In March, nearly three months after I had begun my internship for the much-lauded daytime show hosted by the guru of all  things domestic, I decided that it was time to face into my fears and begin to make things with my own hands.  I was working in the  show’s Art Department as a stylist and crafter (although, I mostly kept to the style side, by my own design), so it was time to gird the loins and get crafting.  I would baby step into it I concluded, only selecting projects that had few processes and required even fewer materials.  The simplest craft I could find was to construct a mini magazine holder, using mat board and a utility knife.  I had several digest-sized cooking mags hanging around, so this exercise had a real utilitarian value to it.  I could wrap my mind around that.

Let me first begin by saying that I naively believed that this project would be a breeze.  I knew what mat board was (what a plus; I hardly know what any materials and tools associated with crafting are) and I had a utility knife from hubby’s tool set.  Phew!  After I picked up a rather costly scrap of mat board from the framing center of a craft store in Long Island, I found that I had a big issue on my  hand.  The online template, a rather brilliant design by the Art Dept.’s director, intended to make the construction of the holder a no-brainer, was impossible to format for printing!  The directions said to “print at 200 percent” and tape the multiple pieces of letter paper together.  What the directions didn’t say is that you need to be a genius to figure out how to get the template to blow up seamlessly, that all the pieces match each other without losing any information.  Initially, I immediately dove to the conclusion that I was not cut out for this crafting stuff, and that some stay-at-home mom (agreed, loaded topic) in Frumpton Township, PA was at this moment effortlessly printing this out. Suddenly, all I could hear was that woman’s fancy, new Canon buzzing with activity, the look of satisfaction glued to her face, while my printer groaned, then flat lined.  Totally deflated.

I unwillingly admitted this defeat to my computer engineer husband in hopes that he’d pick up where I left off — at the beginning.  Thankfully enough, the next evening I heard him hard at work on the mysterious case of the non-printable, “printable” template.  Four hours, 16 wasted sheets of paper, and an empty ink cartridge later, I finally had a template to work with!  So you see, it wasn’t as easy as the directions had claimed!  I was not inept!!  This small victory, however, did not overshadow the looming reality that crafting seems to be a lot about trial and error, a very significant burden to those of us who are time and cash strapped.

Why in June, several months after my inital foray into the craft world, am I rehashing this event?  I think it was the moment when I, a not-too-crafty person, first tapped into the complexity and depth of the subject of craft and craft making.  Honestly, I just couldn’t fathom how this well-regarded company with dozens of talented craft experts in its employ would, with such extreme confidence, advertise at-home crafting as simple, cost-effective, and useful in our everyday lives!  Okay okayyyy, perhaps it behooves them to portray crafting as accessible to boost revenue of the company’s extensive product line of craft supplies at two of America’s big box retailers.  But still, I challenge that notion.

Surely, I must not be the only one who secretly longs to become a convert to craft, but doubts its real-world merit and her own capabilities? Sleuthing the net, I could find no support group for the clueless crafters, only clubs dedicated to the already devout.

Here’s my “club” to the those of us who want to learn how to craft with conviction, and how to put it to work within the context of our personal journeys.

Hours in, formatting becomes a nightmare

A rather smart-looking mag holder even with its mismatched edges.  I like the burgundy mat board, which I opted for instead of the white the basic white that was shown.  The white piping motif was a great accident; I never thought  that bending mat board would expose its white interior.

Magazine Holder How-To

1. Download the template from our website and print at 200 percent. Print on multiple pieces of letter paper and tape together, if necessary.
2. Temporarily secure template to mat board, using double-sided tape.
3. Using a mat knife, cut through the solid lines of the template.
4. Score on dotted lines with the mat knife by gently and carefully cutting halfway through board. (Tip: You may want to practice scoring on a piece of scrap mat board first.)
5. Fold board at score lines, and form into the box shape. Glue the long, thin tab to the inside of the box with craft glue, squaring the box. Hold in place with a binder clip until dry.
6. Fold all but the largest flap in to form the bottom. Spread craft glue on the bottom of the folded flaps, and fold the largest flap in to meet them, squaring the box as you do so. Place magazines or other weight inside the holder to keep in place until dry.