It’s a warm, sunny day on the Founders patio. Students are sprawled underneath the gazebo with postcard-sized papers and markers, paint, stickers, and stencils to decorate them. Thanks to a new organization — Crafternoon — activities like this could become a regular sight on the campus.

Crafternoon co-founders Virginia Parker and Jordan Poirier were inspired while crafting together one afternoon.

“(Parker) and I were tearing up old clothes one afternoon and I said I liked crafting on lazy afternoons,” said Poirier in an email interview. “We both agreed that there needed to be a craft club on campus.”

They pitched the idea to Senate last march, and Crafternoon met for the first time on Sept. 7.

“To make a long story short, we created Crafternoon in hopes that it would provide students with a creative outlet in which they could engage the body and relax the mind,” said Parker in an email interview.

The first meeting had a turn-out of about 30 people, and students seem intrigued.

“I think it sounds cool,” said sophomore Stephanie Seligman. “(It is) a really carefree outlet for students that’s stimulating and healthy.”

As for the crafts to be done this semester, the options are wide-open. Students who attended the first meeting made suggestions and voted on their favorites by marking dots on a large yellow poster board where potential crafts were listed.

“We — the creators — have some pretty great ideas, but we are really a collaborative group and want every crafter to have a voice,” said Poirier.

Parker and Poirier have already put their plans to craft in action, taking from student suggestions and their own ideas.

“We are currently working with a couple of other organizations on campus to put together some fun events,” said Parker. “During Fall Fest, we will have a ‘community puzzle’ and students can come by and match a piece or two. For Solarpalooza, we will be making pinwheels. We also have plans to make dream catchers sometime this fall.”

Those are just some of the ideas that students came up with at the first Crafternoon meeting. Others included splatter paint and tie-dying.

“I am excited about upcoming Crafternoon meeting because I like tie-dye and I want to learn to knit,” said sophomore Dallas Kesler.

The group has already had success with their mini-crafting session at the first meeting: making postcards. Whether students sent them to family and friends, or just kept them, the activity provided an opportunity to de-stress in the middle of a hectic week.

“I liked making postcards because it allowed me to be creative as opposed to most of my classes which are science-based and more analytical,” said Kesler.

Unleashing creativity is what Crafternoon aims to do.

“We want this club to be a place where students can let their minds wonder away from academia and engage their creativity and imagination,” said Poirier.