We normally kick off spring at Penland with an open house that brings 500-600 visitors to campus for hands-on activities in our studios. We couldn’t do that this year, but we hated to let the spring go by without offering some creative fun to the community. 

So we arranged for five local makers to demonstrate activities that can be done at home with easily available materials, and we turned those demonstrations into step-by-step videos. We posted these during the month of March, and they will be available indefinitely, not just for our local community, but for anyone with an internet connection. All of these activities are suitable for children–with varying degrees of supervision needed.

You can find them all at penland.org/openhouse or click on any of the links below. 

Papier mâché masks with Rickie Barnett and Lynne Hobaica.

 

Make a kite from sticks, string, and a plastic bag with Ellie Richards.

 

Paste-paper painting with Meg Peterson.

 

Repeat pattern stamping, a.k.a. simplified block printing, with Sarita Westrup.

 

And two bonus kitchen episodes: Penland Coffee House gingerade and gluten-free peanut butter cookies with Alena Applerose.