Yarn bombing

From painting to drawing, photography and, most recently, yarn bombing, de Klein thrives on being creative.

Though the 69-year-old says she never knows which direction her creativity will take her, she was pleasantly surprised that her yarn bombing project is being showcased on a nationally televised FedEx TV commercial airing this holiday season.

Yarn bombing is "the act of crocheting and knitting unexpected pieces for public display," de Klein says. "It was started to cover/brighten up insipid concrete and metal structures in urban living. "

In the commercial, a grandmother is talking to her daughter on the phone, asking if she received the "toaster cozy" shipped through FedEx. The daughter says "yes," and the camera shows the husband putting a huge cozy on the Christmas tree as well as several other objects covered by cozies. The last shot is a boy covered completely by a cozy and asking, "Is that Nana?"

Yarn bombing was started in Texas in 2005 by Magda Sayeg, who is considered to be the mother of the unusual art project, de Klein says.

"I had seen her work online and included it in my senior presentation at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga about the history of knitting. One of the things I touched on was what all you could do with yarn, which lead into 'yarn bombing,'" she says.