NORTH -- Painting and pasting, snipping and clipping -- like Santa's little elves, the women of First Baptist Church of North are hard at work.

Since January, the small group of dedicated volunteers has been holding weekly sessions for craft-making -- and a little socializing. And, while their workshop may be in North, South Carolina, rather than the North Pole, the result is a growing collection of hand-crafted, seasonal gifts to rival the real Santa's toyland.

The final result, planned for Nov. 17, will be a huge Christmas crafts bazaar, with the proceeds used to purchase a church bus. The event will also include a soup and cornbread lunch and a bake sale.

The project is the brainchild of Judy Bolin.

"We started when our new preacher's wife, LaRay Mask, came to town," she said. "We wanted a meeting to socialize, and I said, 'Let's get together and have a crafts bazaar.' Livingston does one every five years ... the Livingston Methodist Church. They came over yesterday and helped us on how to price things. They gave us some good ideas for our next one.

"I thought we can have a bazaar and socialize."

For the past six months, the crafters have been meeting regularly to "work and talk."

"We meet on Tuesday nights from 6:30 to 8:30, and we do some extra time, a lot of the time," said Bolin, who, on a recent Monday afternoon, busily attached wings to a 42-inch rope and lace angel, complete with copper halo. "We started out with 20 people, and it's dwindled down to about five or six.

"The ones who are retired and not working come in two or three days a week and catch up."

While Bolin described the angel-making operation, Nellie Lu Reed and Libby McAlhany put the finishing touches on their own angels, and Annie Lou Morgan sewed some aprons.

"Miss Nellie Lu is putting ribbons on the baskets and wreaths," Bolin said, commenting on Reed's skill. "She's the only lady who knows how to make bows."

The next day, during the regular Tuesday session -- although her specialties are sewing the aprons, dish towels and baby blankets and crocheting doilies -- Morgan found herself hard at work painting Christmas tree ornaments.

"I'm new at it, but I'm learning," she said. "I have good instructors. We have some very talented and willing workers."

Bolin and McAlhany are the unofficial instructors.

"I love doing crafts, and so does Libby," Bolin said.

Laughing, McAlhany said, "This is our therapy session."

When Bolin added that sessions can sometimes run until 9 or 9:30 p.m., McAlhany quipped, "That's how much therapy we need."

Fay Livingston, Sharon Spearman and Debbie Salley are also three "faithful comers." And, there are a couple more special helpers, Morgan said.

"One lady is a shut-in, and she can't come here. But, she's embroidering pillowcases," Morgan said. "She's 92 years old, Frances Jones. And, Alice Morgan -- she's my sister and sister-in-law, we married brothers -- stays with Mrs. Jones."

The list of one-of-a-kind craft items seems endless.

"We have landscape timber snowmen, Christmas tree napkin holders and little snow pictures with snowmen on them that are made of screen wire," Bolin said. "We have bird houses, trees made out of terra cotta pots, angels made out of hymn books, bird baths, pocketbooks, Advent candy holders, a large snowman bulletin board, snowmen made out of socks that light up, rope wreaths, door stops, decorated flower pots and Santa Claus bags made out of croaker sacks."

There are also folding chairs painted with a watermelon design and small chairs that have a hole in the seat to put pots, as well as a lit Christmas tree made entirely of baby food jars. Then, there are the snowman yardsticks to measure "how much snow we're going to get this year," Bolin said.

"We still have to make some ornaments. We'll make 'gifts in a jar,' like cookie mixes and things like that," she said. "We're making these thick glass blocks with the lights in them."

According to Bolin, the group will start with one idea and go on to the next once a dozen or so of the items have been finished.

"We started out with our own ideas. Then, we went on the Internet and searched for ideas," she said. "Some things, we have 20 of them, but the majority we have about 10 to 12.

"This is the first time we're doing it, so we're not sure."

Initially, Bolin said, one person got the materials needed for a certain craft. However, that was before "one secret person at the church donated over $1,000," she said.

"It's been a lot of fun!" Bolin said.

Obviously enjoying the weekly get-togethers, Morgan added, "I don't know what we'll do when we finish this project."

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached by e-mail at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5545. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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