In preparation for next weekend's Art of Craft, Cantabrigian crocheters and knitters are raising their needles to whip up flowers, leaves, and birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Their hope is that a garden of grandma graffiti will take over Concord Ave.

Photo: courtesy of Gore Place

Ever daydream about the days of yore and (what must have been, right?) the simplicity of life on an historic New England farm? Ah, the honest joys of waking at the break of dawn, gazing out on your wide expanse of land filled with a sense of pride, giving your adopted dog an actual job to do, growing your own food, making your own clothes, hammering out the frustrations of the world in a barn workshop...

This month, indulge those farm fantasies and see what rural life is really all about by spending the day at Gore Place in Waltham for the 26th Annual Sheepshearing Festival. on April 27th.

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School vacation might be right around the corner, but this week it's time for the grownups to go back to class with six crafting events sure to help get your stitch on and shake the winter doldrums right out of your sewing machine.

If this "Hey Girl" meme with Ryan Gosling makes you laugh, chances are you're a crafter who's encountered the dreaded pair of dull scissors at least once in your life.

Luckily, Gather Here Stitch Lounge is hosting an event today to help you spring clean your sewing kits, craft closets, and kitchen drawers to get a new edge on projects with discounted sharpening (even pinking shears!) starting at 2 p.m. today in their Cambridge shop.

Patti Small of On the Edge Knife Sharpening will be on hand to revive your favorite pair or blades for just $8 each (normally $10).

Who knows? You might even run into actress Amy Adams, who was spotted in the craft shop just last week!

Gather Here Stitch Lounge, 370 Broadway Cambridge, MA. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, check out GatherHereOnline.com

By Tara Bellucci

By Tara Bellucci

Image: Shutterstock

Here at DIY Boston, we're celebrating in our own way — with a Craft Swap! Click through for all the details:

By Tara Bellucci

BCAE Facebook page/cocktail photo by Justin Ide

Whether you're looking to save a little cash or explore a new passion, there is no shortage of DIY classes to choose from. That's definitely the case at New England's oldest adult education non-profit, the Boston Center for Adult Education. From sewing and floral arranging to canning and crafting, if there's something you are dying to DIY, you can get hands-on instruction at the BCAE.

By Tara Bellucci

Stonybrook Fine Arts

Decorate your fingers at Stonybrook Fine Arts' Make A Ring Workshop.

If you're looking to expand your DIY repertoire or meet other crafty citizens, greater Boston is chock full of classes and events this November. Here are our favorites for the coming month:

Raise your hand if you ever re-purposed a piece of thrift store, hand-me-down, or Craigslist furniture in college by slapping on a new coat of paint, hiding its humble origins, to make it look shiny and new. Pretty much everyone? That's what we thought.

For decades, the "shabby chic" crowd has elevated that pastime to an art form, bringing castoffs back to life with a finely crafted "antiqued" look, and they've had one major, time-saving secret weapon: milk paint.