National Handmade Day on the first Saturday in April recognizes all those who put forth their creative talents into gifts warming the heart and leaving us awed.
- William Morris founded the arts and crafts movement in the middle of the 19th century after being tired of mass produced products. He wanted a return to products that were both beautiful and useful.
- In 1908 the Sears and Roebuck catalog brought arts and crafts style into most homes in the USA.
- Leonardo da Vinci spent 12 years painting the Mona Lisa’s lips.
- From 1912-1948, the Olympic Games awarded medals for artworks inspired by sport.
- Women began forming sewing societies in the 1860’s where they would gather together and make quilts to sell at church bazaars.
- Modern scrapbooking first emerged during the 1800s when photography was invented.
- The most ancient candles are from China and Japan and were made of whale fat.
- The first scented candles in the American colonies was bayberry, but it took a huge amount of bayberry leaves to produce a single candle.
- 56% of US households craft at least once a year
- The size of the creative industry in the United States was a staggering $44 billion in 2016, up from $30.1 billion in 2011.
- The average household uses 14.3 meters (46.9 feet) of sellotape each year. Only 3.2 meters (1o.5 feet) is used for wrapping presents.
- 92% of paper crafters create cards more than any other type of project
- In 2010, an American study found that there were 21 million quilters in the USA.
- “The whole nine yards,” a common phrase, came from the fabric that was needed to make the fanciest coat for a man of fashion.
- Everyday in the US- papermakers recycle enough paper to fill a fifteen (15) mile long train of boxcars.
- Paper was invented by the Chinese about 105 A.D. and was kept a secret for quite a number of years.
- The largest sheet of handmade paper was made by Masaki Takahashi and Kazuki Maeda in Toyama, Japan on 19th August 2009
- Origami, that is the art of paper folding was developed in the 17th century and became more popular in the rest of the world in the 1900s.
- A paper bag takes twice the amount of energy to make than a plastic bag.
- Not all paper is made from wood, some are made from scraps of cloth pieces, and the banknotes are made from cotton fiber.
- Tree Shaping: It’s a very cool hobby in which you train living trees and other woody plants into artistic shapes or useful structures. Think about growing your own chair! It might take a while though.
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