Thursday, August 1, 2013

fairy fill in

In early July, I got an email from crafter extraordinaire Heidi Boyd asking me if I'd be willing and able to fill in for her at a "build your own fairy" children's workshop at Curtis Memorial Library here in Brunswick. I was thrilled that she thought of me, so I immediately said, "Yeah, why not? That sounds fun!" Heidi is very well known for her crafting prowess: she writes books (http://www.amazon.com/Heidi-Boyd/e/B001JP8G5G/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1375376559&sr=1-2-ent) and she has a very successful business (https://www.facebook.com/HeidiBoydWhimsyKits), so to say that she's got some pretty big shoes to fill is not an understatement. We met last week so she could give me a crash course in Fairy Building. I took copious notes, I photographed each step of the process, and, of course, I got nervous about the whole thing...but most of all, I had fun, and that's the spirit I wanted to bring to the workshop. She assured me I would be fine and that the kids would be a very open, receptive audience; she also told me I would have help from at least one librarian and a high school student with volunteer experience. All of this made me feel better, and I started to get excited.

Well, the workshop was yesterday morning, and WOW- what a whirlwind! There were at least 25 kids there and they were all very eager to build their own fairy. My helpers were amazing: Robyn, a librarian, and Kathryn, a teen volunteer. The three of us set up the room and got all the supplies ready before the kids arrived. When the start time rolled around, I introduced myself to the crowd, showed my Art Walk poster (as Heidi suggested), and went through the fairy-building steps. I then asked the kids to repeat the steps back to me one at a time (again, as Heidi suggested); they had obviously been paying attention because lots of hands shot up into the air every time I said, "Okay, what's next?" When it was time to get down to business, the kids swarmed the table for supplies. I turned to Kathryn and said, "Uh oh...have I lost control already?" She smiled knowingly and said, "Don't worry. This is normal." Kathryn and Robyn were on glue gun duty, and I helped kids who asked for a hand. I had intended to take pictures, but I just got so wrapped up in what I was doing, I didn't even touch my phone. Before I knew it, the room was mostly empty, and there were just a few more kids waiting to get their fairy's wings glued on! It was all over in just 30 minutes, everyone left happy, and the room was fairly clean. That's what I call a successful workshop!

No comments: