Ring A Ding Challenge

by Carol Duvall

This was a kick! I did absolutely nothing, but some of our creative guests put together a wonderfully varied and interesting segment that certainly showed the span of their creative talents. We gave a number of our "regulars" a Ring-A-Ding from Linda Ragsdale from Mixed Nuts. The Ring-A-Dings are of 3-ply corrugated cardboard cut into three pieces. There is a center disc about 6 inches in diameter, surrounded by a 2-inch-wide ring, surrounded by a rectangle of the cardboard holding it all together. The three pieces come as one flat piece but can be easily separated. The challenge was to "make something." The pictures tell the story: Our reason for it all is at the end...

Linda's own children participated as well. Her daughter made a drum.

Her son wove a dream catcher. They did this two years in a row with the entire first grade classes (more than 60 kids each year) to coincide with their studies on Native Americans.

From designer Ellen Allen we got a dainty looking cedar ball holder to keep the moths away. The cardboard ring is wrapped with satin ribbon and cedar balls inside are held together with tulle. On top is the hook cut from a metal hanger so this can hang in a closet.

Designer Monica Heeren used the center circle of the ring-a-ding as the base for a candle she painted in textured paint and then bordered with copper foiling. The mica shield was decorated with an embossed design, shaped into a half circle and placed in front of the candle so the diffused light shone thru. An attractive addition to most any room.

Sandi Reinke's dramatic black and white free hanging mobile must be seen to be understood. She covered all of the pieces from more than one Ring-A-Ding and somehow joined them so they still seem to hang freely. Each piece was completely covered with Loose Ends' Orient Express handmade paper secured with glue stick. Chopsticks were added for embellishment, and stones glued to the back provide balance for hanging.

Probably the handsomest dresser mirror on its own stand that I’ve ever seen is the one that Kari Lee of The Leather Factory made. Kari did wondrous things by completely covering the cardboard with leather (which was stamped with a lightweight metallic bronze acrylic paint) and converting the "extra" piece into a stand. There wasn’t a bit of the cardboard showing.

Lisa Pavelka from Kato Clay more than outdid herself for this little challenge. She turned the inner circle of cardboard into a bright and shining sun and made the moon from the disc of cardboard. And she not only did it all in polymer clay--she did it twice. The post office lost her original contribution, and she repeated her clock creation so we wouldn’t be left one short. This lady is not only a fine talent but a lovely person.

More polymer clay creativity was evidenced in the detailed and delightful piece that Linda Welsh-Peterson made. From the ring that was the man-in-the moon for Lisa, Linda fashioned a jungle mirror frame. In the green forest were tigers and bears and all manner of wonderful animals. But that wasn’t all...

From Linda’s 11-year-old daughter Mariah came this very cute ladybug table. The creation was Mariah's idea and her work. The body of the ladybug was also the tabletop made by using the center disc of the Ring-A-Ding. In addition to a fine paint job, she added wooden dowels for legs and put shoes on the ends of the dowels.

We thought all of the contributions were quite grand and we very much appreciated the time and effort that all of these busy women spent on these fun items. But there was a method to our madness...or at least a reason for it all. It was to inspire many of you to take a simple basic item...any item...or make your own...and challenge yourself and perhaps your children to "make something." This is the perfect opportunity for a lot of silly fun as well as quality time spent together, and who knows what marvels you might create?