Passing judgement

When I quit my job last year one thing I looked forward to was going back to judge FCCLA state competitions in March. I didn't know I would have Axel, but since he is still so small I decided I would bring him along and we'd make a go of it. Olivia stayed with one of my former students who has a one year old and she had a blast! (Let's just take a moment here to realize that I have former students that are married and have children!  Cra-Zy)

I got to see the fun ladies I used to work with at Bingham and Wayne!! Wayne was sort of my boss and just one of my favorite people ever. I got to judge the Recycle Redesign projects and my good friend Lois was in charge of that room. Lois is the mom of four grown girls and three grandchildren. She is also very funny and kind, but she's good at teasing too. She is a magnet for all things positive and lovely. I'm sure I'm not doing her justice, you just have to meet her.

I came into our judging room early to feed Axel and she said, "I put you over in this corner so you can nurse anytime during the day." I asked if she thought no one would mind. Her response was, "Kimberly! This is Family! Family and Consumer Sciences. This is what we're all about." So funny, and so great to have that support from her when I was nervous about tending to Axel while watching presentations (I even packed a bottle just in case!)

Now to the good part, the projects. I want to show you what made my day the most fun, the seriously awful projects, but considering how much these kids put themselves out there I feel like that would be uncool. The internet can be a small place and I would hate for these kids to ever find themselves being mocked.

In the past this has mostly been a fashion competition, but I think pinterest is changing that. We got a lot more craft projects than in times past.

The first girl I judged used fabric scraps and handmade lace to cover her guitar instead of buying a new one.  She didn't have strings on it, but said it plays perfectly even with the fabric on it.

This project is hard to see in this picture, but its a window pane turned picture frame.  And the flowers in the glass bottles are made from recycled paper.

I was excited to see this project, because I'm always trying to find ways to make my own rugs.  This one was made of old towels and while her idea was creative, I don't think the rug will hold together in the long run.

This girl used old clothes to make cute flowers for headbands!  She even started selling them, and her high school dance team paid her to make head pieces for their competitions.  Cool, huh?

I love retro fabrics, and so I thought this skirt made of an old bed sheet was really awesome.  Can I tell you something funny?  While she was presenting it, she said her reason for doing this project was to reduce the amount of unused sheets in the world.  Now recycling is good, but that gave me a good laugh (after she was gone!)

A jewelry box made of old cassette tapes!  Lois's husband and I checked and there weren't many great artists used on this project (Nat King Cole and Janet Jackson are the only two worth mentioning)

This was one of my favorites, a corduroy hat made from a old skirt (you can see this picture of it inside out on the very left of the picture) 

I also loved the lining!  (which I believe was the pocket lining of the skirt)

This dress was insane!  Very Hershey couture.  Red carpet dress for the premier of Willy Wonka.

Check out those Hershey Kisses!

I only took a quick picture of this dress, I didn't judge it (there were 40 students and five sets of judges!) and so I don't know much about it, but it looks cute!

This dress is made from a rain coat and two umbrellas!  The girl was a big fan of singing in the rain :)

Another one I don't know much about, but I do know it was made from an old tree skirt, and I think its quite pretty!

This seriously brought tears to my postpartum eyes.  This boy made a wallet from his dad's old work boots.  The foot of the boot was seriously worn, but the tops were in great condition.  I just think its awesome to have something like that, an item that can be passed down for generations, an item that symbolizes hard work and family.

This boy made these small benches out of an old rocking chair that was going to be thrown out.  The camo fabric may not be my design style, but I still think these are awesome!

It was so fun to see so many high school students working hard for something other than a grade!  They care so much about their projects and its just great to feel their excitement.  Can't wait for next year!