About ten years ago I started crafting as a way to make a little extra cash at the holidays. Now it’s my yearly tradition. I make a small stash of cute ornaments each year and sell them to my close friends and colleagues. Each year there is a stand-out crowd favorite, usually some food item with a cute face.
Now entering it’s fifth year, the Friends of Phoebe are a group of young kids, aged 10 to 13, who want to help their community in any small way they can. With the help of patient parents, the kids sew then sell felt and fabric holiday ornaments with the goal of supporting the work of New Hope For Families of Bloomington, Indiana. New Hope helps families impacted by homelessness gain and maintain stable housing and provides accredited, early childhood development aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty. All proceeds from the ornament sales are donated on behalf of the Friends of Phoebe.
Each ornament is handmade. Some imperfections exist, but each was made with love and the spirit of giving.
For more about the work and mission of New Hope for Families, visit: https://www.newhope4families.org
Monk Sockeys got its start back in 2007 when my pal Kelly had an idea to make sock monkeys as part of a thesis show for her IU fiber arts class. The first batch of monkeys plus a few zombies were custom tie-dyed and sewn with the purpose of creating a story line. Each monkey had a name and elaborate backstory. After the success of the show, a craft booth was born — bringing monkeys to the market.
For several years, Kelly and I (plus our pal Emily who made sock zombies rather than monkeys) successfully sold our critters during the summer months at the Bloomington Fair of the Arts craft fair. Kelly continued to tie-dye her socks. I started using inexpensive store-bought socks with fun colors and patterns.
A year or so into the venture, I started getting requests for specific characters. After the market days waned, I crafted custom-order monkeys. My monkey-making has tapered off over the years, but a custom monkey still happens every now and again.