PLANO, Texas — The saying goes when one door closes another one opens. And that’s exactly what happened for one Plano teenager after she got some disappointing news this week.
16-year-old Kaylee Rodgers made a dress completely out of poker cards hoping to win at this year’s arts and crafts contest at the State Fair of Texas only for the judges to tell her the dress was disqualified, according to the CBS Affiliate KTVT in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
But don't worry guests will still be able to see her dress at the fair thanks to support from the community.
Kaylee has a unique passion for creating art using previously-owned and recycled items.
“One man’s trash is another man's treasure. Cause there's always gonna be a person out there, you know, you might be like, I don't have a use for this like it's junk. There's always gonna be someone out there who can see it from a different perspective,” Kaylee said.
Kaylee’s mom works at 5 Loaves Food Pantry and brought home some used decks of cards one day, sparking an idea within Kaylee, to make a dress out of the cards and enter it in the Texas State Fair Art Show.
Kaylee told KTVT, the dress took more than 60 hours to make using more than two thousand cards, which is more than 40 decks.
However, Kaylee admits she made the dress bigger than she initially intended and the Texas State Fair did warn her that the dress could get rejected if it did not meet the size requirements for her category.
The judges ultimately decided to disqualify her, according to KTVT.
"I was at work and I got the phone call that it needed to be picked up a bit early from the case and I was definitely very disappointed,” Kaylee said.
But, there is a happy ending for the creative teen.
Kaylee’s mom told KTVT she posted her daughter’s story on social media which was shared thousands of times to people across North Texas and across the world.
Kaylee later got a call from the famous “Go Texan” pavilion which offered to showcase her dress during the entire fair.
"Really showing me that like, if you put yourself out there and you know you present yourself with what you have, it can definitely open up doors, and you know it was that Saturday that my mom made the post. I was not having a good day. I was so frustrated that morning, and it turned into like one of the best days of my life,” Kaylee said.
Kaylee says some casinos and art exhibits have even offered to talk to her about showing off her dress, according to KTVT.
She says the support she’s received is better than any award.
“I think I definitely did get lots, lots more than just a first, second, or third place ribbon for sure. It's definitely a lot more. I’m a little overwhelmed, but in a good way,” Kaylee said.
Kaylee told KTVT she is currently in the process of making another dress for the Day of the Dead and it's also made out of recycled cards.
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