This fall, we wanted to do something different and offer a small token of thanks for end of year gifts. After sifting through TONS of ideas, we decided to upcycle tshirts to make scarves.

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.

Upcycle. It’s a trendy word these days. And really, it fits with the ethos of h.e.a.r.t. as an organization and what we try to instill in our students. We teach our students to look for the resources that are available in the community in which they are working and use those resources to address the needs at hand.

So, that’s what we did.

Emily connected with her peeps at the Lake Wales Care Center and was able to secure a donation of close to 100 tshirts. (Thank you Care Center!!)

The Webbs opened their home for craft night because they had enough floor space for everyone to work.

Those who didn’t feel confident in designing scarves were the workhorses. They cut strip after strip after strip of fabric. They prepared the materials to make the process less time consuming for the craftier ones.

Andrew took his time and precisely cut a tshirt into one long coil to create this beautifully textured scarf.
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Kalyn’s creative juices were flowing and she crafted a gorgeous masterpiece.
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Faith styled each scarf to perfection for the photoshoot.

John, Chad and Liz posed for photo after photo after photo that Heather shot.
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Joe and Liz got the website up and running to make it easy for YOU to choose a scarf that you love.

And through it all, we laughed and laughed and laughed. We told stories and encouraged one another. Our friendships deepened and our bonds were strengthened.

Each person brought a different set of gifts to the table. On our own, none of us would have been able to see the process through from inception to completion. But working together as a team we were able to create some beautiful upcycled scarves.

In the end, I think our h.e.a.r.t. community got a little upcycled too.

Post by Heather Webb
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