March: Flower Arrangements

Hello Club Greenthread,

Hope you all are enjoying the great spring weather!

This month our talk focused on Cheerfulness. Here are the talking points:

All of the good that you do, is only good if done with a smile (examples: helping a family member, making your bed, putting away the dishes etc). If we complain while doing it, then it really doesn't have the same value as if it had been done cheerfully.

We must strive to be happy when things go wrong (it's easy to be happy when they go right!). Life will have ups and downs, and we have to remember that we decide whether or not we will be happy (not other people or other things).

Some of the main culprits that rob us of our cheerfulness are: worrying -which gains us nothing, instead, offer a prayer to God, which always gains us something. Being self-centered also robs us of our cheerfulness, because we can only truly be happy if we come out of ourselves and think of others.

Comparing ourselves to others (what they have or what they are) also can rob us of our cheerfulness. Instead of comparing, be happy when good things happen to those around us! Remember that others want to be around a cheerful person and some of the most cheerful people out there are the ones that suffer the most (physical pain, economic hardship, personal loss, etc), which means that true cheerfulness has little to do with "everything going our way" and a lot do to with choosing to be cheerful.

Then, we had a very special guest, Miss Olivia, come to show us how to make beautiful, professional flower arrangements.

First, she showed us how to properly soak the sponge that will go inside of the vase or container. 

Next she began by adding the greenery as filler.

It was amazing to see that even with just the green filler, it started to look so beautiful and full! The girls all watched with great attention as Miss Olivia showed them how to trim the stems and properly place them in the green sponge.

She brought a beautiful assortment of flowers -taking into account a small budget and the hardiness of the flowers (to last at least a week). In a matter of moments, she had created this amazing floral centerpiece that had the girls' eyes popping!

Then it was time to let the girls have a go. They each got a colored plastic Easter egg as a base, with a pre-soaked foam piece. The greenery had already been previously cut which aided in moving the process along.

Before we knew it, everyone had made the most lovely flower arrangements.

Here is Alejandra with her Easter Egg flower arrangement. We will certainly be making these again when Easter comes!

The girls also make mini-flower arrangements in glass vases to take home. All of them were just thrilled and inspired with this special activity. Thank you Mrs. Jenn and Miss Olivia for making this possible!

Finally, this month of April we will have our final meeting of the semester, which will be an Ice Cream Social! Stay tuned for details, as it will probably take place towards the end of this month (possibly the beginning of next).

Wishing you all well,

Club Greenthread Leaders

February: Yarn Flower Vases

Greetings Club Greenthread Girls!

As you all know, we had a wonderful time in February's club meeting. Mrs. Melanie came as our guest speaker to talk to the girls on the Importance of Little Things: "It's the little things that make life big!"  

First, the girls were asked if they ever do something that seems small for their mom and it makes her really happy. For example, picking a little flower in the yard, making her a little card or coloring a little picture.  They might see it as a very small thing but it gives their mom lots of joy because it shows her that you love her.  It is the same with our siblings.  When we share a little toy or do something we think of as very small, we can really make their day

It is the same way with God.  When we do little things well, it is a way we show God that we love Him.  When we make our bed (even the sheet underneath the blanket!), clean up our toys, share with our brother and sister, obey our parents without arguing.  All these things are little things we can do to show God we love Him.  

Then the girls were asked to think of ideas of little things they can do for the family, friends and all ultimately,for God.   

So all the little things we do in the day are like little flowers we can offer to God.  At the end of the day we have a big, beautiful bouquet of flowers made up of all the little things we did throughout the day to show God how much we love Him.

Next, Mrs. Annamarie prepared an incredible craft as this month's activity: Yarn Flower Vases.

We began with a lovely assortment of bottles (wine bottles, vinegar bottles, etc) and a bright collection of different types of yarn. Each girl chose a bottle and a yarn (or a couple of different yarns) and then the fun began.

Starting at the top of the bottle, you put a piece of double-sided tape and begin wrapping the yarn tightly and carefully around the neck of the bottle. As the bottle curves, you'll want to put a bit more tape to help keep uniformity. The girls had to work carefully and slowly to ensure that the yarn was tightly strung around the bottle to give it a solid appearance.

This required focus and concentration, just ask Emma!

Patience was also at work, because rushing through this would only produce a sloppy finish (none of the girls did this of course!)

Once the yarn work was complete, it was time to add some finishing touches with hot glue: buttons, gems, flowers, insects all adorned the exquisite bottles.

Finally, each girl placed a bouquet of flowers in their bottles and they were ready to go!