From rags to riches

Those of you who read my blog must think sometimes, "Wow, she jumps around!"
It's true.

I use this space to reminisce about my parents and my childhood, but I also use it to share crafting ideas and recipes. So, I can see how you'd be confused.

Tonight, let's make something!

The last time I visited my younger sister I noticed an adorable wreath hanging from her front door. She made it by tying strips of fabric to a double-wire wreath form. Hers was red; so cute!
I told her I wanted her to make me one, and she said she would and had me pick out some fabric she had in her stash.

But I haven't been able to get that wreath out of my head. So, of course, I couldn't wait and began making one of my own.

I used a double-wire wreath form that I already had, but it's huge; 18-inches in diameter. You'd probably want to use a smaller one. Luckily I had a bunch of fabric that I was able to use, also, so I didn't actually have to make the mega-mile round trip to Michael's, Joann's, Hobby Lobby or  AC Moore for any supplies. For a change, I had everything I needed. (It's a springtime miracle.)

Although the whole project, from start to finish, took about three-hours - including cutting or tearing the fabric strips - I actually worked on mine for four nights, while watching television with my husband and my Baby Girl Ginger.

My 18-inch diameter wire form took a total of five-yards of 42-inch wide fabric, cut into 2.5-inch wide strips, and then cut into 8-inch long strips. Naturally, the smaller the wreath form, the less fabric it will take. I used eight different fabrics, because it's what I had laying around, but you could use all one color - like my sister did. (And, I think her strips of fabric were not as wide as mine.)

Let's get started:

This is what the double-wire wreath form looks like. They sell for about $6. It's the kind of wreath form that is used with the big wide mesh ribbon you see so much of today. As you can see, mine is left over from Christmas, but it didn't matter, because the whole thing gets covered up in knots.
Then begin tying your strips of fabric onto the wreath form. Just use one knot, don't double it (it will be too thick).

Keep tying all the way around one ring (I started with the inside ring) and when you're finished with that one, tie strips of fabric all the way around the other ring.

When you've covered the whole double-ring wreath form, stick a fork in it, because you're done! You've turned fabric scraps into a beautiful wreath that could enhance any décor.
Cute, huh?

Experiment. Use a smaller wreath form, fabric strips that aren't as wide or as long - whatever. It's your project.
Enjoy!


Love and miss you, Mom and Dad

Building girls of courage

"A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

I love that quote, because it completely embodies the very being of my mother--- selflessness.

I'm chairing an upcoming fundraiser for Girl Scouts, and the Girl Scout Council is going to present an award to one of our local Girl Scout leaders that will enable her to purchase supplies at no cost. They have named the award after my own Girl Scout leader -- my mother; the Julia Jackson Leader Scholarship.

In order for it to be awarded, they have asked me to come up with a sort of application for potential recipients to complete and to list the characteristics of Mother that would also embody the true meaning of Girl Scouting.

If you visit the website https://www.girlscouts.org/, you'll see the mission: "Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place."

Without a doubt, my mother instilled in me a sense of courage:

• Right from the "get-go," my name gave me courage (although, it's not my mom that named me; it was my father's choice). Back in the day, with a name like Sydney you needed courage to go to school on the first day. That's back when you'd learn what classroom you were in only as you arrived on that first day. There were lists of names posted to the classroom doors -- lists of boys and lists of girls. I was ALWAYS on the boys' list. Terribly embarrassing, but I survived.
• When I was just five, I danced at my recital and fell on my face, only to get back up and continue dancing.
• I auditioned for every school or church play, even though I rarely got the part I had hoped for.
• I wore socks to school until seventh-grade. (trust me, that took courage) Back in the dark ages, girls wore socks only until sixth-grade, but my mother made me wear them until seventh. AND, she wouldn't let me shave my legs until eighth-grade. Ugh!

Those things might seem minor today, but not so much when you're a young, impressionable girl wishing to be popular.

• In all seriousness, when it came time for me to make a life-altering decision while I was in high-school, I had learned from my parents just how essential an ingredient like courage is. As I once read, "Courage is what propels us to reach new milestones, even though the effort might be painful."  The courage to do what I did remains the most painful decision I've ever made, but it was the right thing.
• Although I still struggle to make it through my days without the physical presence of my mother, it is her example of true courage after my father passed away that leads me on my path.

My mother believed in me, which helped give me the confidence to get up every morning and face the day with courage. I don't remember ever hearing her say, "You can't do that," unless, of course, I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing. Mother was, and still is, my number one cheerleader.

My mother's character never wavered; always true to her family and true to herself. She was the single most honest, loving, caring, giving and God loving woman I have ever known -- and likely ever will know (and I wish she could come home).

And did she ever make this world a better place!
Her children are all productive members of society, good parents, some are good grand-parents, loving and willing to help others when possible.

Although selflessness is not listed in the Girl Scout mission, those are the characteristics I will look for in the recipient of the inaugural Julia Jackson Leader Scholarship, and I know Mother will be beaming down on the recipient as that woman leads her girls to new heights.