The Crafter's Box is an artisan craft subscription box that features a different, unique craft each month that is designed with the crafty adult in mind. The boxes are thoughtfully curated with high-end materials so that your finished products are modern and luxe. There's also an accompanying video workshop led by the featured artist that introduces you to the craft and provides you with detailed instructions to complete the project.
Subscribers get first access to new workshops for $65 per month, and the remaining workshops are later available to purchase in The Crafter's Box marketplace for $75. So, members save $10, and are guaranteed to receive the newest workshop. For Mother's Day 2021, The Crafter's Box has curated a selection of workshops that are perfect for the crafty moms in your life.
This review is of the Crafter’s Box Wrapped Fiber Rainbow workshop for Mother's Day.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About The Crafter's Box
The Subscription Box: The Crafter's Box
The Cost: $65.00 per month + free U.S. shipping (save with longer subscriptions)
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 25% off your first box!
CODE: GETCREATIVE
The Products: A shipped kit of curated tools and materials + a new digital workshop by the featured maker of the month
Ships to: The U.S. for free and internationally for varying rates
Good to Know: The month's featured project is announced on the 1st and subscribers have until the 8th to pause, skip, or swap that month. Projects are designed to be for ages 18+.
The Crafter's Box "Wrapped Fiber Rainbow" Review
Let's take a look inside this box curated for Mother's Day -- the craft featured is a sculptural fiber rainbow!
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We received two info cards this month detailing information on what's included in the box, as well as a short bio on the featured maker this month, fiber artist Mandi Smethells of Smoothhills Weaving. For this workshop, Mandi lets us in our the secret to crafting our own wrapped fiber rainbow.
Now, onto the items!
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Custom Lana Yarn – Retail Value $33.50 (Buy single skeins for $6.00 each 50 g and $3.50 for 25 g here)
We received these beautiful single skeins of yarn in gorgeous, muted colors – taupe, white, sand, stone, pale pink, and golden. There are five 50 g skeins and one 25 g. There doesn't seem to be a reason that one is smaller but maybe it's just what could fit inside the box. The yarn is 50% wool, 40% acrylic, and 10% alpaca.
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100% Soft Cotton Rope – Retail Value $21.00
This soft 3-ply cotton rope will be used to form the arches of our rainbow. I didn't think to measure the rope – which could have been helpful while I was crafting this project – and the length wasn't indicated on our info card, but I believe it's 15 feet.
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Thick Circular Wire, 16 feet
The wire is also used to form our arches and add more stability to our rainbow. This wire is pretty thick and not as easily malleable as I had expected, but that just means the rainbow holds its shape better once you've manipulated it to the shape that you want.
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Other Materials
The rest of the materials and tools we received include a u-shaped tapestry needle, 18 feet of warp string, a roll of masking tape, measuring tape, a wire cutter, and a piece of ribbon to create a loop for hanging our finished project. The only additional tool we needed for this project that wasn't provided is a pair of sharp scissors for cutting the rope.
In addition to the tools and materials in this kit, our workshop also includes a digital workshop valued at $25.00 (this is the video access only price).
Now, let's get to wrapping!
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The first step is to cut a 2 feet length of rope and fray the ends with our fingers, approximately 3 inches on both ends. Then we snip off some of the wire to form an arch and leave some space from where the fraying starts so that when we wrap the rope with yarn, the wire doesn't poke through. We attach the wire to the rope with the masking tape, making sure to cover the ends of the wire.
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When I first saw this project, I thought it looked fairly simple, and I am glad to report that it is quite easy and not deceptively so. It's a little finicky to wrap the yarn around the arch to start, but it gets easier as you reach the top of the arch. After you wrap one arch, you form the next one over the one you just wrapped. After I wrapped two arches, I was worried I might run out of rope, so I formed and cut the rest of the rope and realized I had enough for an extra arch. However, the wire was just enough for the six arches.
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After wrapping all your arches, you attach them together using the warp string and the u-shaped tapestry needle. I've never used a u-shaped needle before and this was the tool that made me question whether this project might be harder to construct than it looks but it was a joy to use this needle. It glided through so easily and made attaching all the arches a breeze. We also use this needle to tuck in the ends of the yarn. I don't recommend trying to thread the wool through the eye of the needle as the video instructs; I made a loop with the string and used that to pull the yarn through instead.
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Once your arches are all attached, you can trim the frayed ends so they're all the same length. The frayed ends can only be as long as the shortest one and mine ended up a bit shorter than shown in the video – maybe that's why I had so much leftover rope. The back of my rainbow isn't as pretty either. You can see some of the stitches and the yarn isn't covering the rope completely. If I could do the project over, I would wrap the yarn around more densely and cut more rope for each arch to give myself more frayed ends to play with. But overall, I like the shorter frayed ends and the front of the rainbow is nice.
Verdict: This was one of my favorite The Crafter's Box because it’s fun and accessible for a beginner and you end up with a beautiful piece that looks close to something you could have bought from the maker. If I tried making this again, I am sure I could get all my stitches to be invisible and I definitely have enough yarn leftover to make many more rainbows. I just need to buy more wire and rope. I think this craft is perfect for a new or expecting mom as it would look so cute in a modern nursery.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Yes, you can purchase this workshop and other Mother's Day workshops for $75.00 and up.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get 25% off your first box!
CODE: GETCREATIVE
Value Breakdown: The value of just the yarn and rope is $54.50 and if you add in the digital workshop price of $25.00 that's $79.50. So, you're definitely saving by getting the wire cutter, u-shaped needle, masking tape, ribbon, and string as well. And the added convenience of having all the materials and tools you need (except for a pair of scissors) makes it worth it.
Check out our other reviews of The Crafter's Box and the top-rated craft subscription boxes!
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What did you think of The Crafter's Box "Drop Spindle"? Did you have better luck than me at yarn spinning? Let us know in the comments!
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