Grab Bag

Who doesn't love a grab bag? 

As a young kid I recall a toy store that we frequented that had brown paper bags for a small amount, maybe $.25,  that had some untold treasure in them. I loved having my mom buy me one, but also recall being somewhen disenchanted in whatever I received. 

I tend not to buy grab bags now, nor do I usually participate in 'stuff the bag' buying opportunities. 

But, one of my favorite purchases at Marketplace was this bag of scraps.

The store owner told me that I could take anything that fit in the bag for $10

And she told me all I needed was to have one end of the pieces in the bag, as long as the bag "held" it all. 

So, I stuffed the 6" X 9" bag. 

I normally don't buy scraps. I have enough of my own.

But, I was drawn by her ribbons. I have used ribbons in card making in the past. 

Occasionally I think of adding them to some sort of artsy quilt project.

I plan to make more purses and bags, and ribbons might be 

perfect embellishments.

So....

I took the ribbons,

some wide strips of fabric,

a few larger chunks of fabric

and two $5 seam rippers! (A quilter can never have too many seam rippers!)

The actual haul:

2 - 1 yard cuts of fabric

1 - 1/3 yard cut of fabric

1 - 1/4 yard cut of fabric

10 - strips of fabric from 3 - 10" in width

at least 20 yards of ribbon

and

2 seam rippers

Not a bad haul with quilting fabric closing in on $15 - $16 a yard and up! 

 

Pretty Bows

I bought some red flocked ribbon to make bows for outside decorations.  I wanted the bows to be consistent in size. Being somewhat handicapped by the brace, and an admonition from my Doc not to pinch anything between my thumb and forefinger, I wasn't sure how best to make the bows. 

I remembered seeing a video years ago about using a fork to make tiny bows. I ventured out to the barn to get a large fork...

I propped the fork up, and followed the tutorial I found online. 

I was able to make 19 bows out of the 75' roll of ribbon. I might get more ribbon and adorn the front fence!

Olé, Olé

While we were on our cruise around Hawaii we Dreamers attended a class on ribbon lei making. I was enamored with the ribbon lei* that many of the crew members wore, and enjoyed learning how to make the simplest version.

Lei were introduced to Hawaiians by early Polynesians, who adorned themselves with necklaces of flowers, seeds, shells or bones. The lei soon came to signify peace among opposing chiefs.With the advent of tourism, lei became a symbol of welcome. I received a flower lei as I boarded the ship. Each night the cabin steward would adorn the towel creation with my wilting lei.

The instructor of our class explained that lei are given to friends and are proffered for special occasions. She told a story about engaging fellow airplane passengers in making ribbon lei on a trip to the east coast to attend her daughter's graduation. Passengers round her helped and by the time she landed she had ribbon lei in school colors for all of the graduates.

This is the first lei that I made.

After learning how to make lei I decided I wanted to make more. When we docked in Hilo the next day we made a quick stop at a craft shop. I was amazed by the ribbon aisle. I'm used to seeing a variety of ribbons, usually on spools that are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. The craft stores at home have a long aisle of ribbons in great variety of widths, colors, fabrics and styles. This craft store had that aisle, then it had another with nothing but large spools of 3/8" grosgrain ribbon in many colors, all on 7" spools, each spool holding 100 yards of ribbon! I guess that says something about how popular ribbon lei are in Hawaii!

For the next few days, until we met the rest of the family, I experimented with making lei in different color combinations and with slight variations to how I folded the ribbon. I incorporated silver ribbon and a gauzy ribbon. By the time we caught up with the family, I had more than enough for everyone.

The ship also had classes in making lei using Kukui nuts. I didn't have the opportunity to take the class, but I purchased several different styles of nuts and shells. We Dreamers made a few lei with the nuts. Here the little one reluctantly wears a Kukui nut lei with her grass skirt.

Items made from Kukui nuts have spiritual significance. Kukia nuts are said to "enlighten" the wearer. The nuts from Hawaii's State tree, also called the candlenut tree, have dense oil that was once used for lamps. The original oil lights consisted of the Kukui nut meats themselves. A number of nut meats were pushed down on small wood spindle forming a candle. The top most nut would be lit afire. As the nut was slowly consumed by fire, the next nut would catch fire.

Samples of lei displayed on the ship

It is said that if you toss your lei in the water, you are guaranteed to return to the islands. This is the other grandmother's lei.

I didn't toss mine. When my lei had met its end I didn't think about the legend. Perhaps if one's lei is buried in a landfill in Hawaii, the same can be said?!

* There is no plural form of words in Hawaii. Therefore, "lei" could be singular or plural.

Why I Love My Haflingers - Reason #25

That's mine?

Can I eat it?!

We went to an informal carriage show. The boys were shown in a ground driving obstacle course and a cones course. They did a fabulous job of hanging around with all kinds of activity going on around them! I'm a proud mama!