“Make something inspired by your favorite television show.”

As I think back on forty-some years of watching TV, one program stands out as truly “favorite.” One I would not miss. One whose episodes I would watch back to back to back without ever getting bored. One I could still watch today, even though I’ve seen them all and the content might be outdated.

The Carol Duvall Show was a crafting program that ran for years on HGTV and then later on the DIY network. I started watching this program the day it aired, because I was already a loyal fan of Carol’s. My mom and I had been eager viewers of Carol’s segments on ABC’s Home Show.

When we started watching Carol, I must have been in college. She inspired my creativity in so many areas:

• scrapbooking, homemade stationery, creative lettering, and rubber stamping on just about any surface
• cheap and easy window treatments, table-scapes, centerpieces, and other forms of home decor
• hand-dyed fabric, beaded jewelry, knit scarves, and other things to wear

… and so much more. By featuring fine artists on her program, she also fostered my appreciation for craftsmanship and ingenuity. She made me feel like I could be a glass blower, oil painter, or paper engineer—if only I set my heart and mind to mastering the craft.

Carol Duvall enabled an obsession my mom and I shared, which we called Crappy Crafting. While my sister and brother nurtured incredible gifts in various forms of visual art, Mom and I were content to putter with paper and glue and ink and stamps and scissors and fabric and yarn and whatever else we could recycle or afford to buy. Carol showed us how. Not everything she made was perfect. Sometimes she got frustrated or chose to take shortcuts. Always, she smiled and encouraged us to try.

Tonight, as I helped my daughters make their valentines for this Friday’s school parties, I told them about Carol Duvall and how she inspired me and their grandma to try new things, to risk imperfection, and to have fun with what we had on hand.

I wish Carol Duvall was still on the air, so the girls and I could binge on craft shows this weekend. Maybe we can find a few segments on YouTube.