Spotlight on Brooklyn: Getting Crafty with Appaman at Hiho Batik Boutique

During one of the recent snowstorms (yes, way too many this year!) my daughter and I were invited to join the Appaman team at Park Slope’s Hiho Batik boutique.  It can be a pain to to trek around in the snow with kids but we’re always eager to explore new neighborhood finds, we love artsy opportunities and we’re big Appaman fans so off we went.

Brooklyn’s trendy Park Slope neighborhood is full of adorable boutiques, cafes and tree lined streets.  When you first enter Hiho Batik, you’ll find a wide range of adorable kids clothing, great gifts and toys in the front.  In the back, you’ll find a design center where you can design your own batik creation.

If you’re not familiar with the ancient art of batik, the process involves creating intricate designs using wax and dyes.  I’ve visited batik workshops in the Caribbean where I’ve bought some beautiful batik sarongs so I was super excited to try the process first hand.

We sat down with the design team who walked us through each step.  We started by choosing our creation (shirts or pillow) then we were given a piece of paper to draw our design in pencil at a large craft table.  There is a book with designs that you can trace or you can make your own creation. Once the design was perfect, my daughter and I traced over with a black marker and then headed over to the next station.

The next step was hot wax and that’s best left to older kids or grown ups.  With a special machine, you dispense the hot wax on top of the design outline moving quickly and smoothly.  Don’t worry, you practice on a t-shirt first to get the technique down. From there, its back to the craft table where you choose your selection of colored dyes to fill in the areas between the wax design.

After choosing your background color, the Hiho Batik team washes out the wax and finishes your impressive one-of-a-kind creation to be picked up later.  There is no entry fee and pricing is $45 which is great for a day’s activity and personalized creation.

Volia!  Here’s our pillow we made for grandma:

You can make an appointment to create your own batik masterpiece or just walk in.  Hiho Batik also offers children’s parties which would be great for kids 5 and up.  If you’re not coming to Brooklyn any time soon, you can create your design at home and the Hiho team will make it into a shirt, tote or pillow for you!

After making our creation my daughter enjoyed decorating Appaman monkey cookies (and eating) while I got the latest scoop on Appaman’s Spring 2014 collection (think comfy styles, cool graphics, hoodies, twirly skirts as well trendy dresses and cute suits for boys).

My daughter has become very particular about what she’ll wear (dresses, dresses, dresses, leggings, no jeans) and I’m always a little nervous when I buy her something new but sometimes I hit the jackpot with something we both love.  Case in point, her adorable gold Appaman winter coat she’s been wearing every single day!

If you’re getting bored of spending your snowy weekends home or in a museum, head over to Hiho Batik boutique and let your kids unleash their creativity in a cozy and fun setting.  There are some great brunch spots nearby including Lobo where we had a delicious tex-mex brunch (yummy huevos rancheros and great kids menu) after our morning craft session. 

Note:  Thanks to Appaman and Hiho Batik for inviting us to create our pillow and providing us with a fabulous goody bag.  All opinions are my own.