Well, what a fantastic festive season of activities we had here at RIG Arts!

Textile Upcycling Sessions

Over the course of block 3 of Recycle Upcycle 3D, participants worked on a number of different textile upcycling activities. Most of these activities were very festively themed and we were looking at home-made Christmas gifts/ wrapping and how to have a waste-free Christmas!

Attendance in these sessions was still extremely high and everyone seemed to be delighted about trying to make gifts for Christmas rather than buying new items. Participants started by making felt purses, phone cases and glasses cases from some unspun wool that was donated to RIG. Not only were small handcrafted items being made, but larger wreaths and Christmas decorations were being felted also!

Participants were also making stuffed Christmas Tree decorations and potential jewellery holders (the use for these lovely pieces are endless!) Although not necessarily textile related, but due to our conversations about having a zero-waste Christmas, participants also tried their hands at making their own wrapping paper by printing some lovely designs on to recyclable brown paper!

Furniture Upcycling Sessions

In the furniture upcycling sessions attendees have been experimenting with a variety of different techniques that include upcycling glass pieces which were really interesting! Participants continued to work items such as bedside tables, clocks, telephone tables, lamps, lanterns and mirrors.

We had a lot of glass jars that had been donated to the Art Flat so participants thought it would be nice to upcycle them into small lamps and candle holders to give away at our Christmas Fayre. It was really nice that participants took it upon themselves to invest something back into their community whilst also being very crafty with potential waste items!

Kings Oak Family Hub 

We have been extremely busy in the Kings Oak Family Hub delivering a number of different classes through the week!

We have been working on the fantastic Kings Oak Plastic Mural that is due to be installed in March with artist, Amelia Rowe. This has been a fantastic project that the pupils came up with themselves, with ideas such as adding different pieces for every P7 class who leave to ensuring that it represented the school values – this mural is set to be a really fantastic piece!

As well as this, we have continued to deliver our textile-based sessions in the Hub which has allowed the parents to spend some quality time with their eldest children. We thought that by delivering one of our sessions this way, it would allow the eldest child and their parents to work on something together, free from distraction. In these sessions everyone has been working on felting once again – this is a great activity for all of the family to do together!

We are now close to the end of the project, keep an eye out for some fantastic events organised to celebrate the end of Recycle Upcycle 3D!