Hey everyone! MP&B was invited to participate in yesterday's Car-Free Sunday in Telok Ayer and I thought I should share a little more about what I did! Above you see me in the midst of demonstrating how I make my flowers. It was out in the open which meant that I got cyclists and walkers and families to come over and try their hand at sculpting crepe paper petals!
I know what you're thinking - what does a paper florist have to do with an event promoting an active lifestyle and cultural heritage? Well, I asked the same question myself, and it turns out that the organizers were also looking to add more crafts to their event. I figured that this would be a great opportunity to try something new and interact with a new crowd apart from the usual crowds I meet at my craft markets, so why not?
Apart from a demonstration, my friend and I came up with an idea to "drop" blooms all around the area - similar to Emma Watson's book drop - which would be like a fun treasure hunt that encourages people to explore the area and also bring a small souvenir home. I added inspirational quotes or fun historical facts about the area so that there's a little more meaning behind each bloom. I had a ball walking around with my huge basket and planting blooms on benches, hanging them on hooks, and leaving them under murals, etc. Honestly, I was nervous that no one would pick them up, but in less than 2 hours most of them were gone! :D
Overall, the absolute best part was seeing people light up when they realize the paper flowers were completely FREE with no strings attached - you'll be surprised, or maybe not, at how many people looked at me suspiciously and asked if they needed to do anything for a free flower, well that would defeat the purpose of me calling it "free" wouldn't it? Haha.
I was also pleasantly surprised at how many little boys actually seemed interested when I was doing my demonstration! I usually only have women in my workshops so its very cool when I have little boys watching me attentively as I make a paper flower. At one point, after watching my demo, a little boy who came up to me and asked so sweetly for a flower (this was after I ran out of my free blooms), that I could not bear to say no to him and I gave him one of my sample flowers instead (I brought a bunch along for my demo but I wasn't planning on giving them away). This resulted in me giving away more flowers than I anticipated to more people, but oh well, go big or go home right?
I'm really happy that all my blooms found new owners and new homes and I just hope that they'll be appreciated and well taken care of! I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this again in the future but I'll definitely try!
Oh, did I mention I also got a really short feature on the evening news on Channel 8? That was pretty rad.
A huge enormous THANK YOU to the organizing team (especially the URA Team Li Shian and Julian, and Fadhil) for making me feel welcomed and being attentive and so helpful. Love that we're introducing more crafts to the community and I only home this trend continues to grow and blossom!
PHOTO CREDITS: Lishian & Fadhil
Keep Blooming,
Eileen