Steve’s Party came with a low-key Tropical Sunset brief, and as always, I wanted to stay true to La Mí Wí and use as much as what already exists as I could.
During a site visit with my Husband, our Mini and our Dog, I noticed some hooks above the bar and in that moment I knew I needed to make Tropical pendants.
After some careful measuring and a few lovely chats with the bar owners, I started dreaming up the design. As goes with all my projects though, the final piece would of course depend on what I could repurpose.
My Mini and I headed off on a regular morning adventure to see what forgotten stock we could rescue and redesign. The stars aligned and we successfully found string pendants that were begging to be Upcycled along with a surprise bag of blue raffia, it couldn’t have been more perfect.
In keeping with La Mí Wís code of texture, colour and fun, I planned to create sunset vibes by adding voluminous skirts to the pendants. To pull this off, I was going to need MUCH more raffia.
After a charity-shop hunt for more raffia came up empty, I went searching online and discovered The Raffia Connection, who make an annual donation to Tjanpi Desert Weavers, a social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council.
I love what the raffia connection is supporting and I also love that alongside their amazing range of coloured raffia, they also offer ‘wispy bits’… the leftover bits that might otherwise head to landfill.
I purchased one full-price green raffia hank and a range of their wispy bit range. I couldn't wait to start threading when the materials arrived.
Each lamp took around three hours to section into colour and weave with the raffia skirts. I added rechargable light bulbs to bring each piece to life.
On Bump-in morning, I headed over to Thirstville in Marrickville with my trusty ladder and the pre-strung pendants, ready to go!
To my delight, Imogen and Todd, the bar owners, loved the lamps so much that they asked if they could stay permanently.
Three rescued pendants and around 300 grams of rescued 'wispy bits' now live above the upstairs bar at Thirstville.
Go grab a beer and check them out!