During January, we taught the women at our partner agencies how to take an old sheet and cut and tear it just so to turn it into a ball of yarn. That ball of yarn can be used for many projects, but in this workshop we taught the women how to braid the yarn together… Read more »

During December Perennial invites all the women from our partner agencies to visit us ~ to explore our space, enjoy tasty treats, and craft (I use sugru all over the house) to decorate the house until their hearts are content! At our End of Year Celebration we offer three different crafts for participants to make… Read more »

During November, our participants learned how to turn scraps from worn leather garments into fun and durable key chains or zipper pulls! Each participant learned how to sew leather and set rivets to create a design of their choice.  It was a busy workshop but each participant left with several different pieces to wear or… Read more »

In October, the women from our partner agencies learned how to finger knit! Using just a pair of scissors and an old t-shirt, we taught how to cut the t-shirt in such a way to create one long strip of fabric that can be rolled into a ball yarn. Then, using just their fingers, they… Read more »

When that handy electrical appliance finally stops working, don’t throw it out! Cut off the electric cord before you take the appliance to a recycling center. During September, the women at our partner agencies learned how to strip electrical wire with a vegetable peeler, exposing the copper within. They learned how to roll the copper… Read more »

Before you throw out that old pair of worn or unwearable jeans be sure to cut out the pockets! In August the women from our partner agencies learned how to make little pouches out of worn out jeans. The pouches can be hung to… charge a cell phone…or hold keys…or hold crafting supplies! Some of… Read more »

   Did you ever have a pretty mug or plate break beyond repair? Instead of throwing those broken ceramic pieces away, you can create beautiful and unique pieces of jewelry! By using tools and materials that can be found at most hardware stores, the women at our partner agencies learned how to create unique pieces… Read more »

   Creating market bags out of t-shirts is easy and fun to do with friends! And using a reusable fabric bag will keep plastic bags from littering our environment and will save many animal lives! Each year around the world, people use 1 trillion plastic shopping bags. Less than 5% of those bags get recycled…. Read more »

  During our May Outreach Workshops we talked about how it takes 50 years for leather to break down in a landfill! So, to keep old leather jackets and coats from taking up space in our dumps, we cut them down and repurposed them to make covers for notebooks. Perennial’s teaching artists taught the women… Read more »

For April’s outreach workshops, we taught how to use scrap paper to make beautiful and unique pieces of handmade paper. First, Perennial’s teaching artists talked about how the average American uses about 700 pounds of paper products per year!  Then the women got to try their hand at using a regular kitchen blender to make… Read more »

With Spring on the horizon, our thoughts turned to color and light! In March we took old picture frames and turned them into beautiful mosaic pieces of art. We taught participants how to safely cut glass with glass cutting tools and arrange their colorful glass pieces to form beautiful abstract and concrete mosaic designs.  

During February, we focused on Self Care. We taught the women at our partner agencies how to use the sewing machine to sew soft eye pillows that are perfect for napping. We filled the eye pillows with rice and scented them with essential oils. We also taught the women how to hand-sew old t-shirts into stress… Read more »

We started out this year’s outreach programs by thinking about what makes us warm and cozy in this cold and wintery time of year. During this month’s project, we designed fingerless gloves out of worn wool sweaters. We taught how to cut the sweaters to fit our hands and sew the material together using a… Read more »

This month wrapped up another season of our outreach programming. What a year it has been! We were able to consistently meet with all four of our partners each month. In addition we have identified a fifth partner to join us in 2017, an official announcement will come soon! This December, like those previous, we… Read more »

November’s workshops connected the Holiday season of Food and Family. Perennial worked with our partner agencies, Magdalene St. Louis, Center for Women in Transition, and Lydia’s house to teach participants how to use a Japanese saw, plainer, and wood wax to create a beautiful work of art that can be used over and over again in… Read more »

Our outreach team was bustling as this month was filled with six workshops! With our current partners, Lydia’s House, St. Patrick’s Center, Center for Women in Transition, and Magdalene St. Louis; and two pop up workshops in pursuit of our next partners for 2017 with International Institute and Bilingual International Assistant Services. We had so… Read more »

This month the Perennial Outreach team had a lot of fun with minimal materials to make a scarf through finger knitting. The only supplies necessary are scissors and a t-shirt! Perennial reached out our regular partners, Lydia’s House, Magdalene St. Louis, St. Patrick’s Center, and Center for Women in Transition; as well as an extra special… Read more »

Sometimes the best ideas come as you travel in a car with friends! This moth’s ReCreate project was just that; as staff were traveling to and from meetings ,the travel mending kit workshop took form. We were lucky to share the art of ReCreate with our four current partners, as well as with a special… Read more »

We had some sore fingers this month, but it was all worth it once we uncovered many creative collages with found images! Over thirty women participated in our July workshop for basic print making techniques. Everyone learned to embrace the process and the inevitable imperfections while repurposing storybook illustrations. Don’t be fooled, this process is… Read more »

Our outreach partners from St. Patrick’s Center, CWIT, Magdalene St. Louis, and Lydia’s House really showed us their creative sides! Each participant learned, “…how to recycle paper to make [not only] new paper [but also] beautiful things.” We had inspiring workshops this month as we blended mail, used folders, misprinted cards and paper found in… Read more »

A little tender love and care for yourself can go a long way! Perennial brought the idea of self care to our outreach partners this month, making weighted eye/body pillows. Participants learned to use their hands and a machine to close up a simple pouch that can be heated and placed on the body to… Read more »

Perennial’s Outreach team met up with our partner organizations to make unique symbols out of nails and string! All participants identified a personal symbol and learned how to properly hammer their way to a personal keepsake! The studio was filled with a great turnout out, hosting 22 women in just the first workshop!

We had a great time sharing creativity with 30 women from St. Patrick’s Center, Lydia’s House, CWIT, and Magdalene’s House in February! Each partner agency joined us to turn found leather into personalized keepsake journals! One participant shared she learned, “How to trust myself, and how to create things from scratch with more patience!”

With a scrap of wood, salvaged styrofoam, and a little bit of glue, the women at St. Patrick Center and the Center for Women in Transition crafted custom stamps to personalize their handmade stationery. We showed them how to make their own envelopes from scrap paper, and one participant said “I won’t have to buy… Read more »