Gas Lights and Garters

My gas light came on this morning on my way to work. I just stared at it for a while as I waited as a red light. It's been a long time since I've let the tank get low enough for the light to turn on. The last time I definitively remember the gas light coming on was the evening of my junior homecoming.

We drove all over that night. I drove to the restaurant, and then we went to the mall next door to take photos and then to our high school for the dance. After that, I drove back home to surprise my date with the garter I ended up making him even though we had said we weren't doing the mums and garters. (But I had bought one for myself anyway because I thought they were so pretty and wanted one.) And then I drove to our church where we hung out with a campfire, which resulted in the police coming and telling us we couldn't have the fire anymore, which kind of fizzled the rest of the evening out. And then I drove my date home because he couldn't drive yet, and then drove home. And somewhere between all those trips through Plano and Frisco, my gas light came on, I freaked out a little, and then decided I could make it through the rest of the evening. Quite gutsy of me...

My junior homecoming mum

A year or two prior to my first homecoming as a junior, an older friend at church was making his date a mum after our Friday night fellowsip. His parents were there, and most of the youth stayed around to socialize and watch. I knew his parents, and his mom turned to me and said in Chinese, "Oh yeah, these aren't that hard to make. Cathy, you know how to make these right?" And I shyly nodded my head, even though I had never made one before. In theory, it just looked so easy, but I didn't have any hands-on experience.

My junior date's garter was the first time I had ever made one myself. I was young and naive at the time, and I hadn't a clue where to start, so I fell for the "pre-made backing" and paid about $15 for that piece to start with. Little did I know it cost less than $10 to make and wasn't even that difficult.

The garter I made for my date - junior year.

It's not the most impressive homecoming garter, but for a 17-year-old who tried her hands at a first-time DIY, it's not bad.

For my senior homecoming the year after, my date and I agreed not to do mums and garters as well. Again, I really wanted one, because you know, it was a white and silver one instead of maroon and white, so it would definitely look better on a mum and I just had to have one. But instead of buying one from the drill team mothers, I made my own. I went out and bought all the materials and taught myself how to make the military braids (Which they now sell for $7.99 each! Proposterous for mere yardage of cheap ribbon.) I like it better than my junior mum, but I think that's my own personal bias because I made it myself.

My senior mum which I made by hand. I
think it looks much more impressive than the one
I bought the previous year. Notice that military braid?
Yup, handmade!

Coincidentally, I am making garters with the girls I disciple tonight in place of our normal studies. I really wanted to encourage them to make their own garters instead of paying to outsource it for a number a reasons.

1. I want to challenge them to be able to take on a task that seems great at first and to work through it, especially when the stakes are still low. There's going to be a lot of things in their future that might seem like giant hurdles. And it's true, some of them are hurdles you may not want to attempt or are best left alone. But there are others that might be worthwhile, you try to attempt, and you fail, and that's okay. And then there are the rest that you try to attempt, succeed, and leave with a sense of empowerment knowing you did something and proved yourself wrong, in a good way.

2. I want to teach them to use their resources wisely. Personally, my opinion is that the homecoming marketing is ridiculous, and I don't believe it wise to spend hundreds of dollars on a mum or garter. However, I do believe that it is more special to spend more time on something handmade to give to your homecoming date, especially if you're actually dating the person and he/she is more than just a friend.

3. Their mentor happens to be me, and I love making mums and garters, so I would like to share my knowledge and expertise with them to help them make it and teach them something new at the same time. Also, when she can make mums that actually look good, how can you go wrong? :)

I'll have to ask them later for their opinions of my theory and process behind this and their overall experience. Perhaps they'll let me share with you after. :)