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Monday, May 30, 2011

Buy More Stuff

In honor of Memorial Day, during which we in the USA honor our war dead by shopping and taking advantage of sales, here is one of a series of "Buy More Stuff" pins.

Materials: old wood ruler; soda pop-top tabs; tin can lid; broken jewelry;
clipping from 1044 tax schedule chart

Friday, May 27, 2011

Pimp Your Sunglasses

A while back I posted "Pimp Your Reading Glasses" and recently came across this pair of sunglasses I'd pimped out long, long ago. They are so adorned they look downright dangerous. To make your own, simply gather up likely looking junk, broken jewelry and computer parts lying around the house and glue them to your glasses (I use 100% silicone glue, which is non-toxic and easy to work with).


Click on image to see detail.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Window Fantasy Close-Ups

I posted some photos of these window treatments a while back, but those were taken from afar and didn't show details. To see those shots of the curtains as a whole, click here. While wandering around with my camera the other day I couldn't resist taking a series of close-ups. Again, the curtains are metal mesh and the pockets and other adornments were painfully hand sewn onto the mesh.

sea glass, broken jewelry

sea glass, plastic fish

sea glass

sea glass, plastic fish, button

sea glass, plastic fish

piece from a broken Venetian glass chandelier

sea glass, broken jewelry

laminated Chinese fortune and buttons

pieces from a broken vintage beaded curtain and broken jewelry

auto window glass fragments, broken jewelry, airplane charm

plastic cow, broken jewelry, religious medallion

faucet spigot, piece of old beaded curtain, broken jewelry

broken auto glass and tail lights, broken jewelry

doll arm, broken jewelry

pieces from old beaded curtain, broken jewelry

brass chicken foot from salvage yard, old beaded curtain pieces

Laminated Chinese fortune ("You think it is a secret but it never has been one"), glass buttons

flea market junk bin find

flea market junk bin find

broken auto tail light, broken jewelry

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Girl Reporter Hat

An old felt hat, papier-mâché using discarded print-outs from a book project, and salvaged typewriter keys. Voila! An ephemeral fedora for an intrepid girl reporter.





Friday, May 20, 2011

The Cow Hits the Road

Yet another piece in the ongoing ontological puzzle: What about the cow? For more "what about the cow" pieces, use this link to see cow assemblages, cow dress, and cow end table.

Pin made from scrap of rusted metal, found shoe cleat, and cow milagro.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Basket Bird Houses

When called upon to conduct an ad hoc workshop on birdhouses built from recycled materials in Greeley, Colorado, I hit a local thrift store, spotted a jumble of used baskets (found at every thrift store and white elephant sale) and came up with the following simple project. Now let's see if the birds move in. There are two photos below of most of the houses, one to show the construction and one showing the birdhouse in situ amidst the trees.



One basket is turned upside-down and placed atop another. A strand of floral wire (wire wrapped with tape) is secured to one side of the base basket, up through the "roof" basket, back down through the "roof" basket, and then secured to the opposite side of the base basket. Each birdhouse requires two baskets and one strand of floral wire. The wire is long enough to also serve as a loop for hanging the birdhouse, and the "roof" basket can slide up the wire to allow access to the inside of the base basket for seasonal cleaning. Cedar chips form a starter bed inside the birdhouse.



Entry holes were cut using scissors and/or a box cutter. While perches made from junk might have looked cute, apparently perches are a no-no according to birding sites—they are used by predators to gain entry to the nest.



One workshop participant, Janean Cox, brought an old hat for possible use in birdhouse construction, which was happily married to a basket to become another type of birdhouse.


The hat concept inspired another, more weather-beaten version fashioned from an old gardening hat.


Workshop organization, location, and trees for housing the final products were provided by Judith Richter.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Keep This Coupon

Ever get one of those ticket stubs that says, "Keep this coupon"? Do you keep the coupon? I do. In fact, I see this as a direct order from unknown uber-authorities. To preserve my coupons in perpetuity, I sometimes turn them into jewelry.



Pin made from old tin can lid, paper coupon, pop-top tabs, and a hand-carved tramp art wooden pig.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Rubble Blues

An abstract pin assembled from bits of rubble and broken jewelry picked up here and there, combined with a penny flattened on the railroad tracks.


Thursday, May 5, 2011

La Chair (if you dare)

Here is a high-threat chair that absolutely none of my visitors want to sit in. A flea market score for $20, this was a hospital scale used for weighing patients who can't stand up. I replaced the vomit-beige upholstery (so common in hospital decor) with light green vinyl. The scale still works. Have a seat—I dare you.