The long, cold nights of a Michigan winter make for a good time to settle in with a project, and that requires the help of craft stores to get the supplies needed. Michigan has plenty of such craft stores around, many of which are locally-owned. So grab your needles, your hooks, and your various tools to run down this list of 8 great Michigan craft stores!
Kalamazoo's Chicks with Sticks focuses on more of the needle crafts, like embroidery and knitting. A line of products from notions to needles and well beyond is waiting for you here, as well as a slate of classes for those who want to pick up a new hobby in the stitching field. Best of all, Chicks with Sticks even offers a slate of specials and discounts for those who want to save some cash; spend $600 there, and everything else you pick up for the rest of the year is yours at a 10 percent discount.
Whether you're into needle crafts, painting, paper craft or just home décor basics, you'll find just about all you need at Grand Rapids' the Craft Outlet. Stocking hundreds of new items weekly, ranging from new samples to slightly damaged items, the Craft Outlet focuses on value, offering up its goods at prices representing 50 to 80 percent off retail, and throwing in some weekly specials besides. An email newsletter keeps shoppers apprised of special offers from there, making it a complete package.
Bead looms! Bead kits! Beading trays! All of these and more are waiting for you at Jackson's Beads to Live By, a store that focuses, not surprisingly, on beads. With a complete lineup of beads and bead accessories to choose from, Beads to Live By can help keep you in stock of all your bead requirements. Throw in a lineup of classes and special events—there's even a “jewelry retreat” that introduces you to everything from humblebeads to distractions—and Jackson beaders will be well-covered.
Cobblestone Crafts and Hobbies in Holland. Home of art supplies, engraving services and plenty more, Cobblestone Crafts and Hobbies will cover a wide range of options. Since it's a hobby shop, it also goes on from there to include gaming rooms for tabletop gamers and an indoor “flying room” specifically for radio-controlled helicopters and the like. Those whose craftier tastes run more toward model building, meanwhile, will do well here too.
Detroit's Arts and Scraps is actually about what it sounds like—it's an art supply store that focuses on scraps and assorted castoffs, generally sold in large batches. An 11-by-11-foot room of various fabrics is just part of what's on hand here, as the store also stocks everything from yarn and paints to wrapping paper and coffee cans. Check out the industrial sections for leather scraps, iron-on letters and numbers, foam adhesive and more. No matter what your craft of choice, you'll likely find supply for it here.
Hastings is your target for Jami's Craft Supplies, a store which focuses on all the crafty miscellany anyone could ask for. From simple beginnings like headbands, tiaras, foam balls and more to multimedia art sets and different kinds of fabric—recent additions include Sherpa and Buffalo Plaid in flannel—you'll find a wide variety of options here. Throw in a knowledgeable staff who's always ready to help, and you'll be ready to go on most any craft project.
Arnie's Arts 'n' Crafts in Houghton Lake has been in operation since 1975, which speaks wonderfully about its overall longevity. Naturally, a business like that doesn't stay in operation for better than 40 years without providing the right stuff, and Arnie's will bring out yarn, scrapbooking supplies, cookie cutters, coloring books, and most anything else that can be used to assemble unusual items. There are even special events taking place that not only offer special classes, but even sales and the like from time to time.
Interlochen is perhaps best known for its arts center, but it's also got a craft store to its credit that's particularly appropriate for Michigan: InterQuilten. InterQuilten handles exactly what the name implies: quilts. Anyone who's ever slept in Michigan in winter knows firsthand the importance of quilts, and InterQuilten provides everything you need to make your own. Sewing machines, fabrics, even batting to fill the quilts. Classes and get-togethers round out the mix to let you learn how to quilt or get together with those who already quilt.