Garbage to Garb

I read my hometown newspaper on-line every day and was delighted to see the crafty article From Garbage to Garb.

From garbage to garb
By Heather Halseymailto:Halseyhhalsey@HanfordSentinel.com

The old adage, one man's trash is another man's treasure, couldn't have rung more true than it did on July 23, when children in the Lemoore Summer Day Camp strutted down a runway wearing just that -- trash. Egg cartons, old socks and soda can tabs all made their way into the creations of the kindergarten through sixth-grade campers who worked for three weeks to design and construct the costumes before they hit the runway at the Lemoore Civic Auditorium.

The Lemoore Parks and Recreation Department's camp directors have been teaching their campers about "going green" since June 15 and all of the items used during the fashion show were things they'd collected to recycle or repurpose. "We wanted to have a 'Project Runway'-type fashion show but with the green theme," said assistant camp director Mallory Spoelstra.

The kindergarten through second-grade campers took the runway first to show off their carefully created hats that were decorated with everything from cotton balls to feathers.
Children at the Lemoore Summer Day Camp's fashion show wear hats made of recycled material.

"Every day at camp the campers receive breakfast and lunch in brown paper bags; they cut those bags and added a variety of recycled materials to the outside," said Spoelstra who served as the MC for the event. The fourth-through sixth-graders then hit the catwalk wearing everything from baseball uniforms to prom dresses. Fifth-grader Celine Davis of Lemoore wore a wedding dress that she had made with the help of fourth-grader Ashleigh Austin. They used white tissue paper to make the dress and white material to make the veil. Dustin Allen showed off a baseball jersey that he and Phillip Arterberry made out of used scarves. They even used straws to write "Allen" on the back.

Several parents attended the fashion show, including Natalie Piper of Lemoore, who came to see her 9-year-old daughter, Nora, show off a "prom queen dress" she made with the help of her 13-year-old brother Ambrose, who works as a "volunteen" at the camp."She was really excited and told me all about how she was making her dress," Piper said.

The fashions were judged based on their use of recyclable materials and the winners were awarded trophies made from recycled materials that were filled with candy. Third-graders Haile Yocum and Maggie Franckhauser walked away as the winners for a prom dress they made using green, blue and yellow fabric scraps. She also wore gloves made from socks, in which they had cut holes for her fingers."I kinda messed up but it made it kinda cooler," said Haile about her gloves. It was evident the children enjoyed making the costumes, but when camp ends on Aug. 7 they'll also walk away knowing the importance of recycling. "I really like the idea that this was a recycling runway because recycling is important and it will save the earth and help the environment," Maggie said.