San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
CRAFT TOYS
photos of the famous landmarks, no blueprints or instructions.
“I don’t have patterns for anything,” she said. “Everything comes from my head.”
The results: Mehring’s Big
Ben favors the famous London clock tower right down to the Roman numerals and neo-Gothic design, while her take on Paris’ skyline icon mirrors Gustave Eiffel’s wrought-iron lattice work from top to toe.
Mehring didn’t pick up sticks again until the pandemic took social gatherings off the table. That’s when her grandchildren inspired her to make more playful and personalized creations while they engaged in remote learning at Grandma’s house.
For example, when Camden expressed interest in the Titanic, Mehring made a model of the ill-fated ocean liner with craft sticks for its hull and skewers for its smokestacks.
And since Camden loves dinosaurs, she went with prehistoric creatures instead of ponies on a carousel made mostly of skewers and toothpicks.
“I think it was really fun,” Camden said, “because every time we got out of a (class) meeting, we got to play with all the toys she made.”
Then there’s the ornate dollhouse for Kylie and Aurora. Mehring took a month to build the three-story abode with its white picket fence, red window frames and shiny fairy lights.
She even made custom furnishings, which include personalized bunk beds for “Kylie” and “Rory” and a handmade baby bassinet.
“It’s very cheap, the material,” Mehring said. “But there’s a lot of quality and love in the work. That’s what it is all about.”
Mehring’s building materials could come from her grandchildren’s school supplies. In addition to the simple wooden sticks, she uses Elmer’s school glue and a glue gun to put the pieces together and craft paints, stickers and shiny plastic bead
necklaces to brighten them.
Most stick art creations take Mehring about a week to complete. She works at at a small table in her bedroom while her big screen TV plays.
It’s the kind of effortless talent Mehring’s daughter admires even now as an adult.
“She just goes by photos and thinks of it in her head and puts it together,” said Cindy Franklin, a research associate at the University of the Incarnate Word. “Even my friends are like, ‘I wish my mom was like your mom.’ ”
Franklin still has fond memories of how Mehring “would go all out” with themed birthday parties for her and her brother. She figures her mom inherited her artistic talents from her own mother, who used to sew clothes for Mehring when she
was a child growing up in Mexico.
As for going all out for her grandkids, Mehring doesn’t just
do it with craft sticks. She also shoots videos of her grandchildren learning how to cook. With Grandma’s custom-made chef
toques and sushi chef headbands, of course.
“It’s just a dream for me to do what I’m doing with them,” Mehring said. “I’m just taking advantage of today that they’re very little.”
Up next for Mehring: the Taj Mahal, her biggest stick art creation yet.
“That’s a challenge,” she said, “but I can do it.”
Mehring said anyone can do what she does. It just takes determination and enjoying the process as much as the results.
And for an abuela who’s never suffered a single splinter for her art, a loving touch.
“I tell my kids, what you’re going to do, do it with love and be happy,” she said.