For the Birds #1

Try carrying a bird book in a climate that feels like a sauna, dripping sweat as you thumb through damp pages. No need! This shirt, embellished with pictures of Costa Rican birds, serves as a guide and birding list. When you’ve spotted a bird, embroider an X in the box by its picture. 

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The how-tos: Shirt for $2 from Salvation Army with sleeves cut short and collar removed. Extra pockets on lower half of shirt were created from sleeve material (birders need a lot of pockets). Bird images scanned into computer and printed onto iron-on transfer paper.

Knitted Steel Prelude

The following necklaces were crafted from knitted steel wire, found driftwood, beach stones, and bits of rubble and rust found along the railroad tracks. Knitting steel was a discovery I made late one fidgety night. It's leads to amazing results but is also amazingly tough on the fingers.

Art Car

Yes this is me and yes, that's my car. Why? I hate driving and I hate cars and thought this would make both more pleasant. How? 100% silicone glue. When and how long? I did most of the work over a four year period from '89 to '93. Stuff gets picked off—I add more. The car is a 1978 Chevy Nova.

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Below: Headrest and backseat driver

  

Hanging Stones

Find a stone, hang it up, thwart gravity. Fashioned from stones, found rubble, and knitted steel.

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Collect-O-Rama

Forget the uninspired garbage that they're trying to sell your kids and let imagination rule! The Collecto-O-Rama toy below was created out of discarded plastic packaging and tiny biolab bottles (both recycled and snagged for pennies at the Depot for Creative Reuse in Oakland). Add collage and a few creative ideas and you've got a toy that will keep children of all ages absorbed for a long, long time.

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Some text excerpts from the package:

The craze that is sweeping Asia...

Remember Kids: Most is Best!!

Water: Conduct a What the Bleep Do We Know experiment. Label little bottles of water with words like “peace,” “fear,” “hate,” “love,” etc., and look at and think about the label and water inside several times a day.

Germs: Every time you or someone else is sick, collect spit in a bottle. Label it and list symptoms and legend, e.g., “Flu of 2006.”

Tears: Keep a bottle with you, collect your own tears when you cry; label the moment.

Dust: From famous places like Versailles, the White House, etc.

Ashes: Collect the cremated remains of different people and pets, or discombobulate the ashes of a single person into multiple bottles.

DNA: Collect hair, fingernails, eyelashes, etc., of loved ones to keep the possibility of future cloning open.

Tin Can Name Tags

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Go to a meeting, get another plastic name tag, throw it away, and fill the world with yet more garbage? I don't think so!

 Break out of the corporate pigpen and bring your own name tag next time around. The easiest method: take a lid off a can; glue a piece of paper with your name and organization onto the lid surface; use needle nose pliers to bend the lid edges over to frame and secure the paper. Glue a pin back on the reverse side and voila. From there you can go to town. The examples above incorporate found metal, broken jewelry, and a flip top tab (flip top tabs are great - glue them onto the back of the lid, letting part of the loop extend out into space, and use it to hang other stuff).

Ecowatch

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A watch to remind you that it’s time to go outdoors. Simply requires a large old watch with innards removed, potting soil and grass seed. Tamp the soil into the watch case, plant the seeds, sprinkle on water, and in a few days you’ll be ready to mow the lawn.