Two days ago, I noticed a big red Dumpster behind our apartment complex. It looked to be empty. That's interesting, I thought. Yesterday evening, my husband and I were walking Jax when I noticed the Dumpster had been filled to the brim. Looks to me like the apartment management evicted someone, sending their furniture packing as well. A red sofa extended above pieces of wood, paper, and articles you'd have to examine closely to identify. That … [Read more...] about Love, Crafts, and the Fine Art of Dumpster Diving
upcycling
How to Make Paper Beads, Part II
Now that you have a plethora of long, skinny triangles, it's time to make your beads. For the next step, you'll need: 1. A lot of wooden toothpicks or skewers. They have to be ROUND, not squarish. These will be used as spindles. You'll wrap your paper beads around the toothpicks to shape them. 2. A block of Styrofoam. As you finish your beads, you will stick the toothpicks into the Styrofoam so that they can rest and … [Read more...] about How to Make Paper Beads, Part II
How to Create Inchies — and What to Do With Them When You're Done!
In my newest Kiki Lowenstein short story, she runs short of craft supplies and ideas. But Kiki never fails her customers, so she came up with a wonderful "make and take" project--inchies! Inchies are one inch by one inch pieces of original art. Typically they are collage art, but that's not always the case. What's so wonderful about inchies? Making them will... Stretch your creative muscle, Use up odd scraps of paper, Encourage you … [Read more...] about How to Create Inchies — and What to Do With Them When You're Done!
Upcycle Styrofoam into a Great Coaster
The portions in most restaurants are far too large for me, so I always ask for a carry-out container. Sadly, most of these are made of Styrofoam, or polystyrene, a product that takes nearly forever to breakdown in our landfills. So I've been searching for ways to reuse my Styrofoam containers, and this idea is so simple and easy that I can't believe I didn't think of it before! Since I love potted plants and vases full of flowers, I often find … [Read more...] about Upcycle Styrofoam into a Great Coaster
You're Going to Love 'Beachcomber Art'
Being an author means, you constantly question yourself. "Is this the right idea? Or should I have chosen another topic?" There's no way to tell if you are working on something really cool...or if you picked a lemon. And your confidence suffers accordingly. I'd had a bad, sad couple of days where my doubts got the better of me, when the Universe decided to send me a sign. A detour on the highway took me right past Debbie Brookes' charming … [Read more...] about You're Going to Love 'Beachcomber Art'
