"Artists Who Care" Seniors' Outreach Program Event

As mentioned in earlier blogs, I was scheduled to teach a miniatures workshop with a group of able-bodied seniors today, and what a blast it turned out to be. The teachers/artists for this program donate their time, but are able to get expenses for materials reimbursed. As I worked mostly with free items and internet downloads, the expenses were very minimal.

Thirteen seniors attended; the oldest was 91! One had had outpatient surgery early this morning, and  "played" until the freezing of her excision wore off; that's dedication for you. They all received a Michael's hutch (the last of my stash, unfortunately), and a Ziploc bag with all the other necessary items. Below is  photo of some of the ladies working away at their projects;

Before the ladies left, I was able to take photos of their projects. Be aware, this blog entry is photo-heavy! (I think I only missed 2 projects; their creators said they weren't ready for viewing yet....)

We used wallpaper and scrapbooking paper to paper the inside backs of the shelves. Then we set to work creating things to fill the interior, mostly from printables, beads, card, and paper. The easiest items were the doily, greeting card, clock and family portrait; then we made a non-opening book, a vase of flowers, a row of books, a bookend, and a mug to hold  pencils and pens we made out of toothpicks. Each participant also got an Easter shopping bag, in which the ladies stuffed a bunch of silk flowers and a flocked bunny. Some also put together a decorative box - quite a fiddly project - and paper lace to edge their shelf.

And every project turned out to be different, although each participant received the same components in their kits.

The choice of wallpaper patterns and colours varied, with each participant picking their own colour scheme.

We had the option of making a bookend with a tiny plastic bear decoration on it. Some did this, others used the little bear as an ornament.

Some real keeners created a potted plant in a card plant pot, using plastic aquarium foliage. This hutch has paper lace on the shelf edges.

Our oldest participant played around with her printed items, placing them in unexpected spots; the effect is quite unique!

All in all, it was a fun 4 hours, but I am so tired that I just want to do nothing for the rest of the day....

Thanks very much to Liz of Grandpa's Dollhouse in St. Thomas, ON who donated some of the plastic items for the project, and the shopping bags; to Bates Laminating in Fredericton, NB who donated a bag full of mat board pieces, and the members of Camp MiniHaHa who donated items from their stash two years ago to enable these outreach miniature programs to happen.

This was the second program I was able to do using these donated items; however, I am all out of the hutches, and until Michael's makes them available again, we can't do more of these programs. I am told, however, that the hutches are back in the US, by popular demand....