An Okra Christmas

Angels? They’re everywhere in my house. I start making Christmas art during the summer, because the warm weather in this area is perfect for drying clay and papier mâché.

A while ago I had the idea to create ornaments from pods. Only okra met the challenge of drying hard enough for me to decorate. I hung one piece from a ceiling beam, but it shrank to half its original size. I needed bigger okra.

“Okra is no good when it’s big,” said a vendor at the farmers’ market. “It’s too tough.” I explained that I didn’t want to eat it.

Next time I was at the market the vendor waved me over. “I have okra for you!” He reached into his truck and produced not one but three large boxes piled high with okra pods.

Collecting angels is one thing. Collecting okra? That’s another thing entirely. Pods hung from every ceiling beam in the house, on the screened porch and from wooden clothes racks. My family was desperate for an okra-free zone!

But the result was worthwhile. The pods dried perfectly, and I made Santas out of them, using a polymer-clay mixture. You can find them in our local shops at Christmastime. As for me, okra Santas hang around my house all year.