The 7-Eleven of Craft Stores

Black Friday was last week and, like millions of other retail-brainwashed zombies, I too braved the elements to do some holiday shopping, while giving a wide berth to all Walmarts, electronics stores, and anything associated with the word "mall."

I first hit up Target and bought some DVDs on the cheap. Mostly for me. Okay, all for me. (I wanted them and they were priced to move. I was only being accomodating.)

I also dropped by World Market and found a lovely gift that will be a true nightmare to wrap, but I've worked in worse circumstances, so I'll figure it out.

I also took a turn through Michael's craft store, visions of holiday crafts dancing in my head. I arrived with a real live list of things to pick up - I wanted an honest-to-goodness wreath for our front door (and all the trimmings), I wanted cross stitch patterns, I wanted picture frames, I wanted ornament kits. I left less than five minutes later, having perused nearly the entire store and finding myself enormously disappointed.

When I was a little girl, I could spend hours in craft stores. Frank's, Minnesota Fabrics, Ben Franklin (and then Total Crafts), MJ Designs... they were happy places for me, full of ideas and inspiration and oh-look-how-fun. Everything on the shelves were for YOU to do. They'd sell you the wreath base and the picks and the ribbon, but YOU arranged it any way you wanted. They'd sell you the pattern and the fabrics and the materials, but YOU made the stitches. They'd sell you the canvas and easel and the paints/charcoal/pencils/pastels, but YOU made the picture.

When I was in Michael's (tagline as of 11/27: "Imaginate") on Friday, I can tell you exactly what consisted of DIY projects: Scrapbooking, Jewelry Making, Colored Foam. And for all of those things, you're not really making anything. You're sticking someone else's stickers onto someone else's patterned paper. You're stringing someone else's beads onto fishing line. Your toddler is gluing foam and googly eyes into some abstract form, though I suppose that's really as close to DIY creativity as that store sells anymore. You can buy pre-made ornaments, pre-made wreaths, pre-made posters, pre-made birdhouses - oh but you can slap some paint on them and call them your own (no toolwork needed!) It's all manufactured creativity.

The old-school DIY stuff was relegated to the far back corner of the store, as far away from the entrance as they could get it: all the needlework (knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching, crewel, quilting), all the fine art (paint, canvas, pencils, paper), even the cheap-o sweatshirts we used to paint on in Girl Scouts. All these things cover less than 10% of the store. You wouldn't know they were there unless you were looking for them. There wasn't a single DIY Christmas ornament, stocking, or decoration. I did find the wreath I'd seen advertised, but it looked even faker than the circa-1980 artificial Christmas tree I grew up with.

Michael's calls itself "The Arts and Crafts Store." I have to differ (I will not beg). It's the 7-Eleven of Arts and Crafts stores. Convenience and profit has taken precedence over substance.

I know I sound like a dinosaur, and I suppose this is what it felt like when tailors disappeared in favor of off-the-rack pret-a-porter shopping. But I have at least one thing to say to 95% of the people that have made jewelry making trendy enough to eat its own 15% or more of "The Arts and Crafts Store":

(**Rosie's Note: I really have no problem with scrapbooking, jewelry making, or even letting your kids play with foam. Scrapbooking secretly looks like fun. My friend's mom handmade a lovely beaded lanyard for my office keycard, though I stand by my statement that 95% of the jewelry making out there looks like crap. And colorful spongy foam is harmless fun for kids. But you have to understand the spirit and intent with which this post was made. Convenience and profit really has taken precedence over substance and spirit in most aspects of our lives; I just hate to see it overtake more and more of my creative outlets.)