The second-ever Transition Palo Alto Craft Swap took place in Palo Alto this time, upstairs at the lovely Opal’z store, filled with the fragrance of essential oils and soap. We arrived, arms full, and set up on the U-shaped tables. People arrived early, helped sort things into the categories. We found that there were lots of things that didn’t fit into the regular categories, and lots of things that already looked interesting.

We had everything from kids’ kits and yarn to wood pieces, beads, stamps, botanicals like henna and cinnamon, carpet and fabric pieces, sewing patterns, cross stitch kits, books, stickers, jewelry, hand-looms, embroidery, wallpaper and other papers, containers and boxes, brushes and paint, and so much more.

Some shared stories about what they did with their crafts, and others told of their packrat tendencies. We were reminded of things we used growing up with a tinge of nostalgia. We picked up items for crafts we had always wanted to try but didn’t want to invest in. We looked around at the packed tables and wondered why anyone would visit a craft store for brand new things when so much was available!

Everyone was generally careful to take no more than what they brought (some much less), and we were left with lots of stuff which will be donated. Hannah from Fabmo took some things to share at her event, and a bit more is in storage for donation or for next time.

Be sure to join in on the fun next time! Learn more about the craft swap here. More photos below: