At this year’s Crafty Bastards Hello Craft wanted to share the fun of making with those at the fair. So we threw up a tent, asked some of our friends to sponsor some projects, and let the creativity run wild.

And run wild it did. The Make Something Awesome Area was packed from start to finish all day long. Anyone who sat down could make a pin cushion from Etsy, earrings from Mary Ellen Doran, knit up a scarf from Knit Outta the Box, embroider patterns by Sublime Stitching or let their imagination dictate the project with access to a myriad of materials.

Over at the official Hello Craft booth we talked up our organization and made buttons!

There was a constant line for the button machine. It was so much fun teaching people how to use it and then the look of awe and joy when a fully formed button came out.

We really love teaching people how to make and how beneficial it is, with the hope that the feeling of accomplishment encourages them to continue to do so. From the vendors who create handmade to the buyers of handmade and the dabblers of handmade, Crafty Bastards was one big awesome hug to all things handmade.

A big thank you to the DC Craft Mafia who helped guide project makers throughout the day at the Make Something Awesome Area and to all the volunteers who helped the Hello Craft booth and to the teachers at the demo booth: Thank you!

Did you make anything awesome? We’d love to see! Be sure to upload your photos to the Crafty Bastards 2009 Flickr Group.