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Arts & Entertainment

Berlin Woman Shows Off Gooey Treasures

Bubble gum is her favorite item to work with.

A retired Berlin woman has found a way to pass the time by making crochet like patterns with chewing gum. I had the delightful pleasure of visiting Helen Avagyan at her home last week, where I discovered her gooey treasures.

A few months ago Avagyan was sitting at her house, chewing gum, when she decided she could make something beautiful with the chewed pieces. She started rolling them into thin lines and then dipping them in cold water to freeze them and so they wouldn’t stick to her hands.  “It takes me a lot of time to make the pieces because I have to chew all that gum first,” she says. It can take her a few hours to one whole day to finish just one piece.

She retired a few years ago, and since then had been looking for ways to fill her time. Avagyan came from Armenia 11 years ago with a green card, and decided to retire here. She keeps the gum sculptures in her room, and thus far she has made a few dozen. She plans to keep making them, and I suggested they would be beautiful ornaments on a Christmas tree. “I don’t know what I’ll do with them, but aren’t they pretty,” she gushed.

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They are rather beautiful in person, very intricate and detailed. Once she completes them, she paints them with nail polish for some extra color and detail. “Maybe I’ll make something bigger next time, who knows,” She continued. In either case, she’s not worried about finding good use for them; it’s just a hobby for her. “I enjoy making them when I have free time, it’s a good pass time activity,” Avagyan says.

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