curiosities, gleanings, and creative reuse in the land of the oaks
Posts tagged "creative reuse"

MailArt 365 #1: The Big Hi-Fi Sound

There’s something magical about getting a piece of real, handmade correspondence in the mail, especially these days. This year, I’ve been trying to make mail art on a regular basis, so when I heard about the MailArt 365 project, … Read the rest

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Grocery bags, gift wrap & good fortune

Grocery bags, gift wrap & good fortune

My mom is one of the most creative, loving, hilarious, and wonderful people in the world. She’s the sort of person that brings delight and laughter wherever she goes. It is the highest stroke of good fortune and grace that … Read the rest

Another anemone anomaly

Another anemone anomaly

Made at sunset on a chilly evening, from two brown paper bags full of paper towel rolls, cut into thirds, then painted with an old sponge brush, inside and out.

 

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Halloween 2010: Year of the Cat(Bot)

Halloween 2010: Year of the Cat(Bot)

I had a bunch of lofty — some might say far-fetched — ideas for this year’s Halloween costume. Owl with rotating head and glowing eyes. A giant honking Canada Goose, as a salute to Lake Merritt’s glut of geese. … Read the rest

Anemones and sweetgum fruit: Nature-inspired cardboard sculpture

Anemones and sweetgum fruit: Nature-inspired cardboard sculpture

Following up from last week’s cardboard toilet paper roll project, I decided to try experimenting with cut texture and a bit of paint on a few of the rolls. It was fun!

To me, the result resembles fruit from … Read the rest

Postcard for a sweet friend

Postcard for a sweet friend

Bird collage postcardHere’s a collage postcard I made from pages of two found books (a 1960s piano instruction textbook and a book called “Breeding Society Finches,” oh la la!), joss paper, tissue paper from the tissue flowers on my birthday cake, and …...

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

Rolling, rolling, rolling…

I’ve been experimenting with making a few wall pieces out of the humble yet ubiquitous cardboard toilet paper roll. I really like the fact that, when squished and glued together, they look vaguely like a honeycomb, or something cellular.

(Totally landlord-compliant) bubbly wall art made from recycled toy capsules

(Totally landlord-compliant) bubbly wall art made from recycled toy capsules

After learning that our landlord didn’t allow us to paint or hang pictures on our apartment walls, my sweetheart and I searched for an antidote to our boring white walls. We found visual inspiration in three boxes of hundreds of discarded plastic toy vending machine capsules, and created our own landlord-compliant wallpaper alternative.