Crafternoon

I can eat, but I can’t draw. These are two absolutes in the universe, like Neighbours or another John Farnham comeback tour. However the good folk at Crafternoon beg to differ, so I have to prove them otherwise.

Opened last weekend, Crafternoon is a part cafe/part crafty fun house where art meets lunch. Tegan Cumerford moved to Melbourne from Brisbane a year ago and wanted a place where people could embrace their inner kid (or entertain their actual ones).

The result is Crafternoon, a fun space where the floor is plastered with magazine pages and the sky blue ceiling is covered with pegs that hold the art of patrons past. On the tables paint tins and pencils on the tables next to salt and pepper.

The idea is neat: order food and art off the menu. Playful food options include boiled eggs and soldiers (wrapped in prosciutto if you want it fancy), fairy bread, lemonade scones, the Billy Jean (a mix of coco pops and rice bubbles in organic milk) and even a zooper dooper!

All the food is sourced from local suppliers plus there’s muffins baked daily on site.

Art-wise you can order paint ($4) that gets you a table-top easel, easel, brushes and a palette of six colours. There’s also collage and construction, badges, and playdough, I’m old enough to remember the Plaster Fun House, and it sort of reminds me of this, but better because it has food.

Against my protestations Tegan brings me out an easel and tells me to have a bash. The last time I picked up a paint brush was in Grade 3, which remains the artistic peak of my life. Against my better judgement I had a dabble. Here’s what I came up with.

OK, it’s kind of shameless, but it’s all I could think about doing quickly other than a smiley face (that figure down the bottom is He-Man holding up his Sword of Power by the way). Despite my ham-fisted efforts, I really enjoyed getting crafty. These days the most artistic I get is planning my trajectories on Angry Birds, and there’s something to be said for good old fashioned paints and brushes. I dig it. I reckon a lot of others will too.

Tegan kindly offered to pin the drawing up with the others, though I’m pretty sure she pulled it down when I left.

Crafternoon has late night Tuesdays where people can come and knit, crotchet and chat. They’ll be running classes in March and also have free wi-fi, printing and take SMS orders. Now that’s crafty.

CRAFTERNOON
531 Nicholson Street, North Carlton
9077 6998
Mon 7am – 5pm, Tues 7am – 10pm
Wed closed
Thurs – Fri 7am – 5pm
Sat 8am – 5pm, Sun 8.30am – 5pm
facebook.com/crafternooncafe
@crafternooncafe