One woman's quest to salvage the world's castoffs, lock, stock and bauble
With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd make a turkey. Technically, he's a "turkey assemblage," but I am calling him "Robot Turkey 2.0," because he follows in the footsteps of last year's original Robot Turkey (pictured below). Off and on over the last 12 months, I've been hunting for turkey parts at garage sales and …
So I was supposed to be packing and shopping and generally getting ready for vacation today. Instead I made newspaper flowers. Why? Because newspaper flowers don't make themselves, people. Plus, I had this little tray full of silver baubles sitting on my coffee table, and every time I walked past it, I would think, "This …
Meet my new state-of-the-heart bulletin board.This is what it looked like when I bought it (at a thrift store, of course). It had a nice beefy frame that was painted in a neutral cream color -- and the paint was chipping in spots, so there was a little bit of mint green showing through here …
Continue reading "Valentine’s Day | Wisconsin bulletin board"
Valentine's Day decorations are generally not my thing. Most of the mass-produced ones out there are way too saccharine sweet and frilly for me. So this year, I decided I'd make my own Valentine's Day decor: something with a vintage industrial vibe that I wouldn't mind actually hanging in my house. I started with these …
Continue reading "Valentine’s Day | Hearts on a string decoration"
For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, my son decided he wanted a Wisconsin State University shirt for Christmas this year ... which posed a bit of a problem because, as those of you who live in this neck of the Midwestern woods know, there is no such school as Wisconsin State. Apparently there …
Continue reading "Stenciling | A (fictitious college) shirt"
I've been a little obsessed with "turkey robots" lately. Some people call them "turkey assemblages." Or "upcycled turkeys." Or "steampunk turkeys." Whatever you call them, they're out there, and I love them. I've been storing images of some of my favorites on Pinterest and keeping my eye out for parts to make my own. A …
With Halloween closing in, I decided to get in the spirit and make a double-double-toil-and-trouble sign. Here's what I started with: a thrift store frame I had bought a few years back, thinking it was the perfect size (11 1/2 inches by 36 inches) for a subway sign. I needed a sign blank, so I …
Continue reading "Halloween | ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ sign"
When we visited Mackinac Island, bikes were everywhere -- and I'm not just talking about on the streets (where no cars are allowed). A lot of the shops sell bicycle art and crafts and T-shirts. This old-timey penny farthing decoration was in the front window of Ryba's Fudge Shop. All the bike art reminded me …
I love stenciling. It takes time and patience but absolutely no special skills. Anybody can do it. And you can make almost anything. Say, for instance, you wanted a dish towel with a retro black-and-white Santa image printed on it. You probably wouldn't find one in a store, but you could stencil one. You'd just have …
Here's a Thanksgiving shadow box I (somewhat accidentally) put together the other day. It started with this plastic turkey-shaped cookie cutter that I found. It looked so sad and orange, I decided I'd give it a 10-minute makeover by wrapping jute twine around it. After 10 minutes of searching for -- and not finding -- …