St. Augustine seventh grader organizes craft fair for students

Sometimes, if you can't find what you want, you have to make it yourself. That's just what Zahara Ressell, a seventh grader at St. Augustine Catholic School in Kelso, Missouri, decided to do — She wanted a craft fair where students could sell their handmade soaps, bracelets and dog treats to each other.

"I wanted something new," Ressell said about why she approached her teacher, Preeti Mungee, with the idea. "Something fun that would get everyone involved."

Ressell said she received a soap-making kit for her birthday. She liked it and made soaps -- using goat milk — for friends and family for their birthdays.

"I add in spices so the soaps smell like pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar cookies," Ressell said.

So far, 23 students have signed up for a booth at the craft fair, which will take place before classes Friday, Dec. 2, in the school's gymnasium.

"People will be selling things they made like Christmas ornaments, bird houses and slime," Ressell said.

Slime is a concoction made from white glue, baking powder and food coloring, that when mixed together, congeals into a soft marshmallow consistency. It's a popular homemade sensory experience for young people.

Ressell said she hopes the craft fair will be a success and become an annual event. She will be around to make it happen again next year, and said will find someone to take it over after she moves on to high school.

Ressell said 50% of all proceeds will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.