Arlington resident Lori Sullivan, 68, builds a model from “KPop Demon Hunters” on Aug. 26 at 1851 Club in Arlington. Sullivan attended a craft night that was put on at the bar.
Tracy Bennett, 66, sat on the black barstools of 1851 Club, hunched over.
With her eyes glued on a YouTube video, the Fort Worth resident meticulously folded colored paper. She paused and rewound the video when she missed a step.
Her end goal was a tiny origami bird.
“I’m actually not a real crafty person, so they’re kind of rubbing off on me,” Bennett said.
On the last Wednesday of every month, a small group gathers in the club for a craft night.
Some color. Others spend the night building animals out of blue cardboard puzzle pieces. Throughout the night, participants unwind with people they consider a second family.
1851 Club hosts karaoke, open mics, poker nights and drag shows throughout the week.
Bedford, Texas, resident Maxwell Arsenault, 29, flips through a binder of Pokémon cards Aug. 26 at 1851 Club in Arlington. Arsenault opened packs of cards throughout the event.
“This is our only little gay bar that we have here in Arlington,” city resident Samantha Raynes, 55, said. “We’d like to keep it alive, and if we can get people in here just for something as simple as craft night and hanging out with other individuals and making friends, that’s what it’s about for me.”
Raynes started the monthly event to meet like-minded individuals. The first craft night was hosted in March, and the events typically draw in around 10 to 20 people, she said.
She spent Wednesday night adding to her fall bucket list, made on the box of a McDonald’s Happy Meal she ate the day before.
“I’m going to just have my list here, and then I’m just going to fill it with junk,” she said.
As the month-long project progresses, Raynes said, she’ll add polaroids, stickers and ticket stubs from the Pumpkin Nights festival.
“Instead of keeping a lot of stuff, I can have it all on one little book for October or for fall, and I can pull it out at any time,” she said. “It just makes me smile to be able to go back and look at those things that we’ve done together.”
Crafts weren’t the only thing group members worked on.
Arlington resident Joshua Berry, 33, grabs colored pencils Aug. 26 at 1851 Club in Arlington. Berry said that events like craft nights can bring out people’s inner child.
Two seats down sat Bedford, Texas, resident Maxwell Arsenault, 29, who was organizing over 300 Pokémon cards into a black binder.
Maxwell said he sorts the cards by type, the front of the book dedicated to his trainer cards, the back to his ex ones and the middle filled with everything else.
“It’s just a fun hobby,” he said. “It’s peaceful during this chaotic time.”
For some, the night provided an opportunity to get out of the house.
Arlington resident Lori Sullivan, 68, said the event gives her a chance to be with friends and gets her out of her own headspace. Sometimes they talk, other times it’s heads-down work.
“There’s no pressure. There’s no time frame,” she said. “Some of us will do things and we’ll just save it just for this night instead of going home and doing it.”
“The nice thing about crafting is you can do whatever you choose to do.”
@tay._.sansom