Visit to Busy Beaver Arts & Crafts (3445 Dayton Xenia Road)
A friend recently suggested I visit this store. “I went to the store looking for buttons” she told me. “They had quite a few buttons and everything you’d need for any craft project – ribbons, beads, yarn, patterns, sequins, material, and stained glass supplies. They also have stained glass classes with a one year wait list.”
I remembered I’d visited the shop about eight years ago at the suggestion of an artist friend. She thought I’d find all the art supplies photogenic.
When I visited for the first time, “the yarn lady” showed me around. “This is the ribbon room. Here is the counted cross stitch room. Here are some of our yarns, including a lot of novelty yarns. These are our miniatures, and everything you need to build your own doll house. These are supplies for people who fix clocks, and here are quilting supplies. Our art supplies department is over there.”
I remember that the store was so packed that it was hard to back up far enough to get a photo. Now I can use my iPhone, which lets me take closer photos.
When I visited this time, I met Danielle and asked her if anything had changed since I last visited. She said that their fused glass classes and fused glass supplies were new. As we talked, Danielle was working on a fused glass craft. She said she’d paint a face on each of the small pieces she was cutting out. Then, after the pieces were fused, she’d glue them onto small magnets.
Danielle also told me the store had a new owner – the daughter of the couple who started the business over 30 years ago. She came back to Dayton over ten years ago to work in the business and then recently became the owner.
