scouting...

... as a helper for making crafts at a holiday gathering. A couple of friends who have been volunteer Girl Scout Troop leaders for-ever have organized a 'holiday fest' for youngsters in our area, inviting any who are interested and willing to pay a small fee to cover expenses. It will be at a church on the north side of town, I assume in a fellowship hall, that will provide space to spread out on tables and do various projects that involving copious amounts of glue, glitter, possibly red and green craft paint.

When I got the email asking if I would help with their plans, I immediately agreed. More than willing to be drafted as a volunteer for doing anything remotely related to craft-y stuff. Even though it is highly likely that the 'crafts' come out of a small plastic bag, with all the parts hopefully included, tidily packaged and shipped from China, via Oriental Trading Company. Projects that start with craft sticks and pipe cleaners, or designs pressed into balsa wood, to be punched out and assembled. A few googly eyes here and there, a bit of ribbon to finish up. Oh, well - the girls will have good fun, drinking watery hot cocoa, eating cookies and making ornaments that will hang on the tree.

I expect these little wooden items covered in sparkles will become keepsakes, parents will save to reemerge as decorations year after year. Trinkets roughly assembled by small hands will be recycled each holiday season for decades, to be sent with them when they become adults. Carefully preserved and brought out to hang on the tree year after year, eventually sent away when those young girls are grown and married, starting out on the path of family building. Stored in the attic long enough for those cheesy little ornaments to brown with age, and mortify the adults when their moms pass them to their adult children. Along with various school projects made of crumbling construction paper, with hand-prints, crayon-ed signatures and a loop of uneven, knotted, raveling yarn for hanging on the tree.