Arts and Crafts

Why is it that when someone says something about "The Art of (whatever)" or the "(whomever)'s Craft" it sounds all high-toned and artisan, but when you hear the phrase Arts & Crafts the association is with Girl Scouts, and cheap things made quickly and inexpertly out of Popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners?

Popsicle sticks are actually pretty awesome. In the original version of The Parent Trap, one of the Haley Mills makes a Popsicle stick birdcage that looks AWESOME, and reminds me of a lot of what I see featured on Etsy. And having spent several summers at a summer camp as a kid, I can testify that there is nothing inexpert in making a lanyard. That takes serious skills. And people would spend all day knotting a friendship bracelet that would in the end be a beautiful and intricate piece of jewelry.

Maybe it's because you don't have to spend a lot of money to do "Arts & Crafts". Maybe it's that people remember doing them as a kid, and therefore think it must be cheap and require little skill. They're wrong!

So here's to Arts & Crafts, that sadly undervalued and underestimated category of creations. Here's to tissue paper and Elmer's glue, popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners, finger paints and boondoggles and all the crafts we learned as a kid and have left by the wayside. Vivan las Arts & Crafts!