Introducing Macaroni Craft Scouts Day Camp
🎺Attention, campers! 🎺
Dear reader,
**Not in the reading mood today? TL;DR: I’m holding a Macaroni Craft Scouts Day Camp this summer on June 28th in Chicago. Interested in coming or helping? Fill out this form! **
Okay, bookworms. Read on:
Have you ever said a simple fact about yourself to someone and have them fully laugh in your face? That happened to me once with someone I pay. In one of our sessions with my absolute queen of a therapist, I said, “Well, I’m not a perfectionist.”
Reader, she laughed and she laughed. She took a minute to make sure I wasn’t kidding, and then she laughed again.
Here’s why I thought I wasn’t a perfectionist:
I’m an impulsive chaos muppet who has ADHD piles of clothes and a precarious filing system that I cannot explain. I let the brush strokes show. I write this newsletter the hour before I send it. I am not the kind of person to fret too much about the details I put into the world.
Here’s why my therapist laughed and laughed and is possibly still laughing:
I can be a people pleaser. I have to be right (which luckily I always am). I want to be a perfect friend and if that fails, I hope that people at least think of me that way. I want my perfect outcomes even if I don’t really have the personality for perfect input. Even if I did - the perfect outcomes don’t really exist, do they?
In 2020, I started taking process videos of my arts and crafts after reading Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. The idea was to look inside the open heart surgery of art creating. It was NOT perfect. It was part of my imperfect input, and it was a blast. People loved it and I loved showing it.
As I opened my practice to art events and facilitating, there’s a lot of failure and a lot of shame that comes along with that failure. Practically nothing makes me as happy as a successful couple of hours hanging out with new people I brought together to make something with our hands. Practically nothing makes me as sad as selling 0 tickets and cancelling an event. Imperfect input, imperfect output, and not much to show for the whole of what went on that showed power, growth, and value. But what if there was a way to show my work with this area too?
My British comedian boyfriend James Acaster, participating in celebrity Great British Baking Show, once made a cake so sloppy to even my eye, across the pond, through my tv scream, that I giggled and kicked my feet. Iconically, he presented his monstrosity to the judges and said, “Started making it. Had a breakdown. Bon appétit.”
Isn’t that why we love GBBO and Project Runway and Face/Off? We see every bump in the road and the end product is even greater (funnier and more nuanced if busted! Grander if superb!) for it.
So here is a “process video” so to speak of me planning my big summer event, Macaroni Craft Scouts.
The concept: bring together friends and strangers to make multiple craft projects over the course of an afternoon with the whimsy of a Girl Scout day camp - camp names! Camp awards! Vests! Badges! Talent portion a la Wet Hot American Summer??? Bug Juice: Adult Edition. Mess Hall. There would be 5-10 craft stations you can breeze in and out of or plant yourself in for a couple of hours.
The obstacles:
Pricing. We have many craft opportunities in this city, most notably the fabulous team at Chicago Craft Club, that are often free. In order to make this a day camp that you can truly show up with just yourself, I want to provide as much as possible for my campers. I also make a portion of my income facilitating arts events and girl’s gotta charge! Finding that sweet spot of a price people can comfortably pay while still providing a banging event is something I’m still working on!
Looking for the (paid) helpers. Finding a handful of other facilitators that know how to do more specialized crafts that have a similar, fun and funny attitude about this event!
Weather is a thing unfortunately! What’s my rain date? Avoiding other art fests and events in the city is a real whack-a-mole situation.
I’m bad at procreate. Lol. lmao. lmfao. New logo forthcoming but can we admire my noodle, briefly?
My process so far: I made this form! If you’re interested in attending Macaroni Craft Scouts, please fill it out! If you’re interested in being a counselor, please fill it out! We’re taking stock before I get too crazy with this thing.
Here’s the thing: it’s going to be so much fun, I just have to go for it. Thanks to everyone who’s encouraged me with this idea, notably my career coach Meighan (you need her), and thanks for reading this vulnerable post about event planning. If you’re out of town and want to contribute to getting this camp off the ground, you can venmo me @ martinemma with your best camp emoji and I’ll add it to the pot. You can also fill out the camp form to make suggestions about pricing and crafts even if you won’t be able to come!
Don’t forget to share this newsletter with anyone who might be interested!
xo,
Emma (camp nickname forthcoming)