Timeline Garland

Are you wondering why the heart garland above is being featured as if it was Valentine's Day? Well, here's the reason. This isn't just a garland. It's a birthday time-line for a very special person who is turning 80 this month. But first thing's first.

Last year, when my "Oma" in Germany turned 96 and we couldn't be there, my daughter and I made a garland of 96 hearts, hand cut, painted and stitched together. The idea was to create a time-line and place important events on it; thus embedding the birthday "girl" into a historical context. The events on the garland included World War I and II, the landing on the moon and more personal ones: the birth of her children, grand and great grandchildren and her many travels amongst others. We kept it cheerful.

The garland was so long, it draped through the entire room and the youngest guests were very excited to find their birthdays on the hearts. Needless to say, they were impressed how old their great grandmother was and how young they were. It's curious, what a visual anchor will accomplish when it comes to the passing of time.

When I announced that grandpa was turning 80, the one thing my daughter really wanted was to create another time-line. This surprised me, because I had made the process tedious, including cutting every heart by hand, coloring and hand stitching them. It had to be hearts, of course. The reason I had made the process so slow, was to use the time to explore with my daughter grandpa's life and the times we all spent together.  We sat for quite some time talking about grandpa, while cutting and painting. We also did some math ("how many more do we need, mom?") and had a marvelous time.

Now, she not only knows, but understands how old he is. After ironing the hearts we started to stitch them together in clusters of 5, so they will be more manageable when it's time to hang them. I used a red thread (of attachment), of course, and the whole thing is coming together. I'll show you, once it's finished.

If you want to make a garland, birthday time-line or not, here's how, if you are interested in slow things.


Material:
- brown paper (I used paper bags), or any paper
- scissors
- paint
- brush or sponge
- needle and thread

How To:

We used plain red tempera paint, which looks ghastly when wet, but very nice on the brown paper once it's dried.

Now stitch the whole thing together with strong thread:

I have 75 more to stitch together. The birthday party is on Sunday, but there's a long car ride with many hours to fill.

Wish me luck.