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Published: December 21st 2005
After a late night of partying with my Board of Ed co-workers, I had an early morning of arts & crafts at one of my schools (Habu Elementary School). We made 'shimenawa', a New Year's Day decoration....very much like a Christmas wreath at home. There were about 50 people, all huddled together in the freezing cold gym. The pictures of the end result may make it look like it was an easy task....but no, it definetely was not! I would consider myself a fairly 'artsy' person...and I failed miserably with my first attempt! Normally they wouldn't give you a second chance, but with my special 'foreign powers' I was given another try!
A shimenawa is a straw rope with white zigzag paper hanging from it. Traditionally it is a marking of something sacred, so it is usually found around gates to a shrine. Around New Year's the shimenawa resembles a broom. I would assume that this is because it is a tradition to do a thorough house cleaning before January 1st.
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Roothie
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Bring Back Ideas!
You will be a great resource for primary/jr art ideas for teachers here! These look so cool. So, they sweep out the old (Dust!) and in with the new clean look eh? Well, I hate to clean but I guess I could live with that custom as long as it's only ONCE a year!!! (Although I might not make the deadline date!!) Love Roothie