For the Makers review (June box)

It's a small company. Look! It's addressed by hand. 

     I recently finished creating all the crafts from the For the Makers box I received from my friend Haley for my birthday. I wanted to review this box because I haven't seen many reviews for this company on the Internet and I thought someone might find this interesting. 

Who knew such a tiny box could hold so much?

    For the Makers is a monthly subscription box for craft lovers. Sign up and every month you’ll receive supplies for several craft projects. For $29 (shipping included), they source the materials for four crafts and deliver them to your door, letting you skip straight to the fun part: crafting! Then go to their website to see walkthroughs (including a multitude of step-by-step photos) for each project. They ship on the second Saturday of each month. 

A sheet of paper was enclosed with the For the Makers box to list each project and the corresponding materials needed for each.

     For the Makers was founded by Janet Crowther and Katie Covington. Both moved from North Carolina to New York where they met while designing jewelry for various fashion houses in the city. Because of their jewelry background, most of For the Makers' crafts are pretty, feminine jewelry and accessories. Previous projects have included bracelets, a sunglasses case, belts, bags, a tea towel, a decorative bowl, hair accessories, note cards, and a scarf. 

The actual craft materials came in an even smaller box. Not a lot of wasted packing materials here!

     My June floral-themed box came with the materials for four crafts. The introduction for the month's crafts was this: "Introducing... June. From gardenias to poppies, June is floral everything. Think of it as your own personal garden without all the weeding. Drawing inspiration from spring runway shows (Chris Benz, Milly, and Thakoon come to mind), Frida Kahlo's floral headpieces, and dreamy late night summer dinners, we hope this month's box encourages you to add a little sunshine to your life. This is by far our most colorful month yet. We packed the June box full of saturated summer pieces: delicate chartreuse silk, bold floral twill, jade chiffon, and a hint of neon cording. You'll find four projects designed just for the height of summer. Throughout the month, we'll post about the resources, techniques and materials behind the box." 

All the materials needed for the projects: fabric, a zipper, chiffon, ball chain, neon cord, thread, and even a needle!

These were the four projects:

• Field poppy pouch - Leftovers of Milly's Peggy Guggenheim-inspired poppy fabric straight from the runway sewn into a pouch with a contrasting magenta zipper. This was probably the hardest and most time-consuming of the four projects this month since I'm a sewing newbie. It definitely is my favorite though. I think the cost of the box was worth this project by itself. I love the fabric so much. It is such a bold, beautiful pattern and you can tell that it is very high-end fabric just by the feel of it. Not something you can find at your local Joann's. Believe me, I've looked.

I am in love with this poppy pouch!

• Crest Iris wrapped bracelet - Pool blue and jade green chiffon braided with a lavender anodized ball chain. This was a fairly easy project to complete and the bracelet is really cool and pretty. I think it would look particularly good stacked with some other bracelets. The only problems I had when making it was that my chiffon got a little hairy sometimes and I had to trim it in places where it seemed to be unraveling. 

I braided the bracelet one evening after dinner. 

The bracelet is made of super saturated colored chiffon. 

• Gardenia bobby pin - Chartreuse and yellow silk petals with a crystal stud sewn onto a bobby pin. This was a quick and easy project. It is so cute and the petals are so delicate and lovely. I also love the colors. 

I sewed this during a storm while our power was out. 

• Dahlia candle holder - A tealight candle holder strung up by pink neon cord. This was definitely the easiest of the four projects and my least favorite. No sewing involved. Just measuring, cutting, tying knots, and gluing. The finished result was cute, but not a project I would have picked out to do myself. 

My finished product hanging from a tree off our back deck. 

     For the Makers is really great because they combine easy tutorials with hard to find, unique materials. They use really beautiful supplies from small suppliers to those straight from the runway. The fabric used to make the field poppy pouch this past month was used in Milly's spring fashion show. The silk flowers used to make the flower hairpin were made by M & S Schalberg Flowers, who create fabric flowers for Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, and Marchesa. I am very impressed with quality of the materials they include. No popsicle sticks and glitter here!

The fabric came straight from the runway. 

I found a behind-the-scenes look at their silk flowers on the 
For the Makers Facebook page. 

    One of my favorite things about For the Makers is that they deliver everything I need to make several crafts so I don't have to buy all the materials myself. Back when I did a lot of crafts on Pinterest, I would spend so much money at Michael's just buying all the supplies I needed. And I typically had to buy an entire bag or box of a certain item when I only needed one of two. By doing For the Makers, I save a lot of money and I don't wind up with more craft materials stored in our spare room that I never get around to using again after completing my original project. Saving money and reducing clutter? Sounds good to me!

    I will be receiving the July box in a couple weeks and I already can't wait to see what projects they've come up with for this month. If you're interested in trying For the Makers, use the code FRIEND OF A MAKER to sign up. Otherwise, you will have to wait for an invitation in order to join.