Get Crafty

When I met Alice Ripley at the stage door of Next To Normal in Shubert Alley back in 2009, an aspiring young actor asked her for advice. Unlike many who respond with encouraging cliches, Ripley offered advice of substance: Do something creative...with your hands every day. The only way to tackle this life is through creativity, and you have to exercise your creative muscle.

Although I was a musical theater kid growing up, a career in acting is not my pursuit. Nevertheless, I think Alice was on to something. There is an element of creativity and innovation in any career, quite frankly, but more importantly creativity is an ingredient in a successful and happy life.

After all, if we’re not consistently trying new ways to improve ourselves life would be boring.

This past week, I rediscovered what it is like to forfeit technology in favor of crafts. As a member of the Urban Girl Squad, I decided to sign up for my first Volunteer event. I devoted a couple of hours to Only Make Believe, an organization dedicated to bringing theater and performance to ailing children in hospitals.

What is theater without costumes? So, I spent my early Thursday evening designing and crafting medallions (decorated CDs) that the kids could wear as character jewelry in their play. Sifting through buttons, sticking to glue, slicing through felt and stitching ribbon, I realized how long it had been since I did arts & crafts.

When I was little, I had a couple of friends who weren’t allowed to watch television or play electronic games. When I went over for a playdate to their house I always dreaded the hours without the audio-visual stimulation. Yet, once we dug into the paint or pottery or yarn, I had the best time!

It may not have been quite that long since I’ve dabbled in crafts, but there is something both soothing and empowering about using your hands for creativity that I had forgotten. It feels productive. It feels simple. It’s fun. A little unpredictable. I was just grabbing materials and throwing things together to see what would come of it.

My thought was more freeflowing, less planned—which was relaxing. I found this large round button of tan leather, and immediately thought “that looks like a snout” so I made a pig based on that one button. It was an exercise in free association.

After this small taste of craftiness, I made the trip to Michael’s crafts to buy some materials for a project I have been thinking about for a long time. In college, I used to tack my Broadway show tickets to my wall. I save them all. Well, I no longer want to just sticky-tack paper to my walls—I’m not an undergrad anymore. But, I do love my tickets. So I’m going to make ticket collages and frame them for my walls.

My collages will add a dash of color and a dash of theater to my adult New York room. Not to mention, just as any good design-for-tv-show host will tell you ‘art is more special when you make it yourself.’

Crafts don’t have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better. Turn off the noise. Instead of lounging on the couch, or tapping on your iPhone, tap into your own creativity.