Upcycling Salvaged Holiday Decorations Into...Holiday Decorations?!

CHICAGO - March 19, 2013 - PRLog -- The holidays are over for this winter, but some public space decorations are beginning a new life across Chicago's far north side, thanks to a concerned East Rogers Park neighborhood resident collaborating with the Rogers Park Business Alliance (RPBA).

"When I first saw the garland decorations go up, and how beautiful the ribbon was, I knew we had to get it into the hands of creative folks and fiber artists in our neighborhood and not have it simply be thrown away after the holidays," reports long-time East Rogers Park resident Lisa Kemp, who reached out to Sandi Price, the newly-selected executive director at RPBA (http://rogers-park.com), and 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore for their assistance.

On March 24th, some of that decorative ribbon will be available to crafters and upcyclers at the Swap-O-Rama-Rama (http://swap-il.com), a clothing swap and DIY (do-it-yourself) workshop supporting creative re-use and upcycling of used clothing and textiles. From 10 AM to 2 PM on that Sunday, Swap-O-Rama-Rama (SORR) will feature a design station where participants can make wreaths from the salvaged ribbon and wire coat hangers. SORR will be held at the Congress Theatre at 2135 North Milwaukee Avenue, as part of the Logan Square Farmers Market and Urban Folk Circuit.

As for the ribbon and salvage process details:
The holiday ribbon had been selected specifically to emphasize the Rogers Park creative community and the role that the arts play in the area. It featured a sparkling woven texture and non-traditional colors such as pistachio green, aqua, and purple in addition to red and silver. The ribbon and live evergreen garlands were wound around light poles in a 'candy cane' spiral by local company Patch Landscaping, and covered some 235 light poles in the Rogers Park business districts along Howard Street, Clark Street, Sheridan Road, Glenwood Avenue, and Morse Avenue.

"We do public space and holiday decorations for other areas, like Lakeview and Ravenswood," reports a Patch Landscaping representative. "However, RPBA said they wanted something different from the traditional red velveteen ribbon we've used elsewhere, because Rogers Park has such a strong emphasis on the arts plus a very a diverse community make-up."

The Patch Landscaping crew also took care to re-roll the ribbon during the removal process so that it was in good shape for re-use; Mother Nature did her part by providing unseasonably warm temps on the removal day, and a gentle rain a few days before to wash any winter dirt off the ribbon.

Rogers Park arts organizations receiving the ribbon for re-use projects included Lifeline Theatre; B1E Gallery; and the Greenleaf Art Center.

One place the ribbon also showed up at was at the Glen Grove Equestrian Center (http://glengroveequine.com), where Kemp takes weekly riding lessons. "We had a small show on St. Patrick's Day, and some of the pistachio green ribbon became fantastic, gorgeous decorative wreaths on the jumps!"

Kemp would like to thank everyone who participated in this salvage and upcycling project. "It started as a germ of an idea, but was only possible when everyone pitched in to help. To me, this project shows that it's not enough just to recycle, it's important to look at how items can be re-used and re-distributed, and to build that recycling and re-use into the planning process for activities that will otherwise generate landfill trash."

Additional images are available for media outlets wishing to cover the story - please contact Lisa Kemp at the contact link below.

Image courtesy Swap-IL.com