Thanksgiving Turkey

These cute little guys were an idea from our supervisor, Pam.  As you can see, flower pots were once again utilized for the body of the turkeys.  Other supplies included brown paint, felt in red and orange, googly eyes, and feathers in red, orange, and yellow.  We used a small hot glue gun to secure every thing into place.  The turkeys will be filled with seasonal favorites - candy corn, Indian corn, or the like.  Yet another testament to the versatility of the flower pot!

Tacky Todd

While our blog is titled, "Crafty Credit Clerks", we are by no means the only artistic employees at First Bethany Bank.  We have coworkers who knit, coworkers who bake breads and jellies, coworkers who write skits and plays, and one coworker in particular who creates purses... out of duct tape.  As the title of this post suggests, the following is a salute to one of our lenders, Todd, and his ability to make a lovely product out of a very tacky substance!

Todd has always been a big fan of duct tape - "It can fix anything and it comes in a multitude of colors!"  While once again extolling the marvelous tape's many properties, he happened to mention that he had crafted a purse out of said duct tape.  At the juxtaposition of Todd, duct tape, and PURSE, we naturally scoffed.  After a brief moment in which to pull ourselves together, we (like all supportive coworkers) demanded proof.  Todd readily supplied the following picture:

Todd explained his foray into the world of purse creation thusly - Having observed a woman with a purse made out of duct tape, he went home and procured one of his wife's used handbags.  He used a classy flame duct tape for the body of the purse and a yellow duct tape as the accent color on the handles.  Todd notes that it is easiest to flatten the bag as much as possible before applying the duct tape.  He also recommends folding the duct tap over the top edge of the bag to create a more seamless look and to minimize fraying.

Bravo Todd!

Rushing the Holidays

We realize that Halloween was less than twenty-four hours ago.  We are aware that the all-important Thanksgiving holiday falls in between Halloween and Christmas.  We too, privately chastise craft stores for stocking Christmas ornaments in September.  But this picture was so cute, we just had to share it fifty-three days before December 25th!

Our supervisor, Pam, sent this photo of her beautiful granddaughter posing with yet another of Shara's crafty creations, a hand-painted seasonal snowman.  Holliann is beginning to think that Shara is housing her private art gallery within Pam's home! 

Shara's Going Solo

Shara has been at the bank a little longer than Holliann...  Having started work at the ripe old age of nine, Shara simultaneously completed her twenty-first year at First Bethany and celebrated her milestone thirtieth birthday in 2011!  With that in mind, Shara had a small jump-start in the Crafty Credit department.  Following are just a few of the projects she has tackled over the years -

In the spirit of fall, Shara and former employee Carolyn, created this beautiful centerpiece for our reception desk.  Shara believes this particular piece has been around for about fifteen years - you would never be able to tell - it is in great condition!

Shara and Carolyn also made this adorable Easter Bunny for Pam several years back.  He is made of wood and holds a bouquet of bright spring flowers.  Best of all, he is free-standing!

Shara is proud to be South Dakota-born - she loves Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and, most of all, the Sturgis Bike Rally!  This candelabra is made from a Sturgis Rally wine bottle.  Battery-powered, colored Christmas lights illuminate the bottle from the inside.  Three candles are supported at the top, using the cork as a base. 

  

Fall Decorations

Shara and I enjoy decorating the bank foyers for the various holidays.  We are forever trying to come up with creative, yet inexpensive ways to brighten up our workplace.  Last year, Holliann's Great-Great Aunt Barbara gave us the idea to make pumpkins out of paper bags.  Please see the following close-up of the paper bag pumpkins -

This is a simple and super cost-effective craft project.  Supplies include paper bags of various sizes, paint (orange and green, or purple for us Credit Chicks!), brown construction paper, raffia, and newspaper.  Paint the outside of the paper bag orange, excluding the top two inches or so.  The top outside and inside of the bag should be painted green.  After the paint has dried, cut strips along the top part of the bag - each strip should be 3/4 inches wide and should run from the top of the bag to the bottom of the green portion.  Stuff your bag with newspaper, filling your pumpkin out to a nice size.  Use the raffia to tie off the bag just below the green paint.  Bend your green strips down and out around the raffia - these are the vine part of your pumpkin!  Finally, cut a strip of brown construction paper and roll it, inserting the construction paper into the hole left at the top of the pumpkin by your bent green strips.

**Note - We used newspaper to stuff our pumpkins because we wanted to reuse them year after year, but you can also fill the pumpkins with candy for a fun Halloween Treat!**

Here is our completed "Pumpkin Patch" in the foyer of the bank.  We put this up in September, adding Halloween elements in October and Thanksgiving elements in November.

30+ Club Prizes

Following, you will see various pictures of the prizes we are giving away at our Customer Appreciation Dinner.  Please note, the little flower pot candy holders were made especially for our wonderful boss, Pam.  She is super supportive of our crafting for bank functions and we enjoy her input on everything we do!




Pam's mini flower pots.

 


Halloween Tree with Pumpkin flower pot.




The whole lot!



Halloween Tree

Adding to the prizes for our Customer Appreciation Dinner is what will become a Money Tree.  The tree itself was super cheap - Holliann found the branch in her back yard!  The purple color of the branch was achieved through spray-painting - our expert, Shara, was a great teacher to novice Holliann, who cannot believe the joy she was missing all these years!  We "planted" the branch in circular flower foam and secured our tree to the bucket with hot glue.  Rounding out the decorative aspects are spider webs, black and orange Christmas bulbs, and acid green garland.  We used black, purple, and green Styrofoam balls to conceal the flower foam base (each glued into place for ease of transport) and even added a few balls to the main body of the tree for a little more color.  Our coworker, Joyce, will complete the tree by folding various bills into bats, which we will attach with brightly-colored clothes pins.

Flower Pot Candy Containers

These Halloween Candy Containers were made from basic terracotta flower pots.  Shara was thumbing through a Christmas catalog and came upon Santa Claus faces of a similar shape.  We modified the design to suit our needs - a Halloween-themed customer appreciation party is fast approaching in late October!  Painting the flower pots proved to be the only difficult task - the pottery kept soaking up the paint!  Other basic supplies include colored felt, googly eyes, Sharpie pens, ribbon, faux leaves, shear fabric, and standard bolts.  Floral foam inserts fill up excess space, allowing Halloween candy to sit towards the top.  The final product will be shrink-wrapped and tied with Halloween ribbon.  We know these will make fabulous door prizes!

Crafty Credit Introductions

Hello!  We are Holliann and Shara from the Credit Department at First Bethany Bank & Trust.  While loans and everything involved are our main job, we also enjoy crafting and decorating for various bank functions.  We hope to use this blog to showcase our latest ideas - if you like what you see, let us know and we will provide you with more detailed instructions.  We are here to prove that any work environment can be made more enjoyable through the arts!