Description: Join us for an evening of block printing! Refresh an old shirt or make a patch for your favorite jacket. You’ll learn the basics of block printing, including how to use carving tools to carve your unique design into a block for hand-printing.

We will have fabric available for patch making, but feel free to bring your own (100% cotton) article of clothing.

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Friday, 7/16 6pm-9pm

Skills taught: You will learn how to design and carve a printing block, how to ink a block and print onto a cotton fabric medium, and how to set the print.

Skills needed: This is a great workshop for beginners! All you need is hand eye coordination and basic drawing abilities.

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation and will include 100% cotton fabric, carving tools and medium, and printmaking ink.

What you’ll leave with: Each student will leave with a print block of their design and a finished print

Meet your teacher: Gabriel is a block print artist. They are inspired by resistance movements, mental health struggles, folklore, and flora and fauna. Check out their work at wildcraftprintshop.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: In this three hour workshop, you will learn how to make two different books. The first is a Lotus Fold Book, a fun & unique book that is great for scrapbooking or sketching. The second is an Accordion book, perfect for photos or keepsakes.

When: Saturday, 7/18 1pm-4pm

Skills taught: Bookbinding is a slow moving and deliberate craft. Each piece is planned out before assembly. We will measure, fold, cut and glue.

Skills needed: No prior experience with bookbinding is required, but you should be able to read a ruler and measure accurately, and be comfortable with a paper guillotine and glue.

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation

What you’ll leave with: Two small books, a Lotus Fold and Accordion.

Meet your teacher: Amy Kelly is a Philadelphia based mixed media artist. Amy has a BFA in Drawing and has been teaching since 2013. Crocheting, bookbinding, and watercolor are her specialties. She currently makes commission paintings for clients, teachers art workshops, and makes mixed media artworks based on religious and cultural symbolism.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Come craft away your anger and anxiety, while also helping a great organization! We’re hosting an open collage night to benefit Asian Americans United. Suggested donation of $25, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Register below, but donate directly to AAU

Capacity is capped at 12 and is first come, first served.

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables. 

When: Thursday, 7/30 6:30pm-9pm

Skills needed: No previous experience needed! Just a desire to create in community and stand with our immigrant neighbors.

Supplies used: We will have magazines, pre-cut images, vintage ephemera, card stock, markers, stickers, paints, pencils, and glue. If you have any special images you’d like to use, please feel free to bring them!

About AAU: AAU advocates for the needs of immigrant, refugee and non-English speaking students and their families. Trump is purposely making it harder for immigrants to live and stay in the U.S., but we won't let that stop us! By donating to this campaign, you'll help more immigrants and their families connect with trusted lawyers, make preparedness plans, and find a supportive community to help them if the worst happens.

• $30,000 can help cover the legal costs of one person's immigration case. People are facing higher costs due to Trump's policies that make it harder for immigrants to stay and become citizens.

• $10,000 can help someone get out of ICE detention. Because of Trump's new policies, most people taken by ICE must file petitions to even have a chance of getting out, among other legal services needed.

• $2,500 can help cover one month of necessities for a family in need, such as housing or transportation. Many times, ICE kidnaps the breadwinner of a family to hurt their loved ones and try to force them to leave the country.

• $500 can help a family afford groceries while their loved one is detained by ICE. Most ICE detentions last months, and some people are detained for more than a year. Your support helps them stay afloat!

• $50 can help someone in detention keep in contact with their loved ones, as they have to pay for all phone calls through ICE commissary.

Description: In this three hour workshop, we will explore how to create depth and texture using thread. Using a nature-inspired pattern, we will consider the natural movement of light and shadow to practice blending color, while improving our understanding of how to create movement and direction with our stitches. We will practice with a variety of stitch types to work up to the skills needed to walk away confident in thread painting.

When: Saturday, 7/25 2pm-5pm

Skills taught: Students will learn how to blend colors, exploring traditional stitches used in creative ways to add shading.

Skills needed: You should have a basic understanding of embroidery and experience with backstitch, split stitch, and satin stitch.

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation and will include fabric printed with the pattern, 6 inch embroidery hoop, needles, and embroidery thread.

What you’ll leave with: All students will leave with the start of an embroidery piece and enough materials and the skill to finish at home.

Meet your teacher: Erin has been sewing by hand and machine since they hit puberty. In 2016, Erin began embroidering portraits of nudes as a way to celebrate their friends. That quickly led to the creation of Nudie Stitches, and Erin has spent the last 10 years creating portraits for anyone who will pose. Their embroidered art has been featured in galleries and on album covers. Erin has embroidered clothes, hats, just about anything a need can get through. They also enjoy breaking sewing machine needles by bulldozing through quilting haphazardly.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Learn the basics of crochet and make a cute set of coasters in the process! In this beginner-friendly class, we will learn how to hold our yarn and hook, how to read a pattern, how to chain, and some basic crochet stitches. Using what you learn, we will begin to create your very own set of crochet coasters!

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Friday, 7/31 6:30pm-8:30pm

Skills taught: You’ll learn basic pattern reading, chaining, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, turning your work, and finishing a project. Are these terms new to you? That’s ok! Don’t let them intimidate you, this is truly a beginner’s workshop.

Skills needed: None! Just a desire to learn crochet and patience with yourself.

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation and will include worsted weight yarn, a 5mm crochet hook, and darning needles. Crochet hooks will also be available for purchase.

What you’ll leave with: Students will leave with one finished square coaster and enough yarn to complete three more.

Meet your teacher: Sloane started crocheting in 2023 as a way to work through grief and anxiety, and she’s been hooked ever since! She loves making everything, from garments to bags and blankets, and especially cute amigurumi. Sloane opened a small crochet business in 2025, Sloane Stitches, and she sells her amigurumi plushies on etsy and at markets around Philly!

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Join us for this three hour workshop to learn the basics of first aid. We’ll cover scene assessment, basic diagnosis of common issues, extreme heat or cold related illness, treatment for shock, how to administer Narcan, and when and how to seek further care.

Our workshop will be led my a longtime street medic and nationally certified EMT.

When: Saturday, 8/1 12pm-3pm

This is a free workshop, but capacity is limited so we strongly recommend you sign up below.

Description: Have you ever looked at a vintage toy or your grandmother’s  old tea pot and thought,”that would make a good lamp”? Well, now’s your chance! Join artists Emilie Yonker and Kieran Betz for a fun evening of creating a one of a kind lamp from thrifted, unwanted, and secondhand materials.

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Friday, 8/7 6pm-9pm

Skills taught: You will earn basic wiring skills and how to use a drill and various bits.

Skills needed: None! Just a desire to learn and a sense of creative adventure.

Supplies used: Emilie and Kieran will have all of the wiring components and tools necessary to complete a project. They will also have a broad assortment of items to choose from to make your lamp. However, if you have a special item that you’d like to turn into a lamp, feel free to bring it!

What you’ll leave with: Each student will leave with a finished lamp, light bulb included. 

Meet your teachers: Emilie Yonker (born 2003, Hastings, Michigan) is an artist living and working in Wilmington, DE. She is a graduate of the College for Creative Studies where she received a BFA in Fiber and Textiles. Her work is inspired by secondhand materials, and she uses both traditional and experimental techniques to create her work. She is drawn to domestic ephemera, such as doll parts, vintage toys, and doilies. Her work has been featured in Detroit Artist Market’s Annual Scholarship Awards and Exhibition. She is currently employed at the resource exchange where she sorts gently used art supplies as well as offers workshops. Visit Emilie’s website or Instagram to learn more.

Kieran Betz (born 2002, Woodbury, Vermont) currently lives in Wilmington, DE. He graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI with a BFA in Crafts, emphasizing in Glass and is now pursuing a degree in Scientific Glass Blowing from Salem Community College in Carneys Point, NJ. Kieran’s process centers on found and scrap material, blending natural forms with manufactured shapes. Whether working with glass, metals, woods, ceramics, fibers or minerals, Kieran is most comfortable with a tool in his hand and a fresh project on his mind. Visit Kieran’s Instagram to see more. 

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Join us for an evening with the Queer Candle Co! They will walk us through the candle making process from start to finish. You’ll walk away with a 6 ounce soy wax candle in a completely customized scent of your choosing and an understanding of how candles are made. 

Please note that candles need to be cured for at least 24 hours. You will pour the candle in the workshop, but it will not be ready for pick up until Thursday, 8/13.

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Tuesday, 8/11, 6:30-8pm

Skills taught: You will learn how to clean out and reuse a candle vessel, scent blending, container candle making, and how to properly care for candles for a safe and even burn. 

Skills needed: None! Students just need clean, dry hands and the willingness to learn!

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by Queer Candle Co and CraftNation and will include soy wax, non-toxic and phthalate free fragrance oils (CA prop 65 compliant), glass jar, cotton wick, and various tools.

What you’ll leave with: Each student will make a 6 ounce candle in the scent blend of their choice. Please note: The candles have to cure for at least 24 hours and will be ready for pick on Thursday, 8/13.

Meet your teacher: Alyssa Rose (she/her) and Ian Gibson (they/them), the queers behind the candles, have been building QCC together for 8 years. Dating since 2016, Ian was flabbergasted to find out how much money Alyssa spent on candles from big box stores when they moved into her apartment in 2018. That year for Christmas, Ian gave Alyssa a candle making kit for Christmas…and the rest is history! What started as a candle making hobby became a full time family business (two terribly behaved but very loved cats honorarily included). Visit their website or find them on Instagram.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Join us for this three hour workshop to learn book binding! Students will make their own 20 page, hard bound book. You’ll be guided through cutting, gluing, and sewing your book, choosing the cover and colors. Each book is unique to its maker!

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Saturday, 8/8 1pm-4pm

Skills taught: You’ll learn measuring to specific dimensions and cutting paper and book board to size. You’ll also learn how to assemble pages and sew them together with a cover.

Skills needed: This is a great class for beginners! We do suggest a comfort with sharp objects and glue and the ability to read a ruler.

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation and will include various forms of decorative and utilitarian paper, embroidery floss, and book covers.

What you’ll leave with: Each student will leave with a one of a kind, hand sewn, 20 page book!

Meet your teacher: Amy Kelly is a Philadelphia based mixed media artist. Amy has a BFA in Drawing and has been teaching since 2013. Crocheting, bookbinding, and watercolor are her specialties. She currently makes commission paintings for clients, teachers art workshops, and makes mixed media artworks based on religious and cultural symbolism.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: In this 2 hours workshop, we’ll begin with a short refresher of watercolor basics. You will then be walked through, step by step, how to paint your own watercolor masterpiece!

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Thursday, 8/13 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Skills taught: You’ll learn different ways to control watercolor, such as wet on wet, wet on dry, dry on dry. You’ll learn different tricks to fix mistakes, experiment with masking, and play with some ‘cheats.’ You will also learn the timing of watercolor, as it is a patient process.

Skills needed: A desire to learn and patience with yourself

Supplies used: All supplies will be provided by CraftNation and will include various watercolor mediums.

What you’ll leave with: Every student will leave with a finished watercolor painting!

Meet your teacher: Amy Kelly is a Philadelphia based mixed media artist. Amy has a BFA in Drawing and has been teaching since 2013. Crocheting, bookbinding, and watercolor are her specialties. She currently makes commission paintings for clients, teachers art workshops, and makes mixed media artworks based on religious and cultural symbolism.

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Level-up your crochet skills by learning how to make a classic: granny squares! In this class, we will revisit essential crochet stitches and learn how to work in the round to create the classic granny square motif. Once you get the basics down, the project possibilities are endless!

When: Saturday, 8/15 1pm-4pm

Skills taught: You will learn working in the round, how to reattach our yarn, seamlessly change colors, and weave in the ends. You’ll also learn joining techniques for coming granny squares.

Skills needed: Some beginner crochet experience (the basic stitches) or completion of Crochet I is recommended.

Supplies used: All supplies are provided by CraftNation and will include worsted weight yarn, 5mm crochet hook, and darning needles. Crochet hooks will also be available for sale.

What you’ll leave with: Every student will leave with at least one finished granny square!

Meet your teacher: Sloane started crocheting in 2023 as a way to work through grief and anxiety, and she’s been hooked ever since! She loves making everything, from garments to bags and blankets, and especially cute amigurumi. Sloane opened a small crochet business in 2025, Sloane Stitches, and she sells her amigurumi plushies on etsy and at markets around Philly!

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: In this one-day workshop, you will learn how to make your very own adorable tiny amigurumi tomato! If you have all the basics of crochet down, have completed some projects, and are ready to dive into the world of amigurumi, this class is for you!

When: Saturday, 8/22 1pm-4pm

Skills taught: We will learn how to read an amigurumi pattern, make a magic ring, work in a continuous round, shape the tomato using increases and decreases, stuff the tomato, sew pieces onto the tomato, add safety eyes, and embroider a cute little face.

Skills needed: This class required advanced beginner to intermediate crochet experience or completion of Crochet I and Crochet II. You should know stitches, how to work in the round, change colors, and basic finishing techniques.

What you’ll leave with: The cutest little tomato you’ve ever seen! And the instructions and knowledge to make an army of tomatoes!

Meet your teacher: Sloane started crocheting in 2023 as a way to work through grief and anxiety, and she’s been hooked ever since! She loves making everything, from garments to bags and blankets, and especially cute am1gurumi. Sloane opened a small crochet business in 2025, Sloane Stitches, and she sells her amigurumi plushies on etsy and at markets around Philly!

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.

Description: Have you ever looked at a vintage toy or your grandmother’s  old tea pot and thought,”that would make a good lamp”? Well, now’s your chance! Join artists Emilie Yonker and Kieran Betz for a fun evening of creating a one of a kind lamp from thrifted, unwanted, and secondhand materials.

Feel free to bring your favorite beverage to enjoy while crafting. We have glasses available, no need to bring disposables.

When: Saturday, 9/5 12-3PM

Skills taught: You will earn basic wiring skills and how to use a drill and various bits.

Skills needed: None! Just a desire to learn and a sense of creative adventure.

Supplies used: Emilie and Kieran will have all of the wiring components and tools necessary to complete a project. They will also have a broad assortment of items to choose from to make your lamp. However, if you have a special item that you’d like to turn into a lamp, feel free to bring it!

What you’ll leave with: Each student will leave with a finished lamp, light bulb included. 

Meet your teachers: Emilie Yonker (born 2003, Hastings, Michigan) is an artist living and working in Wilmington, DE. She is a graduate of the College for Creative Studies where she received a BFA in Fiber and Textiles. Her work is inspired by secondhand materials, and she uses both traditional and experimental techniques to create her work. She is drawn to domestic ephemera, such as doll parts, vintage toys, and doilies. Her work has been featured in Detroit Artist Market’s Annual Scholarship Awards and Exhibition. She is currently employed at the resource exchange where she sorts gently used art supplies as well as offers workshops. Visit Emilie’s website or Instagram to learn more.

Kieran Betz (born 2002, Woodbury, Vermont) currently lives in Wilmington, DE. He graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI with a BFA in Crafts, emphasizing in Glass and is now pursuing a degree in Scientific Glass Blowing from Salem Community College in Carneys Point, NJ. Kieran’s process centers on found and scrap material, blending natural forms with manufactured shapes. Whether working with glass, metals, woods, ceramics, fibers or minerals, Kieran is most comfortable with a tool in his hand and a fresh project on his mind. Visit Kieran’s Instagram to see more. 

All workshops at CraftNation are offered at a sliding scale. For guidance on which price you should pay, please see our Sliding Scale page.