Willow Basket Workshop-Frame Baskets 

Hosted by DeSoto State Park & Little River Arts Council​
​Learn to weave with willow! Whether you're new to basket-making or seeking to expand your skills, this workshop offers the perfect opportunity to create functional art with natural materials. The instructor will also be sharing some of her personal journey of healing through foraging and handcrafts.  ​

About the class: 
About the class: For total beginners as well as seasoned basket makers unfamiliar with making frame baskets. Participants will be making one ten-inch willow frame basket and possibly a second smaller basket if time permits. We'll be using a variety of cultivated basket willows.  Students are encouraged to bring a sharp pair of pruning shears if they have one. Otherwise, shears will be available for them to use. 
This class will cover:
- some basics of willow basketry  
- wild vs. cultivated willows
- when, where, and how to harvest and source willow for basketry
- preparing willow for weaving
​About the Instructor:   Frea (pronounced FREE-yuh; she/her) is the founder and craftswoman behind Wild Earth Crafts, an initiative that helps creative folks, educators, homesteaders, and lovers-of-the-outdoors learn to use materials from their own backyard to create beautiful and useful home goods.  Through Wild Earth Crafts, Frea has been enthusiastically helping connect folks more deeply with the natural world so that we can weave ourselves back into the wild, back into deeper connection with the land we live upon.  She lives to forage for and make beauty with various fruits, seeds, nuts, grasses, vines, and sticks while sharing these joys with others.  Originally from the Bulbancha area (colonially called greater New Orleans), she currently resides with her two children in the mountains on ᏣᎳᎫᏪᏘᏱ Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee, East), S’atsoyaha (Yuchi), and Miccosukee land - colonially called Western North Carolina.
Date: Saturday, June 6, 2026
Time: 10:00-4:00 CST with a lunch break from 12:30-1:30 
Where: DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama.
Fee: $125 - includes all supplies. Class space is limited , pre-registration is required for attendance. 3 scholarship spots are available to people of the global majority (PGM).

Pre-register here: https://forms.office.com/g/XTQTpBYT7M 

Please note: This class requires average-moderate hand strength and may not be a good fit for those with hand sensitivities including hand injuries and arthritis.