Domestic Divas!

They call themselves Domestic Divas: “We gut pumpkins, make pies out of the meat, roast the seeds and turn the shells into centerpieces filled with fresh flowers,” said Domestic Diva founder Tracy Tanner Bond of Stanardsville.
“We buy spools of ribbon in bulk from Sam’s Club, Big Lots and various dollar stores and turn them into magnificent bows that make the packages they adorn almost too pretty to open,“ said Diva Marie Birckhead of Stanardsville.
Their creations might be reminiscent of Martha Stewart, but the Greene County Domestic Divas took their inspiration from Virginia Cooperative Extension’s now-defunct Home Extension program.
The Cooperative Extension Service was created in the early 1900s by the United States Department of Agriculture and administered through state land-grant colleges. Its purpose was to provide information on agricultural and home economics subjects, and to teach people how to use the information.
“I remembered my mother talking about her Home Extension group back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and how the women in the group learned from each other,” said Tanner Bond. “And I thought, ‘We can learn from each other … that’s a no-brainer’.”
The basic philosophy of Extension was to “help people help themselves.” One of a home demonstration agent’s major responsibilities was to convey the results of research in home economics that could be understood and applied.
“Tracy said, ‘Let’s get together and do this’,” said Birckhead.
Tanner Bond called some friends, Birckhead called some friends, those friends called some friends and the first meeting of the Divas was held three months ago.
At that meeting, “people brought whatever craft they had at home that they had never been able to finish,“ said Tanner Bond. “The second time 13 or 14 people showed up to do pumpkins.”
But “to do pumpkins” was putting it mildly.
Each Diva gave $5 toward pumpkins purchased by Tanner Bond at Ruckersville’s Corner Store, and promised to bring a dish to be part of a dessert buffet. Fresh flowers were plucked from gardens and near-fresh leftover flowers from a recent wedding were donated.
Tanner Bond even had an expert on hand to speak to the women—her daughter, Karen McDaniel, is a recent graduate of West Virginia University who majored in horticulture and minored in agribusiness.
“She taught us that there is no wrong way to floral design but that some tricks make the process easier as we go along,” said Tanner Bond. “I am very proud that she is willing to hang out with some older divas.” 
In November the group was instructed to bring ribbon —wire-edged or not — and scissors to make bows that members would take home to attach to a package or wreath.
This month there is no program.
Instead, the group will have a cookie exchange, share recipes and offer an optional gift exchange of a hand-made ornament.   
“The idea at this special time of the year is to enjoy each other and the uniqueness that makes us all Domestic Diva’s.” said Tanner Bond. 
And next year?
“Anything goes,” she said. “We’re open to suggestions. We’re just here to prove that the homemaking clubs that were happening in the 1960s are not dying out. They are actually being re-invented given the busy schedules that many of us have working outside the home. Homemaking can be fun.”