This BHAM Engineer Creates Community Through … Crafting!
Meet Blakely O'Connor, the Harvard-trained engineer who founded The Craft Room in Homewood — a space where local makers can gather, create, and build community. Image: Audrey Creative
While earning her doctorate in engineering at Harvard University, Blakely O’Connor learned that precision mattered as much in presentation as in research. When it came time to build her career, she returned to Birmingham with a desire to create something hands-on and community-driven. The result was Homewood’s The Craft Room.
Designed for seasoned crafters and curious beginners alike, the space offers shared tables, coffee and libations, workshops, and a secondhand supplies program that makes creativity more accessible and sustainable. Meet the maker who engineered it all!
Tell us a bit about your background — and specifically, the intersection of your loves for engineering and crafting.
I grew up in Talladega County, about an hour east of Birmingham, in a family of wonderfully talented creatives … For a long time, I felt like the analytical black sheep. I loved math and science, which led me to study chemical engineering at Auburn and eventually earn my PhD in engineering at Harvard.
I didn’t really see myself as an artist, yet I always felt a constant pull toward creative things. I would spend hours hand-lettering the “perfect” study guides and equation sheets for my exams, and I spent an inordinate amount of time meticulously drawing process diagrams on engineering paper.
During grad school, I was fortunate to study in a program and work in a lab that appreciated this intersection of art and engineering. I found so much joy in illustrating complicated ideas and creating graphics and schematics for manuscripts, grants, and presentations.
Since then, I’ve come to embrace that I’m a serial hobbyist; I love learning a new skill just as much as I love making things.
How did The Craft Room come to be?
Since moving back to Alabama in 2020, I’ve wanted to create a community-oriented space. When we moved to West Homewood a couple of years ago, I would walk by the Weygand Surveyors building daily while it was being renovated and felt a pull to open something right in my own neighborhood.
Originally, my husband and I pitched a gift-and-grocery concept because we missed the corner bodegas we loved in Massachusetts. When that didn’t prove feasible for the space and budget, I looked back at my own notes on what I truly wanted. I realized the core goal was simple: I wanted to work with my hands, be in community with others, and live out my values to make my tiny corner of the world a better place.
The Craft Room grew out of that shared desire for tangible, in-person connection and making things in real life. In the early days, I received so much support and encouragement from my sister and a group of women I met through @bhamcoolmoms, who were also starting or running their own small businesses.
Why the focus on secondhand craft supplies?
There are several layers to why secondhand makes sense. First, craft supplies can be incredibly expensive and intimidating for beginners. There’s a specific kind of guilt that comes with buying a “starter kit” for $100 and then realizing the hobby isn’t for you.
Secondly, most supplies come in bulk packaging, which is often way more than you need for one project. Most of our inventory comes right from our community members’ “stashes,” meaning supplies from abandoned hobbies or leftover materials from completed projects.
We have also received donations from relatives of family members who’ve passed or can no longer maintain their craft. It’s a true honor to help find those supplies a new home. By reselling these craft supplies at thrifty prices, we make art more accessible and keep usable items out of landfills.
Can you tell us more about your philosophy that “deeper connections happen when our hands are busy?”
It’s often easier to have a meaningful conversation when you aren’t sitting across from someone, making direct eye contact. Whether it’s walking, doing chores, or crafting side by side, having a repetitive task, such as crocheting or doodling, is meditative and calming for the nervous system. When the body is relaxed and the hands are busy, it’s easier for people to open up. A creative project serves as a low-pressure backdrop for real human connection.
What’s your advice to aspiring crafters who might be intimidated to try something new?
Lower your expectations and just start! When you’re learning a new skill, it’s safe to assume the first attempt won’t be a masterpiece. The goal is to enjoy the process and the learning curve. If it’s not your jam, that’s okay too. You haven’t failed; you’ve just finished an experiment.
To help with that “first step,” we have a rotating Creative Reuse Menu of projects that use our donated supplies at The Craft Room. We also keep a growing stock of shop tools and supplies, so folks can try new things without having to buy all the specialty tools.
What kind of workshops do you offer, and what’s on the horizon?
We host workshops covering everything from printmaking and embroidery to junk journaling. The community support has been incredible; we sold out nearly every event in December! Our winter solstice gathering, where we made citrus ornaments and set quiet intentions for the new year, was a personal favorite.
Looking ahead, we’re starting a winter crochet cohort for people to work through projects together, and we’re welcoming Birmingham’s inaugural Poet Laureate, Salaam Green, for a letter-writing circle towards the end of the month.
We also host private events, birthday parties, and corporate craft outings. We recently hosted Fleetio’s marketing team for holiday card-making, with a catered dinner from El Barrio. It was amazing to see the team unwind with a creative treat after a long onsite meeting.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I’m usually with my family. I have my husband, Andrew, and our three little ones, Owen (10), Ellen (6), and Izzy (2), who keep life very interesting. I love getting in a good workout at Nexus Fitness, attending a moon circle at The Yoga Lab when I can squeeze it in, or winding down with a book or a craft project, which is currently needlepoint.
Who or what is inspiring you right now?
I’m in my second year of Wendy MacNaughton’s 30 Days of Drawing challenge. It’s a great daily reset that reminds me to slow down and really look at things.
What is your best piece of advice?
Do it scared. You do not have to be fearless; you just have to be brave.
LIGHTNING ROUND!
Favorite craft: Whatever is in front of me, usually watercolor or embroidery
Three things you can’t live without: Coffee, chocolate, and a fuzzy blanket
Last delicious local meal: The gnocchi at Luca Lagotto
Favorite place to vacation: Our family had an amazing vacation to Seattle this summer.
Your go-to gift to give: Flowers from Wild Things or a potted plant from House Plant Collective.
Book(s) on your bedside table: The Hallmarked Man and Iron Flame.
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Birmingham women are doing inspiring work. Meet more of them over at our FACES archives!
Katie Leigh Matthews
A Birmingham native, Katie is a lifelong waterfall chaser and is passionate about the outdoors. She also loves connecting with remarkable women in the Birmingham community and bringing their stories to life. Katie has been writing professionally for over six years; you can find more of her work at Moms.com and Islands.com.