DIY Mystery Supply Challenge – Roller Derby Style

Back before the holidays, Caitlin from Desert Domicile (LOVE her) approached me with an idea for a mystery supply challenge.  A group of bloggers would buy the same craft supplies and use them to design our own DIY Christmas ornaments.  It sounded like a fun project, so I was in immediately.

When we got our list of required supplies, I’ll admit that I was a little stumped.  We had to purchase:

• A package of clear ornaments (either plastic or glass)
• A bag of fake snow (?!?)
• A roll of ribbon of any width
• A Sharpie paint pen in any color

In addition to those supplies, we were able to use any other craft materials that we had in our stashes.

We made these plans back in October, and I had no idea about what type of ornament that I wanted to create.  Besides, we had a few more months until the holidays, so I wasn’t going to sweat it.

And then, this thing called roller derby took over my life.

I’ve only mentioned it once on the blog, but I joined a roller derby league in the fall.  Yes, roller derby – the sport where you are essentially playing football on roller skates…without the ball.  As someone who is of advanced age (ok, I’m 37 but a lot of these girls are early 20s!) and had never really skated before in her life, this was a crazy endeavor on my part.  But I had been watching derby bouts since the sport was reborn in Austin when I was in college.  For years, I have wanted to be “cool enough,” “fit enough,” or “tough enough” to play derby, and I finally decided that I was getting to be none of those things just sitting on the sidelines.

The first day I stepped (rolled?) onto the track, I could barely stand on my skates.  I was like Bambi, y’all.  There were six of us who started with the league that day, and I was by far the least talented and sure footed.  But, what I don’t have in natural talent I try to make up for with sheer determination.

Although I am still one of the least skilled skaters on the team, I am sure working my rear off.  Outside of our twice-a-week league practices, I try to be on my skates at least 3 other times a week.  Roller derby has definitely taken up a lot time from my projects, but it has been so good for me.  Not only do I have more confidence in myself and some muscle tone, but I have some new, amazing friends who I now can’t imagine not being in my life.

So, when it was time to focus on the DIY Mystery Supply Challenge, I (as always) had roller derby on the brain.

I began buy using my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out some pieces of a quad skate (available in the Silhouette online store, and on sale for 50¢ right now).  I cut them out of black cardstock, turquoise glittered cardstock and gold glittered cardstock that I had on hand.  My league’s colors are black/white and turquoise, so there was a reason for my color choices.  I used the gold Sharpie paint pen to draw on the laces and wheel bearings and I glued the pieces together with a glue stick.

Once all of the skates were assembled (I made them two sided), I sprinkled a little bit of the fake snow into a plastic ornament and stuck the skate inside.  When I reassembled the ornament, I made sure that I had the hanging tabs opposite of each other.

I cut some of my turquoise glittered ribbon in half lengthwise (it was too wide otherwise), and I tied my six ornaments together into a mini garland.  I used longer strips of ribbon on the end to use for hanging.

Now, I have a little roller derby themed mini-garland!

And because it’s not not “Christmas-y,” I’ll be able to use it all winter long.  I’ll probably even dump out the fake snow in the spring/summer and leave it up year around.

If you had to come up with something using our DIY Mystery Challenge supplies, would would you make?

P.S. – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ROLLER DERBY!  If you have ever wanted to get involved with roller derby, I HIGHLY encourage you to do so.  Roller derby athletes come from every walk of life – and there are teams women, men and co-ed teams. We are young and old, large and small, professionals and stay-at-home moms.  Even if you don’t want to skate, there are lots of jobs in every league that need creative, dedicated people.  If you have any questions about roller derby, please let me know and I’d be happy to share with you my experiences!  And if you are in the North Austin/Round Rock area, come check out the Rockin’ City Roller Girls.  We’d love for you to join us (we’ll teach you everything you need to know – including how to skate!) or cheer us on!