Most craft nights fail before anyone arrives: the project needs more skill than the room has, the supplies came from a store that closed, or thirty people are waiting on one cutting machine. This planner starts from the four things that decide it (how many people, how skilled, how much money and how long) and returns the craft nights our guides describe, with the supplies each guide names and the shops in the valley that stock them since the JOANN stores closed in 2025. Every line on a card is quoted from the guide it links.
The Church rules that shape a ward craft night
- Members should not provide materials, supplies, rental or admission fees, or long-distance transportation at their own expense.
- Any expenses must be approved in advance by the bishopric or stake presidency.
- And no Church activities are held after 6 p.m. on Mondays (20.5.3).
- Section 20.7.1 requires at least two adults at all Church activities attended by children and youth
Quoted from the General Handbook in ward craft night ideas that work.
How the planner reads your answers
Skill and budget are only tagged where a guide says so. The tied quilt is a beginner night because its guide says "the skill floor is low." A supply swap costs nothing because it sits under the guide's heading "Ideas that cost almost nothing." Where a guide is silent, the card says "not stated" and the idea still appears, after the ones that match on the guide's own words.
Time is the guide's figure or nothing. The one-night project runs "about 90 minutes," Stitch Night runs 6 to 8, SCERA says its paint sessions run 90 minutes to two hours, and the skill rotation is three 25-minute stations. Everything else is labeled "length not stated."
Group size picks the room and the warnings. A home "caps your size at the number of chairs," so the planner suggests one only for small groups; a ward activity goes to the meetinghouse; a neighborhood group too big for a living room goes to the library, which takes room reservations in Orem. At 16 and up, the planner adds the guide's warning about a single cutting machine.
Where to go next
The full idea book, with the handbook sections behind each rule, is ward craft night ideas that work. For a group that meets every month, read starting a craft group in your ward or neighborhood. For every shop, with hours, see craft stores in Utah Valley after JOANN, and for a night out instead of a night in, craft nights by night of the week. More ideas for Monday evenings are in the FHE Idea Generator, and the ward guides sit in the Faith & Community hub.
Prices, hours and addresses are quoted from each guide as it stood on October 20, 2026, and the page will not build if a guide changes and this tool does not. Studios change prices and shops move; call before you buy for thirty. If something here is wrong, tell us.