12.11.2009

{Negril Favorites} DIY, Jamaican-Style

I was lucky enough to learn quite a few Jamaican crafts while on honeymoon (I'm sure that comes as a HUGE surprise, right? lol!) With the help of great teachers like Nigel, Joe, O'Niel and the "school teacher", I walked away with new friends and learned so many new crafts -- tie-n-dye and lots of weaving...with palm fronds, a local symbiotic vine called 'Five Finger Wiss' and even with telephone cables from a guy on the beach. It was so much fun!

Not bad for my first try at a spiral!

Here I am with my finished tee. As many times as I've done tie dye, it's never come out that well, I swear. Everyone in the class thought I was a ringer! I was going for a sun-inspired design. It was a success! That's O'Niel in the background to my right, helping everyone dye their shirts.

My Five Finger Wiss basket - Nigel was a good teacher.

Here's my Five Finger Wiss basket. Basically, the material is a symbiotic vine that grows on many trees in Jamaica. It doesn't harm the tree, grows abundantly and dries to make a great wicker-like material, perfect for weaving! This was my favorite project of the week. Nigel was impressed with my crazy-good weaving skills. Above shows my finished basket. I did it all by myself! It now holds all my beach treasures...coral, shells and fossilized rocks. Beaut!

Helping Joe (left in stripy shirt) teach the students...he loved it!Making a palm trivet!

By the third crafts class, I was becoming known by the other guests as the "artist". It was pretty funny, actually! They were great fun to learn with...and teach, too! These two pics were taken at the palm weaving class where I made a trivet and most others made a coaster. It took forEVER to do! It took me the same amount of time (about an hour and a half) to make a 9" trivet as it took me to make my basket with Nigel. You can see some finished baskets behind me in the above photo...it took Joe and his mom about the same amount of time (1.5 hrs) to make one. They were so fast! Because the class was so busy, I did help Joe out a bit with showing people the ropes. He thought it was hilarious! His mom gave me the thumbs-up.

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