Where to begin….I’ve really been wanting to flex my creative muscles and just show others that I’m like to do other things besides just work in fiber and thread. Storytime Village post a call for an artist to bring their idea of a float to life budget $400.
So I wrote a plan, made a budget, timeline, and packaged it nicely in a Powerpoint. I referenced 2 previous builds. The MakeICT Magic Wheelchair where most of my job was documenting the build, sharing it on social media and keeping a timeline and tracking volunteers, i.e. I didn’t get to physically work on it much . The Big Brothers Big Sisters logo where I worked with mostly one person to build a BIG B for Riverfest Sundown Parade.
Insulation Foam is expensive over half my budget went to that. Paint and foam coat ate up most of the rest of the budget. Leaving nothing for the arch and Storytime Village wanted support art to carry on the the theme created by students. My solution for both using flats or trays to create what looked like books. I didn’t want alcoholic beverage ones and unfortunately that made it difficult to find and caused me to panic. After reassurance from the schools and help from Hurst liquor and Cash Savers, both near my home in Haysville. I acquired the near 200 flat needed for the artwork and arch to be complete. Unfortunately due to weather we were unable to use the student art.
I couldn’t have pulled this off without my volunteers and my family, who supported me every step of the way through this build. Even the best laid plans can be full of surprises and hiccups but together we made it through. I want to thank them all for their hard work, determination, and support. While the plan was to build the float over 5 weeks most of the work was done in only 2. The foam coat I’m use to was out of stock and I had a learning curve on what I used that you can see on the front of the float. Everything was light weight, I could carry the 4x12 foot sided by myself. The sides were held together with hook and loop and the arch was a modified balloon arch. This was a fun project and if the opportunity were to come up, I’d definitely do it again.
As the event was rained out, we were unable to use the float. I proposed we contact Wichita River Festival to submit to the Sundown Parade. This years parade was a “Reverse Parade” with the floats and bands set up on the sides of the street and parade-goers drove through in their cars. The float was a hit! We received Most Creative Award. I’m really proud of what we created.
