By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
Managing Editor

QUINCY — Ginny Johnson Camacho, a long-time parishioner at St. Peter Parish in Quincy, has always known she was musical, but a few years back she was surprised to discover she was also artistic. Now she shares her new-found gift with others by making wreaths for holidays and different occasions. 

“I was born with music in me,” says Camacho, who is in her 70s and is a retired schoolteacher who plays guitar for Mass at her parish. “I began singing and playing guitar at St. Peter’s Church in 1974. I like it that when people leave Mass, they still have a song in their heart.” So, she says, playing guitar is something she has been doing forever. Making art? Well, not so much! 

As with many new hobbies, Camacho started small. Her wreath-making really began when she was trying to learn how to make “big pretty bows” for decorating the banisters in her home. It was then she discovered on-line courses in not only bow-making, but wreath-making as well. “I just watched on-line videos for several months, just to see specific techniques,” she said. “Then the first wreath I made was at Christmas. That was four years ago.” 

In the beginning Camacho just made wreaths to use in her own home — or made them for family members. However, as more people became interested in the wreaths, she began giving them as gifts or selling them. “At first, I just enjoyed making them for myself. Then I sold a few and gave many away,” she said. Now she takes custom orders, sells the wreaths at church bazaars and craft shows, and she puts some on Facebook as well. 

Camacho uses mostly a mesh wreath base with wire, or some people prefer a grape vine wreath. Decorations on those wreaths run the gamut. “But if people ask, I just tell them I can make almost anything if I can find the right materials,” she says. Of course, for Christmas she uses a lot of pinecones or poinsettias.

For Camacho making the wreaths is “a method of evangelizing, as I give many of them away.”   “I make custom wreaths, but many of them have a Catholic and/or a Christian theme,” she says. 

 “This isn’t really a business as I think making wreaths is mostly a hobby for me,” she says. “I make enough to keep me busy, but I’m not sitting making them all the time.” In fact, her workspace is a simple card table in her home. “I have a view of our small lake. So, I work there and I have a big storeroom. We have two spare bedrooms that have all my supplies in them.”

And while Camacho gives her wreaths away as gifts, making them feels like a gift for her, too. “I guess you should never say never. I never thought I would have the ability to do these things. I’m so glad the Lord gave me the time in my life to do this kind of thing now — just at the time I wanted to try something new. So, it’s good — just part of a nice and peaceful life.”