The Fullerton crafting community came together for Seasonal Craft Night on Wednesday to create one-of-a-kind candle holders in celebration of the season of love.
The crafters arrived at the Fullerton Public Library’s conference room to make mason jar candle holders, adorned with pressed flowers and heart-shaped tissue, all tied together with a twine bow.
The seasonal craft events became a quarterly tradition several years ago when two crafty librarians aimed to bring teens and adults into a collaborative community environment.
“I teamed up with another previous adult services librarian to bring crafts, we’re both crafting people,” said Emily Elliott, the teen services librarian. “We made the seasonal craft nights 13-plus so friends could come together, parents could come together with their teenagers and from there we kept it the same age and we’ve gotten really good responses from our patrons.”
The overall mission of the craft nights is to bring the larger Fullerton community together and offer a creative space to craft with materials that they may not have access to otherwise.
Through these events, the library’s patrons are given the opportunity to meet new people and end the evening with a unique piece of art that they got the satisfaction of creating themselves.
“I think it’s a really great opportunity to build community,” said Amanda Ortega, the current adult services librarian. “You have people from all kinds of different walks of life who come here, people who have never done a craft in their life and some who are complete experts and could teach me a thing or two.”
What truly brings these seasonal events together is not the activity that is being completed, but the people who partake in it. The diversity and comradery that stems as a result of these specialty nights is a distinct experience that can be solely attributed to the librarians.
“Although I really like crafts, I would not describe myself as particularly good at them at all times,” Ortega said. “But I’m doing my best to learn and grow too so I think it’s a really good opportunity to push yourself.”
The community crafters were provided with any and all equipment they would need to succeed. Upon arrival they were given ModPodge, an assortment of pressed flowers, paint brushes, colorful tissue paper, mini mason jars and tea lights allowing for the candle holder to come together.
Richard and Alesa Krull are long-time Fullerton residents who attended the craft night event for the first time. Richard stated that this was his first time doing any type of craft whatsoever, but his wife, Alesa, does nothing but craft.
“I saw (the event), it just popped up because I subscribed to the Fullerton website,” Alesa Krull said. “That’s how I learned about it and when I saw it, I went, ‘Oh yes, we’re going,’ the poor man had no choice.”
Love was definitely on display at the appropriately themed craft night as the couple met at a Fullerton middle school in the sixth grade and have been inseparable ever since. And now that they have attended one of the craft nights, they plan to continue to participate.
The patrons can see the love that went into the crafts, but also the love that’s being put into the event by librarians Elliott and Ortega.
The Fullerton library provides an abundance of unique experiences and opportunities for its community, open to anyone to join in a joyful, diverse and accepting environment. While the night’s craft may have been working with flowers, glitter and pink hearts, this does not mean that the experience is intrinsically feminine.
“Fullerton has so many opportunities and unfortunately, too many people are unaware of it,” Richard Krull said. “It’s a hidden gem and we need to get the word out.”