The ‘70s were a strange time for many things (hair, clothing, dancing), and crafts were no exception. There were macramé plant hangers, hooked rugs and owls and mushrooms on everything. A spin around a thrift store will attest to the out-of-fashion status of these pieces (though those owls are making a comeback), but that doesn’t mean that some of the techniques can’t be updated into hip, or at least not avocado green, works of art.

String art is something many of us remember doing in elementary school. A piece of wood has nails hammered into it and the crafter is given string to wind around the nails in some sort of pattern. These patterns are generally rather rudimentary — a geographic shape, a butterfly or a flower. The string is generally thick and clunky and only a few colors are used.

Enter Kim Kamens, an artist from Philadelphia featured in the winter issue of Surface Design. From a distance her pieces look like etchings or graphite sketches. On closer examination, however, the viewer realizes that these pieces are made of slender nails and cobweb-like thread. Instead of butterflies, Kamens creates portraits and melancholy scenes in gray and black. The concept is simple (wrapping string around nails) but it can be taken in a variety of different ways and elevates craft to art.

Blacksmithing is another art that always seems to be under the radar. With the current interest in green building and sustainable design, it is a good alternative to buying gates, furniture and decorative accents. Blacksmithing is a hard-core craft — it involves fire, heat and hitting pieces of metal really, really hard. There are a few places in Seattle where you can learn how to mold metal. Ballard Forge offers classes for beginners and also sells pieces to home and business owners.

The craft has a long history. Before the industrial revolution, it was an extremely important skill and each town would have their own blacksmith. With the mass production of many of the goods usually made by blacksmiths, many became horseshoers or left the profession all together. The DIY sentiment of the ‘70s brought blacksmithing back, to an extent. It is still practiced today, though usually more as an art than a necessary service.

Not only do blacksmiths make decorative pieces, they can also create their own tools. Hammers, tongs, punches and veiner tools can be bought, but you won’t be a true blacksmith until you can make your own.

Many think of blacksmithing as a craft that creates clunky, inelegant pieces, but this is not the case. Lovely garden gates can look more like delicate wire creations than the tough iron they are made of. Blacksmiths do not subscribe to one style — some make pieces that are whimsical, some clean and modern and others look perfectly at place in an art deco home.

While the ‘70s gave us many things we don’t care to remember, the crafts that were revived are ones that can be revived again and adapted to our modern sensibilities and style.