Lauren Muney will be cutting silhouettes freehand at this 2026-season-opening event!
“The Hands-On History: Traditional Crafts Festival at The Red Mill Museum Village in Clinton, NJ, offers families a unique opportunity to step back in time and experience history firsthand. Through interactive, costumed demonstrations, visitors can try their hand at the essential skills of daily life from the Colonial period to the early 1900s. Children and adults alike will participate in activities like candle making, woodworking and textile processing, gaining a deeper understanding of the tools and tasks that shaped everyday life in the past.
The Red Mill Museum Village will host its third Hands-On History event in April, offering families a unique opportunity to step back in time and experience history firsthand. Through demonstrations and interactive activities, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the tools and tasks that shaped everyday life in the past while connecting visitors with skilled artisans who are actively preserving these practices.
There is particular excitement over the return of Baltimore, Maryland-based historical artisan Lauren Muney of Silhouettes By Hand, one of only 20 freehand-scissoring silhouette artists in the world. These types of portraits are iconic to early American history as silhouettes were the portraits of the common people before the invention of photography. Her free-hand silhouette portraits made only with paper and scissors will be offered to guests free of charge.
Other artisans will be members of our staff demonstrating blacksmithing, greenwood carving and candle making as well as a variety of other exceptional local artisans representing a wide range of historic trades and domestic arts including traditional leatherwork, historic sewing and costuming, spinning and weaving, lacemaking, rug hooking, traditional quilting and more.
Our covered 40’x80’ pavilion will feature demonstrations by local guilds, historical societies and artisans who preserve traditional crafts. Visitors can explore woodworking, tinsmithing, timber framing, blacksmithing, pottery making, gunsmithing, toolmaking and hand sewing. Participants will have the chance to learn directly from experts representing groups like CRAFTS NJ, the Hunterdon County Historical Society and the Handweavers Guild of Bucks County.
It's an immersive, family-friendly event where history comes to life through hands-on experiences and expert demonstrations.”