A new smell, that of hot glue guns and fresh paint, is beginning to flood the eighth grade hallway. Thanks to a Crafternoons, a recently developed club at WCA, students have the opportunity to craft together. Open to any new members, this club meets every other Wednesday in Kristin Janssen, eighth grade English teacher’s classroom (A203) for community, fun, and creating crafts.

This never-before seen club was formed by two freshman, Cali Williams and Noelle Burkey, with the help of Janssen.

“I have always enjoyed making new, fun crafts, and I wanted to start a club that was different from the other clubs at Westminster,” said Williams.

Both of the girls had Janssen in eighth grade and wanted a way to spend more time with their favorite teacher.

“We all share a passion for making crafts, so the idea for Crafternoons was an obvious choice,” said Jansen.

Crafternoons chooses a different craft to create each meeting, and the group tries to pick ones that are suitable for any level of creative ability. Ideas come from Jansen, Williams, Burkey, or any of the other club members. In the first Crafternoons meeting, the club decorated real and fake pumpkins.

“I got the idea to decorate pumpkins after my aunt made one and sent it to my family, but we often look at Pinterest too,” said Williams.

The club seeks to provide crafts that are

season-themed and ideal decorating items.

“I love decorating, so any kind of craft that can be used to enhance the beauty of a space, whether that’s my home, classroom, or someone else’s space, is enjoyable to make,” said Janssen.

In the future, Crafternoons plans to use their crafts to give back to the community and explore ways to use their creative skills to cultivate love and joy in people.

“Although many of the crafts we create are for ourselves, we also want to give to others. During one of our upcoming meetings, we are planning to create blankets for our neighbors at Delmar Gardens,” said Cali Williams.

Although it started small, with the help of recruiting friends and students, Crafternoons is growing. They plan on meeting on a continual basis of every other week. Open to everyone and any level of artistic ability, this club serves as a way for students to build community- and a craft.