Sunday, March 18th at Opal’z in Midtown Palo Alto, a record (approximately) 50 people converged on the upstairs room, normally reserved for birthday parties and soap-making. Instead, these locals were armed with bags of fabrics, paints, papers, ornaments and all sorts of arts and craft supplies. The attendees were eager to swap and jumped in to sort through the piles and boxes of a huge variety of items. Yarns and needles quickly disappeared, the prettiest fabrics snatched up, scrapbooks and more found new homes and luckily were saved from the landfill. The aromas of Annie (Opal’z proprietor)’s fragrant soaps filled the air as people shared stories and filled bags.

The crowd was such that there was a high, steady, hum through the room, and we limited the demos to only paper beads and a few things that can be made from a tshirt, leaving Annie’s other demos for future swaps. There was still a lot of stuff left over at the end (in the future, please remember to stay to take home your extras!), so crafters, teachers, families, and artists can look forward to more supplies at the next Craft swap, to be shared with the Garden Share on May 13th, 11am at Common Ground.

A few photos from this swap, thanks to Annie, are below. Thanks to all who attended! If you couldn’t make it, we hope to see you in May.