feminist blogs

Shot with my iPhone; Malkinville, MD

I spent the better part of the morning dealing with these bad boys and a couple hundred of their sisters. While they dry out in preparation for ristasmania, we're off to the Big Apple for a few days. And no, I'm not going to meet you for brunch, bleachers or sashimi. It's our anniversary. But if you must have your Rox fix, there's a good chance you'll find me at Astroland sometime in the next 72 hours.

My mother was a painter. A damn good one at that. Which is shorthand for saying that I grew up poor. In my prepubescent years, I was only faintly cognizant of this because my sister and I didn't go without the things mom thought were important --books, a good education, special birthdays and blow-out Christmases.

You see, in addition to being talented,  my mother was also very clever.  When circumstances demanded it, she would temporarily forgo her pure artistic pursuits to make a buck. And she was exceptionally good at making a buck during the holidays.

Each year at Thanksgiving time, my mother would pack up some paint, brushes, templates, a special "Christmas" portfolio, and two small girls and charge down the street to drum up business. She painted holiday-themed windows for small retailers at $50 a pop, as my sister and I played hop scotch beside her on the previously un-chalked sidewalks. 

While this was a great deal of money for this service in the early '70s,  no one who had ever seen her handiwork balked at the price. And I don't recall a single incident when my mother couldn't deliver exactly what a store manager requested.

She had them coming and going! Because every New Year's Eve she would again charge down the street to offer to scrub her work off those windows at $25 a pop. Think she returned to those stores each Easter, Fourth of July and  Halloween when she need extra dough? You bet!

So, what does this have to do with making a wreath you ask? Hold on. I'm getting to that.

Lauren, whose trials and tribulations making ends meet while raising her young soon often remind me of my own childhood household, has begun a project to compile a wiki of how-tos:

This compilation of how-tos, written by you and me, aims to help people with little in the way of resources and expertise get through unfortunate situations relating to money, finances, and bureaucracy.

It will be an open-source document, likely a Word doc wiki?, that can be edited and added to as the contributors see fit. Not only do I want it to include our stories, but I want it to include details, specifics, the steps in the process, what one can expect, what hurdles one may come against, and suggestions for how to get around them. This should be a pragmatic resource that takes a person in need through all the steps and details of the situation at hand. If you know of websites or other resources that include excellent step-by-step instructions, send them along as well. There may be a place for them. The tools for self-betterment are in the details.

How to Make Your Own Evergreen Wreath is my first contribution to this project.

The steps are easy enough and you can find a really good blow-by-blow here. But, let me add:

• The floral supplies you'll need are easily and inexpensively available at Michael's.
• Don't pay for evergreens, which can be easily procured by a wee-hour run to your local tree-lined shopping mall or business park.
• If you're dealing with pine, you'll find the process more pleasurable if you wear gardening gloves.
• The wreath I made today (pictured above) took about an hour to complete and cost about $5 to make. Similar wreaths are sold for as much as $100.
• As long as you're making one, you might as well make a couple more to sell to friends and family members who think nothing of spending $100 on tree trimmings and wire.
• You want a wreath, but stringing tree trimmings on wire ain't your idea of a hot time? Make a party out of it. Invite your friends to join in the fun. But make sure you make the admission price a grocery bag stuffed with evergreens and a nice bottle of Pinot Noir.
• If you're looking for an expensive Christmas gift to share, you could do alot worse than giving someone one of your handmade wreaths.