed budget.
- Think about the skill level of the group. Are all of your friends expert crafters who just want to take their hobby a bit further? Are you mostly people who are new to the world of crafting and you need to learn all that you can? Or, do you have some expert crafters mixed in with a bunch of newbies? The compilation of your members will do a lot to dictate what kinds of events and demonstrations you have.
- Find a location for your meetings. Unlike a book club, you need some space to work when you get together with a bunch of crafters. Some people live in condos with recreation centers so that can be a good spot. Other places to consider are community centers, hobby stores or religious establishments. You know your community so think about what might have the facilities you need for your meetings.
- Think about how you are planning to spread the word about your new club. You should look at social media (such as Facebook, see below) but also put signs up in coffee houses and local hobby stores. You should not discount the importance of telling your friends and family about your club. Word of mouth is a great way to advertise something.
- Use Facebook. Facebook offers a lot of ways to get the word out about your group. You can create a group or page for the people in your area who are interested in things like finding the best craft furniture ideas or the best craft room designs. Tell other groups about yours. A simple search on Facebook for something like “ribbon holder organizer” or “hobby room organizer,” “craft cubes: or “crafting” should give you a list of groups and pages for likeminded people. Reach out to these people to promote your club.
Whether you just want to show off your ribbon holder organizer or have fun with friends, a craft club is can be a great way to spend your time.
