After the U.S. Air Force switched over to new uniforms, a staff sergeant from San Antonio, Texas, found a unique way to memorialize her old ones. She repurposed the material into a wreath.
Nicole Pompei, a former Marine and active-duty airman, posted on a Facebook group called Women Veterans around July 2020 asking people what she could do with the uniforms when the Air Force was switching its uniforms from the Airman Battle Uniforms to the Operational Camouflage Pattern. Most people recommended that she make a wreath; however, Nicole admits she had no idea how to create one.
With support from her “crafty mother,” who helped create the design, she made a “prototype.” After posting photos on the veterans’ group, Pompei, 29, was flooded with requests from families who wanted to honor their loved ones in the same way.
Pompei’s creations come in a spectrum of sizes and bespoke designs with some being patriotic with stars and stripes while others are just festive holiday themes. Pompei relies mostly on donated military uniforms, supplementing with fabrics that she buys herself, and it takes four hours to make one wreath from beginning to end.
Pompei’s creations have also elicited very emotional responses from a number of recipients.
“Each wreath tells a story,” Pompei says.
“Whether it’s old uniforms stuffed in the back of someone’s closet, to retirements, birthdays, Christmas gifts ...” she considered, “when I make each wreath, I get to learn a bit about someone’s service and I get to honor that service in a unique way.”
