in today's NY Times Magazine, Rob Walker cites Heidi Kinney's homebrewed toy business and the emerging craft/DIY movement--My Paper Crane, home of such plush toys as toilet paper rolls, used tissues, and tampons--as an historic attempt to build "an alternative to mainstream consumption."
Walker and his experts see a revolution led by women, and for the pure crafty aspect of things, that may be true. But I'd like to see if there's an equally powerful argument that it's led by parents. Kenney's success, says Walker:
...allowed her to quit a cubicle job answering phones at an insurance company and spend more time being a working mom on her own terms. Her experience shows how the D.I.Y. craft movement offers a new way to resolve an old tension between traditional domestic skills and participation in the (economic and creative) marketplace: by combining them.Craft Work [nytmag]
Previously: My Paper Crane's plush used tissue toys; I try to plug DIY and the indie toy and clothing thing, but Sweet Juniper's got the real cred.
