Volunteers selling holiday swags

BELLA VISTA — Volunteers are gearing up for a season of pruning, gathering greens and selling hand-crafted swags to further women’s education.

It’s a mission that’s a little magical.

Adding sparkle and glitter, the volunteers are creating artistically natural holiday greens that represent the beauty that Bella Vista offers.

The volunteers seek locations to prune, gathering pieces after trimming bushes. The swags will adorn mailboxes and doors as a unique holiday fundraiser.

“The whole goal is to glean the greens in a sensitive way,” said organizer Carolyn “Care” Butler. “We go out there in our sloshy boots in the rain and the mud. We prune for you.”

On a recent Saturday morning, Butler was drying out pine cones in her oven, at a long, slow, dry bake. That takes care of bugs that might be in the pinecones, she explained.

Later that afternoon, the group met to start the artistic process for creating the greens. The fundraiser started off with a bang in 2019, when volunteers sold more than 200 orders. In 2020, volunteers decided to scale back because of the covid-19 pandemic, and only made a few for their neighborhoods.

Now, P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) International Chapter BR wants to further women’s educational opportunities by raising money. Butler said she believes this particular Bella Vista group could raise $3,000 to $4,000.

“They are beautiful, they smell good, and there’s no harm (in the environment),” she said. The creation of the greens results in “freeing up this beautiful spirit,” that emerges in the process, she said.

The swags, at $15 each, are draped on a mailbox. Volunteers even come out and install the greens as part of the donation. Some customers prefer a door swag, which also can be designed.

Volunteers will gather the greens after Thanksgiving and begin assembling the swags. The Bella Vista Presbyterian Church moves the church van so volunteers can completely transform the garage into a place of artistic beauty.

“It makes such a beautiful gift,” Butler said. The artistic creation allows for the individual creator’s “gifts and the spirit” to come through.

Butler, who is a master naturalist and a retired science teacher, finds the project one that gives back to the community in several ways.

The fundraiser does not take up much start-up funds, as most of the greens — and sometimes available berries — are the mainstay for the swag. Volunteers assemble with wire and use good, old-fashioned work to create the designs.

Though mailboxes in Bella Vista vary in width, volunteers have created a standard design.

Members are accepting orders through Nov. 15. Email Butler at carebutler@ aol. com for more information.

(Submitted photo) Several members of the Bella Vista Chapter of P.E.O. International meet to start decorating pine cones that will be part of numerous swags the group is creating.