Texas 4H Agents Conference Repurposing Workshop

As previously mentioned, we held a workshop Monday at the Texas State 4H Agents conference. We held a repurposing session plus my niece Brenna went along and worked a mini booth for us.

Participants brought a project to work on plus I provided supplies (not knowing what they would be bringing) and a things to complete a separate project. I was nervous beforehand. For one, I really wasn't sure how to prepare, especially since I didn't know what project they would be bringing to work on. Would we need a drill and screws, a pop rivet tool, or ____?  

I gathered up a smorgasbord of supplies from my workroom at home and took them with me, along with a  few examples of some items I've repurposed. My supplies included pieces of lace, ribbon, silk flowers, twine, cotton stuffing, newspaper, tape, Bingo cards, paint, paintbrushes, scissors, wire cutters, hot glue, wooden spools, corks, brooch pin backs, feathers, and thrift store skirts.

Tip: skirts can often offer large pieces of fabric for a fraction of the cost of new material.

We ripped up skirts and stained 4H tees to make pumpkins and even used a wine bottle for the stem on one. Painted stools, tool boxes, made brooch pins, masks, and decorated over a jar that had a near impossible to remove label. If you can't remove a label, cover over it!  One lady is working on converting an old ice cream freezer to a hanging basket covered with a crochet table cloth. 

Considering I had no idea what they were bringing, it all turned out really good and they acted like they really enjoyed it.

Two of my fabric pumpkins were "stuffed" with unusual objects, so everyone had fun guessing what was inside them. (Stay tuned for another post on them.)  One lady brought in a wine bottle and we used it for the center base and stem of her pumpkin. I really wish I would have got better pictures of everyone's projects.... My niece, Brenna, went along with me and worked a small booth, so she had my phone (to run credit cards) while we were in the workshop. Our sales table was in the area where conference attendees arrived to registered and we thought our set up was going to be right outside the room were I was working, but that room didn't have any tables, so we got moved to another area in the hotel that did have space to work on projects. It all worked out though. 

One of the Agents even remembered me from my 4H days in the 90’s! It's an organization that I am proud I grew up in and happy to have the opportunity to speak with them now. 

All in all, a good day! I do look back and can think of a few things I wish I would have shown or told them, but it's ok.

💚🍀

You can read more of my blog post leading up to the workshop here: My Repurposed Life and my Ramblin's from the Back Roads discussing my outfit, which was all upcycled or from some of my favorite small biz girls.