Tiny Travels: Plan your Winter Craftcation in McMinnville

Who says you have to stay at home when it rains? With Oregon’s cozy season well underway, it’s a great time to curl up in a room of your own  with a craft project or whatever mode of creativity you prefer–in rooms that don’t feel like the same-old-same-old. So the Tiny Travelers at Visit McMinnville have put together this guide to where to stay, what stores you can’t miss, and what to do when you take a winter craftcation in McMinnville.

STEP 1: FIND YOUR IDEAL COZY DIGS

Your mode of creativity will dictate where you want to stay. For example, if you’re packing your Bernina sewing machine, you’ll need to choose accommodations with a great desk or dining table setup. Or, if you’re content with just a sketch pad and some colored pencils, a more traditional hotel room will suffice. 

Here are some of our favorite places to get cozy and create:

The Atticus:
A locally-owned, luxury, boutique hotel with gorgeous rooms and suites with sitting rooms just off Third Street.

Perfect for: Larger-scale projects and creativity where you need to sprawl out, and crafters who love a personal fireplace

Douglas on Third:

Cozy and comfortable rooms and suites right on Third Street, these suites and rooms are light, bright, and farmhouse-cute.

Perfect for: People traveling with pets, larger projects. 

Third Street Flats:
Professionally designed city apartments right above the action on McMinnville’s historic shopping street – pick your favorite palette from the award-winning designs.

Perfect for: Couples or duos who like to craft together.

McMenamins Hotel Oregon:

The classic McMenamins vibe (collected, slightly vaudevillian aesthetic) is explored to full effect in this 38-room hotel with a rooftop bar and on-site restaurant. 

Perfect for: Sketching, knitting, embroidery, and other self-contained activities that don’t require a table.

The Boutique Retreat:

Opening soon, the newest offering to the Oregon wine country capital is home to nine custom tiny home cottages situated around a communal space, all in an emerging neighborhood just northeast of Third Street.

Perfect for: A group craftcation, where you all get a different tiny home and meet for meals.

STEP 2: PLAN YOUR PROJECT

Part of the fun of of crafting while traveling is visiting the places where you can add to your stash of craft supplies. Here’s our must-visit list.

Boersma’s Sewing Center: More than 80% of the people who shop at this 20,000 square-foot fabric store come from outside of McMinnville, and it’s no surprise why. Boersma’s, situated in a century-old building, is a destination quilt fabric shop and the largest dealer for long-arm quilters in the United States. Owned by a single family for its nearly 90-year-run (it was a Montgomery Ward before prior to 1935) it has antique sewing machines displayed all around the store alongside higher end fabrics from Moda, Andover, and other producers. People bus in from out-of-state to come here. 203 NE 3rd St.

The Merri Artist: Grab a kit, restock your calligraphy pens, check out the latest in adult coloring books, acquire the ideal pencil set, find the perfect-sized sketch pad, or replenish your watercolors at a family-owned store with customers across the country. 421 NE 3rd St.

Entwined: Take your pick of luxury fiber, baby yarns, crochet hooks, needles, and project bags at this shop made for knitters. 448 NE 3rd St. Suite D

Third Street Books: Get all of the inspiration you need at this family-owned, indie bookshop with a dedicated craft section. 320 NE 3rd St.

STEP 3: TAKE A BREAK

Fuel your project with any manner of hot beverage by stopping in at one of the local independent coffee and tea shops. There’s Union Block Coffee right on 3rd Street, popular with locals and Linfield students, Flag & Wire, a Third Wave roaster in the Pinot Noir Quarter (it shares a space with Grain Station Brew Works), Mac Market, located in a hip, multi-use space on Alpine, Alchemist’s Jam (where you can grab a coffee drink with a fresh baked good), or Pierano & Daughters, for a fresh Italian-style brew. If tea is more your bag, Velvet Monkey, in the basement below Bella Casa, is the place to go for loose leaf and on-site infusions.

Emily Grosvenor is author of the forthcoming Find Yourself at Home: A Conscious Guide to Shaping Your Space and Your Life.

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