The Pick Your Own Project retreats are a “choose your own adventure” experience—you can select up to three projects from the list below, and Joleen will make sure there are enough materials and time to talk you through them. If you work quickly and want to jump in on additional instruction while others are still creating, you're more than welcome to! Your pace and energy level are entirely your own, Joleen will guide and support you along the way.
Beehive
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back but no glass. The frame shown is 2½ feet wide × 4 feet tall
- Earrings (optional)
- Blouse fabric (optional)
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Paper Topiary
What to Bring
- 8"–12" round styrofoam ball
- Decorative upholstery tacks
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Flowers in a Vase
What to Bring
- One box frame (frame with tall, square sides). The frame shown is 30" × 32".
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Feathered Heart
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass.
- Enough fabric to cover the background of your piece — burlap, linen, muslin, or velvet make nice choices.
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Coiled Tray
What to Bring
- One wooden beverage tray.
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Finger Crochet Throw
What to Bring
- 10 skeins of yarn in colors of your choice. The yarn weight is “7 Extra Bulky” and should be at least 300 grams per skein. (Example)
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Difficulty Level: Medium-to-Hard
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Brooch Art
What to Bring
- One large rectangular picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass. The frame shown is 12" × 18".
- Fabric to cover the back of your project; velvet is a great option.
- Selection of brooches and costume jewelry to match your frame. You’ll need a lot, so raid those old jewelry boxes!
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Macramé Plant Hanger
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: About An Hour
Hand-Sewn Journal
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
- (Special fabric scraps are optional to help personalize your journal.)
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Pom-Pom Wall Hanging
What to Bring
- 3–5 coordinating yarn colors, 2–3 skeins of each
- Drapery rod, dowel, tree branch…anything from which to hang your pom-poms!
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Book Mobile
What to Bring
- 8–10 paperbacks per strand, with each paperback being approximately 300 pages
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Book Paper Wreath
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: About An Hour
Map Mums
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: About An Hour
5 Magnificent Paper Mums
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours (if you make 5)
Library Wreath
What to Bring
- 10" or larger grapevine wreath
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Framed Paper Flowers
What to Bring
- One box frame (frame with tall, square sides)
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Seed Savers Sunburst
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Happy Stack Bracelets
What to Bring
- Enough semi-precious stones for 3 bracelets: approximately 22–25 8mm beads per bracelet
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: An Hour Or So
Flight of Fancy
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Herringbone Wall Hanging
What to Bring
- A sturdy background substrate, like a thicker piece of plywood or a thick piece of Masonite
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Cyanotype Sun Prints
What to Bring
- Glass and backing from a recycled picture frame. (You don’t need the frame itself.)
- This project requires sunshine and is weather-dependent
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: About An Hour
Berry Knot Wall Hanging
What to Bring
- 4mm macramé cord totaling 328 yards or more
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Fancy Pants
What to Bring
- Recycled picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass. The frame shown is 7" × 23"
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Optical Illusion
What to Bring
- One large SQUARE picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass
- 6–7 books that are the same size and have the same page count; Readers Digest Condensed Books are ideal for this!
- Black fabric to cover your background
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Free the Doilies
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass
- 10–15 doilies of various sizes. If you have trouble finding some, please reach out!
- Fabric to cover your background; black velvet makes a great choice
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Sculpted & Folded Books
What to Bring
- As many hardcover books as you’d like to fold, all roughly the same size. (Readers Digest Condensed Books are perfect for this!)
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours (Up to many hours, depending on how many you want to make)
Tree of Life
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass; the one shown is 16" × 20"
- Background fabric of your choice (optional)
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Illuminated Stories
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything needed to make this one, except the twinkle lights. You can add those when you get home.
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Bookboard Quilt
What to Bring
- One repurposed canvas frame
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Butterfly Kaleidoscope
What to Bring
- A shadow box frame to fit an 8" circle
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: About An Hour
Circles Upon Circles
What to Bring
- A recycled picture frame with a sturdy back and no glass
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Stars in the Sky
What to Bring
- Nothing! I have everything you need to make this one!
- Optional: battery-powered LED twinkle lights
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Book Board Lazy Susan
What to Bring
- A Lazy Susan. I really like this one.
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Kissing Ball
What to Bring
- 4"–8" styrofoam ball
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Flower Power
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back but no glass
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Peek-A-Boo Braid
What to Bring
- 3–5 vintage Playboy magazines (or similar pin-up pulp)
- A piece of foam core backing for your piece
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Velvet Library
What to Bring
- One picture frame with a sturdy back but no glass, large enough to contain your 9 books
- Black velvet to cover your background
- 9 books of equal size and page count; Readers Digest Condensed Books are ideal for this!
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Difficulty Level: Medium
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Holey Book
What to Bring
- One hardcover book of at least 400 pages
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Difficulty Level: Easy
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates
What to Bring
- One large MATTED picture frame with a sturdy back but no glass
- Decorative fabric to cover your matte
- Burlap or linen to cover your background
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
Warp Speed
What to Bring
- One large picture frame with a sturdy back but no glass
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: More Than a Few Hours
And I’m Janice
What to Bring
- One styrofoam head
- An old pair of glasses
- A string of pearls or similar
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Difficulty Level: High
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Time Commitment: A Few Hours
