OTTUMWA — From bird houses to pillows, brownies to floral arrangements. Those projects and more were judged and displayed Wednesday during the Wapello County 4-H Expo at the Bridge View Center.

Local and area 4-H members were able to enter their consumer sciences projects to be judged with the goal of taking their work to the Iowa State Fair. That is decided by the judges at the end of the day.

Alexandra Klodt, who will be a freshman at Ottumwa High School this fall, entered five projects for judging.

“You realize that some of this stuff is fun,” she said. “It’s a good experience for real life.”

The 4-H’ers meet with a judge one-on-one and talk about what they did, what they learned and how they met their goal. Many of the nearly 150 4-H members in Wapello County participated.

Alan Angle, 7, of Blakesburg, made four bird houses out of gourds to be judged. He started the project last summer when he planted the gourds. He picked them last fall and let them dry during the winter. With the help of his dad, two holes were drilled in the gourds, one for birds and the other to hang the house.

Angle said the toughest part was painting the bird houses. Since this was his first year, he said in the future he would like to show dogs and horses as well as other projects.

“It isn’t how good your project is, it’s that you worked toward a goal,” said 4-H parent Lisa Jones.

Klodt entered three stories she wrote, a purse she sewed and hot cross buns that she baked.

“It’s nice knowing that you did well after getting judged and you worked so hard,” she said. Through the 4-H projects, Klodt said she’s learned leadership, communication skills, work ethic and self-reliance.

“4-H isn’t just for rural kids; there are many opportunities for other kids who live in town,” said Jones.

Alison Koebke, who will be a senior at Eddyville-Blakesburg High School next month, entered 16 projects this year.

“I like getting critiqued on my stuff. It’s good to have a critique so you know what to work on in the future,” she said. “All of the judges had positive things, but they also had negative things that will help me learn.”

Koebke entered art projects that she did in art class and said she wants to go to college and major in art education.

Seth Wayne Lewis, who will be a senior at OHS, discovered some family history in one of his projects.