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Expert Crafting with Carol Duvall
The secrets behind the success
by: Charity R. Bartley Howard, Contributing Writer
Online Rating:  (10/10)
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Carol Duvall has been crafting even before it had the name. As a little girl crafting was simply known as making things or doing things while today it is a money-making industry. In fact, Duvall made a career in crafting through nearly 60-years on TV, which included her Home and Garden Television (HGTV) show, The Carol Duvall Show.
There was no craft industry as we know it today when she first started crafting on television. Now it is a $30 billion business. She finds that is the biggest change since she started. Before there were dedicated crafting stores and products Duvall was using her creativity to fashion original objects, using bleach bottles, egg cartons, and cereal boxes. “That’s where my mind is still inclined to go when I have a project to create,” Duvall admits. “You don’t always have to have fancy tools or supplies, but they certainly help to give your work a more professional look.”
“In any case—with or without the new tools—remember the basics. Neatness counts! Take your time, don’t let the glue show, score before folding, and crease sharply. Those are the kind of things that matter,” according to Duvall. What one crafting supply or tool might Duvall miss if it was no longer available? She says, “I guess that would have to be my scissors, although an X-ACTO knife would run a close second. As for the material or supply, that would have to be paper of any kind.”
Duvall is most comfortable creating with paper from folding to cutting. She says it comes “naturally to me.” That’s what was available when she was growing up—tissue, construction, and typing papers, gum and cigarette wrappers—and she made it work for her projects. As a girl, she made folded paper belts, paper chains and “Cootie Catchers”, which evolved to a fortune telling game, but “for me they were ‘Cootie Catchers’,” she explains. When she was folding paper bracelets and other items as a girl, she never thought she’d be looking back on a childhood pastime for her career.
Paper, including card stock and vellum, is a popular craft medium today. It is available, easy to use, and creates simple as well as elaborate projects. She features paper in her book, Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall. Crafts from card and envelope making to coffee filter flowers are presented in the same personable style she did on TV. “Many of the designs in my book are projects I’ve developed over many years. There are also new ideas that I’ve created just for the book.” She includes six chapters with over 55 projects. Some projects are gift box designs, ways to use photos with paper crafting and ideas from some of her viewers. She provides step-by-step instructions for each project and tips. Her book’s crafts are designed for various skill levels with color photos displaying steps and the finished projects. She is excited about this book. “I trust this book will show my enthusiasm, and that readers will use it to create their own original paper craft designs.” Many patterns are also at the end of the book to help crafters with the projects.
Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall sells for $19.95 in craft stores, bookstores and from the DRG catalog website at www.anniesatticcatalog.com , HGTV.com or Amazon.com.
Her Crafting Trials and Errors
As a crafting expert, Duvall has had a lot of trial and error with her projects over the years. She works at her projects until the outcome is perfect. When creating projects she says she “uses my hands and scissors—breaking things down step-by-step and practicing until it turns out how I want.”
What's her favorite project? “I always say it is what I’m working on at the time. But I saw a geodesic dome in a Christmas catalog once and I really liked it.” She recalls this dome was 3 ft. tall and 6 ft. across and she studied the photo as well as the item description to give her an idea of how to make it. She remembers, “I looked over the photo and thought ‘I can make this’.” When duplicating the $49.95 item, however, she needed some very large corrugated cardboard pieces that she could not locate in any craft, paper, or office supply store. She ended up going to appliance and furniture stores and asking for their discarded cartons. She obtained a mattress carton and a couple of refrigerator cartons, which cost nothing. Duvall put the dome together and she says, “It looked grand. The kids loved it!” Her next challenge was how to teach this project on TV; however, she remembers it turned out fine.
Even the great crafting queen, Carol Duvall, has started a project and thought it would never turn out the way she wanted. She laughs as if remembering several trials. “One time I applied enamel paint to an artificial pear topiary tree.” Her goal was to give it that China look but it didn’t happen at first. It was going to be a centerpiece for a bridal shower and she visualized what she wanted with a Styrofoam ball with roses in it. She seems tired just recalling all the work that went into that project. “Each step took forever! When I went to spray and spray and spray again, I ended up spraying most of the lights,” she says. She had placed small Christmas lights on the finished centerpiece, but after spraying the entire tree, when she plugged it in the heat from the lights burned the paint. She remembers the finished product was a melted and burnt mess. However, this project didn’t go to waste. She used it on her show as a visual of what not to do.
Her Crafting Ideas
Where does Carol Duvall get her crafting ideas? Her ideas come to her during everyday activities, such as getting ready in the morning, while looking through catalogs, recalling memories, and discussions with other crafters. She always seems to be thinking of the next craft and explains it takes a lot of preparation even for the simplest project. She has thought she’d never have another idea. “So many years I was the only one responsible for my shows.” She explains once the talking starts, it is not what can I make, but what can I make out of that—and the ideas flow. She admits, “From one basic idea, many projects grow.”
Carol’s viewers, as well as her guests, have also inspired her over the years. She has read every fan letter and answers as many as she can. Remembering all the letters and finished projects her fans sent her, she feels, “My audience surpassed me. They sent me photos and crafts they did, and they did excellent work.”
She has fond memories of her fans. “Many talked about the individual show. Several started crafting from our show and started their own businesses.” She’d also received dozens of heartfelt communications involving personal illnesses or family tragedy expressing that the show helped. For example, a woman who had lost her husband as well as being ill herself wrote to her that the show and getting involved in crafting helped her recuperate.
Duvall dedicates her book, Paper Crafting with Carol Duvall, to her fans and viewers. The book’s dedication reads, “You have been loyal, helpful, understanding, patient and supportive. You have amazed me with your talent and delighted me with your sense of humor. I admire your eagerness to learn and your willingness to try new things. I appreciate your generosity in sharing your ideas and your accomplishments. Without you my career would not have been … and I thank you.”
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