Mark your calendars for Spoonflower’s annual crafting event: Craft Friday is back with a new look and a new format! Historically, this virtual event has taken place on Black Friday as a fun, crafty alternative to the madness of one of the busiest shopping days of the year. But to better accommodate our small business friends and those who want to prioritize time with loved ones, we’re sprinkling the magic of Craft Friday throughout the holiday season!  

Craft Friday is becoming Craft Friday(s), with 4 sessions spread across November and December. These live sessions will be 1 – 2 hours in length and will be hosted on Zoom. Join us as we paint watercolor portraits, create fabric earrings, and more with some of our favorite crafty friends! Read on below to learn more about this year’s line-up. 

Abstract Watercolor Faces with Amarilys Henderson 

November 10, 1-3pm ET 

A woman in sunglasses and a beach hat painted using orange, red, blue and purple water colors is on a piece of paper. A man smiling, painted using water colors is on a piece of paper beside her. A paint palette and brush are in the top center, above the paintings. The background is a white surface.

Paint faces with watercolor in a simple approach that’s modern and vibrant! Using brilliant colors and clean shapes, we’ll create portraits reminiscent of whimsical and sophisticated styles. This modern take on faces is highly adaptable. Following this tutorial, consider this technique for wall art, holiday cards or repeating patterns! 

Two rows of water colors in their glass containers lay on a white surface.

Materials Needed:

  • Watercolor Paints – of any type in a variety of colors. Amarilys will be using fluid watercolor paints.  
  • Watercolor Brushes – Flat/square brushes 1″ (3 cm) & .5″ (1 cm) as well as 1-2 Small to medium round brushes (approximate size 4-8 brands vary) for details 
  • Watercolor Paper – 2 sheets of 140 lb watercolor paper Amarilys will use 9″ x 12″ (23 cm x 30 cm) Canson Watercolor XL brand 
  • Optional: pencil or colored pencil 

Amarailys in dark blue denim overalls with a striped shirt. She's wearing yellow earrings and purple glasses. She's smiling and pushing hair behind her eat with her right hand.

Meet Amarilys Henderson

Watercolor gorgeousness meets laid-back fun through Amarilys Henderson’s art and teaching. Published author, popular online instructor and experienced surface designer, Amarilys knows the power of her favorite medium. Her work features a flair for the retro, lush watercolor bleeds on florals, brush lettering and throwback whimsey. Let Amarilys guide you to find your artistic voice, boldness, and calling with Tip Tuesdays, delivered weekly.

Follow Amarilys on these social media platforms:

Website • Amazon • Instagram

follow the tutorial

How to Make Earrings from Fabric Scraps with Katie Snow

November 17, 1–3pm ET 

Three pairs of multicolor earrings rest of a cream colored cloth and white surface. One pair are button earrings, another pair are dangling leaf-shaped, and the third pair are hoops with fabric dangling from the bottom center.
Featured design by periwinkboutique: Diamond Tinsel Burst – Forest Green

Do you have fabric scraps or swatches lying around but don’t know how to make use of them?  Katie of Periwink Boutique has the perfect solution so your fabric scraps won’t go to waste. If you enjoy crafting handmade jewelry, then this workshop is perfect for you! Learn how to make 3 styles of earrings with one 8”x8” (20 cm x 20 cm) fabric swatch and create beautiful one-of-a-kind earrings you can add to your jewelry collection or gift to a special someone in your life. Here’s a bonus—no sewing is required! 

Spoonflower Materials

  • 1 – 8”x8” (20cm x 20 cm) fabric swatch of Linen Cotton Canvas.

    Katie will be making earrings using a swatch from her holiday collection: Diamond Tinsel 

    This will be used to cut two 4”x4” (10 cm x 10 cm) squares and four 1 ¾” (4 cm x 4 cm) circles

    (One swatch will make 3 styles of earrings however, if you’d like to experiment with different fabric prints, or want to have extra fabric on hand in case of mistakes, Katie recommends having multiple swatches on hand.)

Other Materials

  • Fabric glue
  • Mod Podge
  • Jewelry glue (B-7000)
  • Flat artist paint brush (1/2” or 1 cm)
  • Ruler 
  • Circle template (You will need a 1 ¾” (4cm) circle) 
  • Fabric pen or pencil 
  • Scissors 
  • 1 – 2”x2” (5 cm x 5cm) piece of cardstock 
  • 1/16″ (0.15 cm) hole paper punch 
  • 2 – Size 36 (7/8” or 2 cm) self-cover buttons with flat backs + Tool kit

    Michael’s has a pack with both Flat and Shank Backs you can find here OR Amazon has a 100 pack with only flat backs you can find here. 
  • 2 – 10mm Stainless steel earring posts with butterfly backs 
  • 4 – Metal Fish hook earring hooks with Rubber earring backs (color of your choice) 
  • Metal Jump Rings in 5mm, 7mm and 14mm sizes (color of your choice) 
  • Two 28mm circle connectors (color of your choice) – Katie gets the assorted pack from Michael’s which is available in both Gold and Silver 
  • Small sewing clips 
  • Mini Chain Nose Pliers 
  • Wax paper
  • Tape (to secure wax paper to workstation surface) 

Optional Materials

  • Cutting mat (to assist with measuring and offer extra protection over your workstation) 
  • 3 Earring Cards (For packaging and gifting your handmade earrings) 
  • Fray Check 
  • Pinking Shears (to create a unique edge around your fabric earrings) 
  • Paper Plate or Small Dish (to rest your glue-covered paint brush)  
  • Second pair of Chain nose OR round nose pliers (Katie finds it useful to have a second pair when handling jump rings.)   

Katie Snow sitting on a couch surrounding by pillows in different designs. A fireplace is the back left corner. A window is to the right, with a curtain pushed to the corner.

Meet Katie Snow

Katie Snow is a designer with 15 years of experience in branding, consumer packaging, and content creation. She brought her surface design and maker dreams to life in 2022, when she launched her small business, Periwink Boutique. Since then, she has expanded her designs onto a variety of e-commerce and print-on-demand platforms, launched her Etsy shop, and has begun selling handmade products crafted from her own fabric patterns at local shows and markets in her hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Follow Katie on these social media platforms:

Facebook • Instagram • Etsy

see the steps

Botanical Pressing with Robert Mahar 

December 1, 1-3pm ET 

Flattend flowers and leaves lay on a white surface near thread, scissors, tweezers and a pin cushion. Where the white surface runs out we see the rest of a wooden table that is supporting the supplies in the background.

What if you could take flowers and foliage from your own backyard and, rather than display them in a vase, learn how to preserve and transform them into surface designs to print on your favorite Spoonflower textiles? Join artist Robert Mahar in exploring the history of pressed botanicals, create your own small scale flower press, and then arrange the flattened results to create patterning that blooms across a linen cotton tea towel. Bonus! Follow along as Robert demonstrates how to add texture and color to your printed fabric with embroidery embellishments. 

To Create A Pressed Tea Towel Design

Here’s What You’ll Need

To Create A Flower Press

Here’s What You’ll Need

  • 2 – Pieces of 6″ (15 cm) square, 1/4” (0.6 cm) thick, plywood 
  • Drill with a 1/4” (0.6 cm) bit
  • Painter’s tape
  • 4 – 1/4” x 2 1/2” (0.6 cm x (6 cm) carriage bolts
  • 4 – 1/4” (0.6 cm) flat washers
  • 4 – 1/4” (0.6 cm) wing nuts
  • 6 to 12 pieces of 5” (13 cm) square corrugated cardboard
  • 6 to 12 pieces of 5” x 10” (13 cm x 25 cm) white copy paper

To Complete Optional Embroidery on the Tea Towel

Here’s What You’ll Need

Robert Mahar portrait

Meet Robert Mahar

Robert Mahar is a California-based artist and educator who teaches thoughtfully researched and developed hands-on projects based in historical craft traditions. He’s also a proud contestant alumni, and subsequent associate producer, on NBC’s crafting competition show Making It with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. With an education in studio arts and art history, he has worked in a variety of creative fields including 13 years as an appraiser of modern and contemporary art. Learn more about Robert, explore his video tutorial archive and shop his collection of curious embroidery samplers at robert-mahar.com.

Follow Robert on these social media platforms:

Pinterest • Facebook • Instagram

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Block Printing with Alyson Toone-Aguilar

December 8, 1-3pm ET

A green block print of the words "Merry" stacked in three rows beside a christmas tree. A concrete surface is in the background.
A green christmas tree and the words "Merry, Merry Merry" are block printed on a red surface. We see the green block print in the corner.

Ready to explore two different ways to create beautiful block printed designs? In this session with Alyson Toone-Aguilar you’ll learn how to print using linoleum blocks and found objects from around the home. We’ll create a design that can be kept as one-of-a-kind artwork or uploaded to Spoonflower as a seamless repeat for fabric, wallpaper and home decor. 

Materials

Optional Materials

  • Unscented baby wipes for clean up 
  • Ruler

Meet Alyson Toone-Aguilar

Alyson Toone-Aguilar is the founder of Make It Work Crafts through which she teaches arts and crafts classes throughout the Los Angeles area. She specializes in textile crafts because of her background as a fashion designer, working as a designer for ten years in New York’s Garment Center. Before moving to New York City, Alyson earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion from Columbus College of Art and Design in her hometown Columbus, Ohio. She now resides in sunny Southern California with her husband and daughter.

Find Alyson on:

Her Website • Instagram

get the zoom link

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Craft Friday?
Craft Friday is Spoonflower’s annual crafting event as we near the holiday season. Learn to make fun crafts with our artist and maker community. Spend time with your loved ones making memorable (and even giftable) art.
How Do I Sign Up For Craft Friday?
Sign up for one, two, three or all four of the Craft Friday events by clicking on their designated Zoom links. Consider putting a reminder on your calendar so you don’t miss these live events.
How Can I Watch The Tutorials
The tutorials will be live on Zoom through their times and links. Make sure you have Zoom on your computer and mark your calendars. We can’t wait to see you all!

Want To Extend Your Craft Friday Fun?

A month’s worth of crafts can fly by when you’re having fun. You’re in the right place, if you’re looking for more Craft Friday ideas. Check out previous years’ crafts and keep the creativity flowing!
See More Craft Friday Content