Wine Cork Cross

         I never know how a new project will go over in the Community Art Room. Last Monday  I took the materials to make crosses out of wine corks.  Everyone loved the idea.  We even had people from the food pantry and the soup kitchen stopping by to admire them.  We do not have a budget for the Art Room.  Everything that we use is either brought in by the 3 of us who volunteer there or it is donated by friends from art groups in which we belong.  Many any of the projects that we make involve recycled materials such as tin cans, toilet paper rolls and card board.  We also incorporate nature when we can by using pine cones, lotus pods, sticks and rocks.  It is amazing to see what can be put together to create art.  We have some talented, truly gifted people, among us on Mondays.  It is such a beautiful place to be!

The cross is made from 5 wine corks that are glued together (3 down and 2 across) with hot glue.

Four large beads are affixed to the points of the cross and then it is embellished with an angel at the center. 

A piece of wire wrapped around the top bead makes a hanger.

The Community Art Room is located inside Highland Heights United Methodist Church (3476 Summer Avenue) and is open every Monday morning from 10-12

It is a place for any one in the community to come paint, draw, craft, create!

   

A Sew-Sew Weekend

       While my DH was off at the 2012 Men’s Downline Summit this past weekend learning about biblical manhood and discipleship,  I decided to do something worthwhile myself.  I put aside all household responsibilities and made plans to work in my art room.  My focus was sewing for the hospital.  I pulled out all sorts of knit, cotton and quilted fabrics.  One of my favorite parts of sewing is choosing what fabrics to pair together for each project.  I have a massive stash of delightful colors and textures, thanks in part to friends of mine who have chosen to donate to this sewing ministry.    The rectangle pillows are for abdominal surgery patients and the heart-shaped pillows are for breast surgery patients. Last month I used heart themed fabric for my pillows in honor of Valentine’s Day.  This time I decided to used florals for my pillows.  

          Lately I have been adding a layered flower to most of my chemo caps.  To me flowers seem to symbolize a sense of hope for healing.   

                      I was given a piece of Burberry fabric which I think made a cute cap.

          Someone had recently given me a piece of fabric that had already been quilted, so I made a small blanket out of it for the neonatal unit.  

        I had a delightful marathon sewing weekend.  I ended up with 8 heart-shaped pillows, 6 rectangle pillows, 7 chemo caps and 1 baby blanket.  It was such an enjoyable time for me.  So much more fun than cleaning house!  I will probably never get to meet any of the patients that I sew for each month, but I consider it such a blessing to be able to give a little part of myself to them.

          For the chemo cap pattern:

http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/spatt01.htm

                Some days when I am at home I like to fix a great big salad for lunch.  Somehow it seems to make me feel better about the snacking that I do before hand and the chocolate that tends to come after.  It's all about balance, right?  Truly though, I enjoy everything about making a salad.  I love the mix of colors and textures as well as the variety of vitamins that I know that I am getting. I try to make sure that I add in some dark green leafy lettuces, such as spinach, because they are packed full of antioxidants. I usually like to top my salad off with some low-fat cottage cheese and light Italian dressing. Something this pleasing to the eye has to be pleasing to the tummy!

     

  Cotton Boll Wreath

             I finally got around to making a wreath out of the cotton bolls that I picked at my brother's farm back in the summer.  My procrastination was not out of disinterest, but a sense of sheer insecurity.   I had actually purchased  a wreath at a yard sale several months ago, but never got started on it for fear that it would not turn out like the finished ones that I had admired.  I decided that the worst thing that could happpen would be that I spent some time crafting, which I love to do, and end up with something to give away.  Since both were positive by products of my time and materials, I decided to "go for it".

              I grabbed my trusty glue gun and just started gluing the cotton bolls on in random places.

             After adding a few cotton bolls here and there, I began to loosen up and actually enjoy myself.  Every boll was unique.  All were opened to a different degree.  They were like little tiny works of art.  I grew up in the south and saw cotton growing by the side of the road each year, but I always seemed to take it for granted. Handling each pod and arranging them on the wreath gave me a little sense of pride about what I had overlooked for so many years.  Cotton truly is the "fabric of our lives" and it is grown, picked and processed right out my back door.  There is a rich heritage here in Memphis connected to this valuable crop.  I continued adding these white little treasures until I felt I hand enough.  I didn't want to put on too many as I wanted to be able to appreciate the nice weave of the wreath beneath my cotton as well.

    

  I completed my wreath by adding a ribbon in my favorite shade of green.

Garbage Day

       My husband went to wheel our large green garbage can around front this morning (dear chap that he is), but noticed that the can was empty.  He came inside and said, “Don’t we have any garbage this week?”  I loved being able to say, “No, with the exception of what was sitting in the kitchen can.”  This was sort exhilarating for me. It meant that  I had succeeded at reducing our weekly waste to an all time low.  The little bit of trash that we had accumulated over the past 7 days was a result of what could not be composted, reused or placed in the recycle bin. 

        We have been composting and recycling for the 19 years that we have lived in our home which has kept our refuse to a minimum, but with the addition of cardboard to our recycling program, our weekly trash has dropped even further.  It is amazing how many products come in boxes from cereal to toothpaste.  Before I place anything in the big green garbage can, I ask myself if it fits into any of our 3 attempts to be “green” first.  

For detailed ideas on implementing your own home recycling plan:

http://www.countryhome.com/projects/shopgirl/recycling-basics 1.htm 

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/tips-techniques/recycle-anything-00000000006117/

http://www.treehugger.com/htgg/how-to-go-green-recycling.html

Up-cycled Scarf

        Scarves are about the only thing that I like about winter (well, I do like the fact that my hair does not frizz and I get to wear all my cute boots). Whether scarves are store bought or hand-made, knit, sewn, woven or crocheted; they can be the greatest accessory for an outfit.

I made the following scarf out of old sweaters. I started with sweaters that were 100 percent wool.  I put them through the washer and dryer 3-4 times until they shrank a considerable amount. I then cut 10 rectangle pieces, measuring 5 1/2” by 7”, from the shrunken sweaters.  

        I laid the cut pieces out in pattern that I desired and then hand-stitched them together, end to end, using a blanket stitch.  I used brightly colored embroidery floss (full thickness of the thread).

       One of my sweaters had pockets in it so I added these to each end of my scarf.  This way I can keep my hands, as well as my neck, warm.  After attaching all of my rectangles together, I went around the edge of the whole scarf with my blanket stitch, changing colors about every 3rd block or so.  I was very pleased with the result.  You can mix and match a variety of patterns for a whimsical look!

The Gift that Keeps on Giving...

      There were a few large pieces of fleece in the mountain of fabric that I received from my Baptist Women’s Auxiliary friend this week . From them I was able to make 19 colorful scarves which I am going to give to the homeless when I go work at the Community Art Room tomorrow.  I am so excited!  I made a dozen or so back in December and was saddened by the fact that I did not have enough to distribute to all that were waiting in line at the Food Pantry.  It has been cold here in Memphis lately and we are expecting some severe weather tonight so hopefully these warm ribbons of cloth will provide some much needed protection, as well as a genuine feeling of love to those who reside in the area.