I love to make art. My roots for doing so lie in watching my grandmas and mom make beautiful stuff out of a variety of things.
My grandma Irene was the queen of mixing together flour, sugar, eggs, to artfully create masterpiece-worthy pies and bars. Rhubarb especially.
My grandma Wilma held the honors of crafting her own wardrobe. She made multiple dresses and two piece pant sets in various materials, with piping to boot. In fact, I have the outfit she made and wore to her 40th wedding anniversary party.
My momma’s quest for her creative self expression led her down many avenues. She did everything from making dolls to knitting sweaters, sewing curtains to home decor items. Eventually, she added jewelry making, acrylic painting, and stained glass to her list of talents.
My art is like a combo pack- some of each of them, I suppose. Bits of each, that when combined, equals something layered and unique.
This week presented a pretty cool opportunity for me. My husband’s weekly bowling league had a tournament to raise money for a local family who lost a loved one. It was a chance to donate some of my art to a raffle.
Ooooooo!! What should I give and how should I do it? Individual pieces or something combined?
I decided that several items together could be impactful. I mean, if we’re going to share our art, let’s share it.
After staring at an empty basket for awhile, ideas started trickling in. I thought it’d be fun to share them with you.
Ideas on how to create your own art donation basket:
- Try to choose a basket size that will hold whatever you’d like to include
- Dress the basket up, if you like- I added a piece of jewelry and an artificial flower
- When filling the basket, maybe start with one piece – I chose the sparkly rhinestone necklace on its velvet stand, with a pink flower that I glued on
- Stick with that piece’s theme- mine was ‘sparkly rhinestone’
- Maybe consider a color theme as well- I picked pinks and blues, with yellow floral accent colors to draw the eye in
- Consider adding fillers such as tissue paper and doilies
- Use a hole punch on your gift tag or business card, attach it to a piece of twine, and tie it to the basket/ handle
- Think about who is going to be bidding or buying those raffle tickets- I thought about how the women bowlers might really want to help that local family out, so I included different items that might appeal to many
- Also, consider who the fundraiser is for- sometimes people will buy fundraising items, then gift the item back to the person/family- I thought about what the woman that lost her husband might like to receive if she ended up with my art basket
My husband was so excited when he got home from the bowling tournament. Apparently, my art basket donation was well received. There were 24 bowlers total, and my basket sold 58 raffle tickets! (insert huge smile here.)
The other donated items included 8 gift cards and a handmade afgan. Total the raffles brought about $500 for the family. Isn’t that amazing??
Some pretty extraordinary things happen when people get together to help someone. Even in a tiny town and even on a Tuesday.
I am thankful I was able to be a part of that. Maybe your art donation basket/ gift basket will be a part of something heartwarming, too.
Hope you have an awesome day!
Jessica
Unmeasured Journeys 
Your basket was marvelous and really boosted that donation event. I admire your craft skills and will try not to envy them.
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Wow! Thank you so much!!! Those are super kind compliments. No need for envy though, I have another blog, an art blog, where I break down projects into steps, if you’re interested. ❤️ It’s https://jeweledagainbyjessica.com
Thank you very much for reading my posts. I appreciate it! I hope you have an amazing day!
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I wish I’d look at your art blog, but anything to do with crafts is disheartening to me. I’ve tried thousands of things through the years, and being crafty is not in my DNA. I once followed instructions to make flowers out of egg cartons. Everyone agreed that egg cartons had more esthetic value than my ghastly flowers. I am resisting that lure of seeing what marvelous things you can do. I shall admire your abilities from afar.
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I understand! What you do have is a true gift with words! Your ability to share stories and photos is art itself, in my opinion. Seems like we all have things we like to do/ try. If crafts isn’t your thing, I completely honor that.
My husband can do wonderful things with engines and also dirt work with a bulldozer. My son is a whiz at technology- all of those things elude me, haha. So, I understand!
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Thank you for your understanding. I am passionate about words and am thrilled to be among like-minded people here. My husband and a grandson do marvels with trains, the small ones you can ride on. The other grandson can do anything in the kitchen, home or professional. His magic is edible! Isn’t it great that people have so many talents? I always thought it would be fun to work with a bulldozer. Like you, I am in awe of people who are tech whizzes.
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Oh my! The small trains sound wonderful! Love “his magic is edible.” Superb wording. The miracle of people’s different talents is inspiring. Maybe you can try a bulldozer sometime? I have run a mini excavator once! It was so exciting! And, wayyyyyy better than scooping with a shovel. Ha ha!
I agree about the like-minded people here. Writing is certainly a gift! ❤️
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One of these days I hope grandson David will bring home some pretty photos of the trains. John just takes an occasional picture of track work or the newest retaining wall. the club is four hours away, and I have never been there.
I love knowing that you ran an excavator once.
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Wow, that’s quite a drive. They must love going. I hope your grandson does take some pictures. Bet they would be fun for you to see.
This is embarrassing, but I think I ran a backhoe, not an excavator. Hahaha. Wheels, not trax. It was way before Little Bit was born, so I didn’t remember that quite right until now. Backhoes are still pretty cool, I guess.
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I’m ignorant and wouldn’t know the difference.
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Fair enough. :) :) It was embarrassing for me because my husband works with heavy equipment. Ha ha. He’s a mechanic, operator, and artist (in my opinion) with dirt moving equipment. ❤️
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You’ve just expanded my horizon. I never thought of making a machine move as art, but it would be with a good operator. The way dirt is piled could be momentary art.
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What a sweet idea, I’m so glad it was a success!
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Hi. Thank you so much! One of the things in the basket was an old recipe box I made over. I decoupaged it and added a jewel. It was filled with handwritten recipes! It was an eBay purchase, so they were already in there. Some fun stuff to share. ❤️ Thank you for commenting. Hope you have a wonderful day!
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