The Craft Studio is a place full of materials to make almost everything one can imagine. 
Now one would think that all these things are rather expensive when bought in stores or even online, where a bag of “designer” wool can cost up to £135.  We, however, didn’t pay anything for most of the materials we have in the Studio. 

Many different people come by everyday to donate their old things, such as fabrics or books or especially wool, which is probably the most donated material. With these materials we make all kinds of things. The most popular ways to use the wool are knitting, crocheting or embroidery. Many of the blankets and bags that were made that way were sold at the Advent Fair in December.

We do not only receive donations of things that are obviously made for crafting but also items that, at first glance, don’t really seem to belong in here - an old bike would be a good example of that. While at first we weren’t a hundred percent sure what we could use it for, the answer was simple: we used the old wheels as a round weaving loom so that people can use the secondhand wool to make a completely new and unique piece of art.

In our darkroom we have an assemblage of camera equipment that people donated to the Craft Studio. We’re now using it to make the most interesting black and white photos. 
A lot of things we make we make for fun, for decorating our rooms or as gifts for family and friends, but another important task the Craft Studio takes on several times a year is making props for the plays.

Right now, we’re working on a sedan chair and the Cave of Wonders for our next big play Aladdin, which is going to take place on the 9th of April in our auditorium. Both of these props we make out of things we already have in the Studio. The now elegant sedan chair was originally an old wooden chair and a frame that we also used for props in past plays. Together with some wooden bars, cardboard that was meant for the recycling bin and paper mache which is made out of old newspaper we collect from various houses and the Newton Dee café, we crafted an authentic Arabic-looking sedan chair.

Aladdin is not the only play we’re working on right now. Soon the second Ice Giants musical experiment and play will come up for which the Craft Studio is now searching out old instruments.Out of those instruments we’re going to make new ones which will be used in many different areas. This way an old keyboard, for example, can become a self-made control panel for light and sound. 

While making crafts is usually connected to a lot of wasted material that is not needed, we in the Craft Studio use everything to make something new and almost nothing gets only used once. We find this aspect of recycling and reusing very important because although one might produce a lot of waste in the process of making something, that waste is actually just the materials for the next project.