A few years ago, I discovered the engaging talents of Kenneth Wingard while savoring the Christmas in July segments on the Hallmark Channel’s original show Home & Family. From the moment I observed Ken’s segments, I was hooked, almost to the point that if he was not going to be appearing on the show any given day, I was disinclined to watch. However, as time went on, I grew to adore the expertise of the entire family of cast members. Recently, Ken and I had the opportunity to briefly chat about how he got into the business as well as a few other highlights of his career and life.

RH: Ken, I cannot tell you how excited I am to talk with you! This has been a long time in the making.

KW: Thanks, Ruth. Yeah, I think we talked about doing this a couple of years ago, and it’s really nice to be able to connect at last.

I was doing my research on you, and I honestly didn’t realize all the things you had done before coming to Home & Family.

This is kind of like my third life, I’d say.

So how did you get started on this career that you now have?

You mean the TV part of it?

Well, I would like to know what got you going on this whole DIY path you’re pursuing. 

It’s been kind of a full-circle life. I grew up in a craft-centric family. My mother and my grandmother both taught me how to crochet and to make rag rugs and do latch hook. All very early on. In middle school, I remember my dad built a craft room for me off our garage. I would spend every day after school and all summer long in that craft room tackling every sort of DIY. I was very arts-focused. When I went off to Princeton, I realized that I couldn’t be a craft maker for a career, and so I pursued architecture, which for me had a lot of the same principles of building, making and creating.

Once I got that degree and went out into the world, I knew I wanted to pursue something on a smaller scale. I wanted all that joy that comes with creating and designing but on a smaller scale. So I went into designing home furnishings. And that was when I was working for Pottery Barn. I was the head of Pottery Barn design for six or seven years. There I was basically doing DIY but with factories from China, Thailand and India. There were all these wonderful craftsmen who would design these amazing items that Pottery Barn had. From that, I started my own home furnishings company that I sold to places like Martha Stewart and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I really grew that into a very large company. So it was basically DIY but with the factories doing all the making.

My husband and I started having a family, and I was away for five or six months out of the year. So I decided to throttle back on that. And that’s when HGTV called me up out of the blue and asked if I had ever thought of doing TV. And that was how I got my first TV show. And now it’s come full-circle. I’m basically that same little kid in the garage doing crafts, but I’m doing it in our garage at Home & Family. So it really has been fun, like going back to being a seventh grader.

I was thinking how you were instrumental in getting me to watch Home & Family more regularly. I live with my parents and my teenage daughter, and my parents started watching the show, but I wasn’t too sure about it.

Oh, I see. So you were there, but watching it just sporadically?

Right, because my dad would get into it and then sometimes my mom would talk about it. But what got me interested was a couple years ago when they had the Christmas in July segment, and that’s when I started watching it regularly. And then I noticed you during those segments and you always did these incredible projects. What I liked is that you brought excitement to your projects. And it was nice to see a guy doing it. Traditionally, it seems like females are doing it. So the diversity was nice.

Right, I understand that.

And you would do these unbelievable projects that it seemed like nobody could do, but you always broke it down into smaller pieces so everybody could do it.

I have to attribute that to my mother and grandmother. They would both sit me down as a little kid. And whether it was a huge afghan or whatever, Grandma would break it down, give me needle and thread, and teach me how to crochet. She would teach me two little stitches and then do a granny square. Then a bigger granny square. No matter how complicated those projects were, those two women could sit me down and break it down for me and teach me how to do it.

I think that’s what’s so great about what you do. When they first show the project, I’m like, “How can anyone do that?” But then you come along and break it down. 

Yeah, then you’re like, “Oh, that wasn’t so bad!”

Oh, and my mom loves you too. She loves watching your segments.

Oh, that’s nice. Tell her I said, “hi.”

I definitely will. How long have you been with Home & Family now?

I first came on for the Halloween show on season one. I followed Paige Davis, the original host, who is now a host on my show on the Oprah network {OWN}. She asked me to come over and do some stuff with us on Hallmark.

Were you a Hallmark watcher before joining Home & Family?

I think I was because I was a big fan of Martha Stewart, and she was on Hallmark. And then it wasn’t so much the movies, but I’d watch The Golden Girls;  I was a fan of the network’s reruns. But when I was starting college and studying architecture, every Christmas, my mom would give me a little Victorian house from Hallmark. They had this line of Victorian houses. So every year she gave me a new Hallmark Victorian house, and I still have those. They go up on the mantel every year. So I’ve been a Hallmark person for as long as I can remember.

And, our special Santa Quartet, featuring Ken Wingard, Dan Kohler, Matt Rogers, and Matt Iseman are singing a jolly, Christmas favorite. Credit: Copyright 2015 Crown Media United States, LLC/Photographer: Jeremy lee/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC

I seem to remember that you also have some music and dance talent that you sometimes show off.

{laughs} I did musical theater in college, but I do not have much talent at all!

I remember one of the Christmas shows where they had several of you do a Santa thing.

Oh, yeah, we did our Santa thing. It was all in good fun. Yes, me and Matt Rogers and Matt Iseman. In fact, Matt Iseman and I went to college together.

From what I can tell, you’re willing to jump in and try these things when guests come on the show.

Well, life is short. I’m very much a no regret person. Never in life have I regretted trying something. But there are many times I look back and go, “Oh, I should have gone skydiving,” or “I should have tried that hula class. Why was I being so afraid?” I think something nice about maturing is that you realize you’re not on this earth forever. I want to try everything and have fun with everything. I try to teach my children that as well.

We love it when you show all the pictures of your kids and you talk about all the things you’re doing with them. Those are special moments we’re glad to see.

Oh, I’m glad to hear that. And for me, that’s what it’s all about. It’s all about the family and the kids. To this day, I remember the stuff my mom would do for our classroom. Like Mom bringing in the Halloween cupcakes or Dad building the tree fort. DIY is all about bringing the family closer together and doing those projects together. Anyone can go out and buy a playhouse and put it in their backyard. But the treehouse that my dad and I built that one summer…even as an adult, I know it’s still there. I look at it and it has special memories because that’s the one my dad and I built together. I want my husband and I to have those same memories with our family and my kids.

You’ve done Home & Family and all these others shows for quite some time. But is there a special guest or an episode that was very memorable for you?

There’s two of them. One was Mary Wilson. She was one of the original Supremes. She was on and I was so excited. I watched her warm-up and rehearse. During the show, she looked out into the audience and said, “Ken, come up here and do back-up for me!” I was up there on-stage singing back-up for a Supreme! I was like, “This is not happening!” That is the stuff dreams are made of!

The other was when we had the Waltons reunion. I sort of grew up with those Walton kids every Thursday night at 8 PM. So to be doing a craft with John Boy. I got choked up as we recalled our favorite segments and episodes. I have an episode to this day that is so meaningful to me. So to have them there was just great. So those are my two favorites.

I’m sure you get your inspiration from all over, but is there a main place where you derive inspiration?

Honestly, a lot of it comes from my mom. Sort of doing crafts in the early seventies. A lot of it is looking back on that early stuff I did with my mom or reinventing things that used to be fashionable. Whether it’s macrame or cross stitch. Mom still does a lot. She’s eighty-eight. She’s still a member of the Garden Club and hand-makes all the wreaths and the garlands for the house. So I think she’s probably my biggest source of inspiration.

I think that’s why your crafts are so special. They are kind of nostalgic and I believe that’s why they resonate well with so many people. 

Yeah, maybe they’re tugging something deeper inside. I’d like to think so.

Now, I’ve been asking all the Home & Family cast members this question. Would you like to ever be on a Hallmark movie or show?

Oh my gosh, I would love to! I keep waiting for someone to ask me! I want to run the little notions shop that somebody comes into. Either that, or I want to be in When Calls the Heart. I keep asking them…like I could own the flower shop in town or the craft shop or something. I could be the art teacher for the town.

That would be great! And you know, every one of the cast members I’ve asked from Home & Family, they all want to do it too. So I’m just hoping maybe it will happen since I’ve been talking about it.

We’re already here with the network, so why not make it happen?

After all, Mark Steines got to be in that movie with Rachel Boston.

Right, and they do like using the Hallmark stars over and over again. Hallmark is not a place where they like to have a lot of unknown faces. They like to use the Hallmark family. So maybe one day. I’m ready for it if they call.

Well, I think it’s good publicity for Hallmark as well as Home & Family to have those kinds of crossovers. So fingers crossed.

Yes, fingers crossed.

So do you have a favorite season of the year?

Probably the one that is coming up next. I always think I have a favorite season, but as soon as we get into it, I start thinking about the next one. Obviously, I love Christmas especially with the kids and the over-the-top decorating. I love spring when everything is in full bloom and you’re outside in that fresh air and you get to start doing these wonderful outdoor projects. But then summer, you have those lazy days at the beach. We have this ranch up in the country where we just love to spend time together. And those hot days when you’re eating outside under the stars and it’s still warm. But then Fall. The leaves start changing. The crispness in the air. The going to get the pumpkins. I don’t see how people live in LA because they have no seasons. I fully wallow in all four seasons.

Ken, I think you have the right idea, I must admit. There’s something truly special about every season of the year. And I want to thank you for the taking the time to share your passion with us.

Ruth, it was truly my pleasure. I really hope everyone tunes in every day for Home & Family. And to the wonderful people at Hallmark, I am waiting for that call to join the cast in Hope Valley!

Without hesitation, I can authoritatively state that the first thing I noticed about Ken is his charismatic joie de vivre. He is fully engaged in every project he devises, and speaking with him was equally delightful. His enthusiasm is infectious, and each time I watch his prowess in the “craft garage” at Home & Family, I am instantly inspired to abandon all of my responsibilities for the day and focus my attention on the project he just made. Granted, I usually get sidetracked and do not follow through on actually crafting the design, but there are a few of his projects I’ve tucked away for the holidays this year. Ken is one of those people who relishes life to the maximum and doesn’t mind being silly on TV. ( I remember another segment when the Mary Murphy of So You Think You Can Dance stopped by and taught him a few moves, and trust me, it was HILARIOUS!) He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and he consistently derives pleasure while working and creating such memorable projects that appeal to a wide variety of viewers.

If you have not had the opportunity to watch Home & Family on the Hallmark Channel (or if it has been awhile), I invite you to check out the show every weekday morning and pay special attention to his entertaining segments. You will soon realize that he does much more than DIY. (He’s also quite competitive when the cast members have competitions–such a delight to watch!) I would also invite my readers to check out all his links below and consider following him wherever you are able. His positivity and skill are readily apparent no matter the day nor the season, and I am grateful that Hallmark has kept him a part of their glorious morning show, and I hope to see him for many years to come! (Oh, and PLEASE put this guy in a Hallmark movie or show as soon as possible! The fans would absolutely love it!)

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