Collingswood Gets Its First 'Pinterest' Store

"How do you go from being your own boss to some one else bring your boss?" asked Kathy Murphy.

After 12 years of running her own dollar store in Collingswood and Westmont, it's a question Murphy wasn't able to answer for herself.

When that business shut its doors, and Murphy started to seek out her next venture, she realized she had the most fun doing arts and crafts with the children in her family.

So Murphy leveraged her love of creativity, dollar-store sensibility and family-given nickname—"Craftleen"—into I Made This!, a stop-in arts and crafts center for kids and families.

For a small sitting fee, guests can come in, do a craft of the week, and make something they can take home with them. Murphy also retails arts and crafts supplies and some finished works from herself and other crafters. Nothing in the store costs more than $40.

She gets her ideas from sites like Pinterest and Etsy, and is even hoping to have Pinterest-themed nights where the craft and food recipes will all come from the digital thumbtack site. (The first of these is slated for June 21.)

"I want this to be where people come and hang out and have fun and walk away with a little craft," she said.

I Made This! with Craftleen is located at 798 Haddon Avenue in Collingswood. For more information, call 856-477-2034.