Find Craft Products
Regional Chain Stores
The following regional chains are good local sources for a variety of craft supplies and instruction:
Clotilde
Clotilde, LLC
PO Box 7500
Big Sandy, TX 75755-7500
1-800-545-4002
E-mail: customer_service@clotilde.com
Quilting supplies, sewing notions, needle threaders, regular and adaptive sewing supplies.
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Copper Dots
Copper Dots
Craft Books in Braille
Marjorie Arnott
4233 East La Costa Drive
Sungroves, AZ 85249
480-345-8773
[link opens in new window]E-mail marnott@extremezone.com
Copper Dots offers patterns and books in braille for knitting and crocheting. Recipe books are also available.
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Craft Adaptations for Adults with Vision Impairments
NEW INDEPENDENCE! Craft Adaptations for Adults With Vision Impairments (Revised)
Author: Stephanie Stephens Van
Editor: Maureen A. Duffy
150 pages, available in Acrobat PDF format
$25 US: Purchase and Download Here
Note: We recommend Adobe Acrobat 7.0 to view PDF files. Acrobat Reader 7.0 is free and has built-in accessiblity functions that work with access technology.

Crafting keeps the creative spirit active and energized and is a source of great satisfaction, joy, pride, and accomplishment for many participants. Crafts can be used for therapeutic or social purposes, and can be enjoyed as solo or group experiences. The emphasis, however, should always be enjoyment!
People who have enjoyed making crafts at different times in their lives prior to vision loss may think they can no longer continue. Also, individuals who would like to begin making crafts for the first time may hesitate because of reduced vision. But we know, from years of teaching experience with individuals who have little or no sight, that it is possible to continue the enjoyable activity of craft-making. This book — with its extensive range of easy adaptations — will show you how it can be done!
The contents have been tried and tested over many years by Vision Rehabilitation Therapist and author Stephanie Stephens Van. Stephanie is a highly qualified, experienced, and respected professional within the field of vision rehabilitation. This updated and expanded version includes five additional crafts, and a new introduction, resource section, and hints list.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreward
Introduction
"Tricks of the Trade"
Seventeen Craft Projects
1. Broom Door Decoration
2. Bunny Napkin Rings
3. Cinnamon Tree Ornaments
4. Clothespin Reindeer
5. "Cobweb Sisters" Duster
6. Dishcloth Angel
7. Door Decoration
8. Fabric Wreath
9. Fun Mug -- see example
10. Hand-painted Notecards or Wrapping Paper -- see example
11. Holiday Necklace 
12. Hyacinth
13. Jingle Bell Wreath
14. Sculpey Bead Necklace
15. Spring Peeps
16. The Weather Monitor
17. Yarn Scarecrow
Useful Resources
1. Craft Products, Supplies, and Resources
2. Sources of Products for Independent Living
3. National and Regional Chain Stores
About the Author
Stephanie Stephens Van, M.A., CVLT has 27 years of experience as a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist and Certified Low Vision Therapist. She has been an Activities Director, Supervisor of Rehabilitation and Social Services, and consultant for a variety of public and private vision rehabilitation agencies in Pennsylvania. Stephanie has lectured nationally on adapted crafts and leisure activities; adjustment to blindness and low vision; functional vision skills; and activities of daily living. She is also an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Graduate Studies in Vision Impairment at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
NEW INDEPENDENCE! Craft Adaptations for Adults with Vision Impairments (Revised) is published by AWARE (Associates for World Action in Rehabilitation and Education), PO Box 96, Mohegan Lake, New York, 10547, USA; 914-528-5120.
Our sincere thanks also go to Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation for supporting the original and revised versions of New Independence! Craft Adaptations for Adults with Vision Impairments
For more information, contact the above address or visit www.visionaware.org. E-mail: info@visionaware.org
This and other publications may be ordered from AWARE. All requests for reprint permissions should also be addressed to AWARE.
1997 AWARE; Revised 2007
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-882503-08-7
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Economy Handicrafts
Economy Handicrafts
932 46th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11219
1-800-216-1601 (Toll free)
718-431-9300
877-216-1604 (Fax toll free)
718-431-9309 (Fax NY)
[link opens in new window]E-mail: customerservice@economyhandicrafts.com
Inexpensive craft supplies and kits; seasonal and holiday crafts
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ElderSong Publications
ElderSong Publications
Creative Activities Materials for Older Adults
P.O. Box 74
Mt Airy, MD 21771
800-397-0533 (Toll free)
301-829-0533
301-829-5249 (Fax)
E-mail: info@eldersong.com
Publisher and distributor of books, videos and recordings for activity directors, recreation and creative art therapists, and other caregivers who work with older adults.
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Horizons for the Blind
Horizons for the Blind
2 North Williams Street
Crystal Lake, IL 60014-4401
800-318-2000 (Toll free)
815-444-8800 (Voice and TDD)
815-444-8830 Fax
E-mail: mail@horizons-blind.org
Provides braille, large print, and audiocassette instruction in crafts; plants and gardening; and recipes. Also offers knitting, crocheting, and sewing needles and craft supplies.
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Magnetic Pincushion by Grabbit
Grabbit Magnetic Pincushion is an industry-recognized tool for storage and access to sewing pins. You can find it in sewing notion and fabric stores and at Jo-Ann's online. [link opens in new window]
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Mayster Designs Ltd.
Mayster Designs Ltd.
Mayster Braille Loom®
301-951-1899
301-951-1897 (Fax)
www.maysterbrailleloom.com
E-mail: jjmaydesigns@aol.com
Jennifer Mayster conceived the idea for a special kind of loom that would allow her students who were blind or had low vision to learn braille and weaving at the same time. Using the Perkins Brailler as a model, she invented the Mayster Braille Loom. The loom has seven shafts and seven front levers, which correspond to the levers on the Perkins Brailler.
The loom is strung with yarn of different colors and textures. Each color and texture corresponds to one of the six braille dots. The weaver simultaneously pushes a combination of these levers, which lift different sets of strings and create textile patterns that are actually words. Blind persons can read these words by touch, and sighted persons may decipher the words by the color combination.
Oriental Trading Company, Inc.
Oriental Trading Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 3407
Omaha, NE 68103-0407
1-800-875-8480
Bulk supplier of inexpensive craft supplies, novelties, party favors, and seasonal decorations
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S&S Worldwide
S&S Worldwide
P.O. Box 513
75 Mill Street
Colchester, CT 06415-0513
1-800-288-9941 (Toll free)
860-537-3451
1-800-566-6678 (Fax)
[link opens in new window]E-mail: cservice@ssww.com
One-stop superstore for art and craft supplies and kits; sports equipment, games, party products, education and rehabilitation products.
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SAX Arts and Crafts
SAX Arts and Crafts
2725 South Moorland Road
New Berlin, WI 53151
1-800-558-6696 (Toll free)
1-800-328-4729 (Toll free fax)
[link opens in new window]
E-mail: info@saxarts.com; catalog@saxarts.com
Supplier of most types of craft materials, including seasonal and holiday crafts.
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~Maureen Duffy, Editorial Director
