Thrift store recycling.

Sorry dear readers I admit to having been in a technology slump the last few weeks. Honestly, I didn't realize it had been so long since I had posted. "My, how time flies when you are procrastinating".

Mixed Media group, hard at work!!

I have been involved in creating some of my own art and have attended a few classes as well. I belong to a local Mixed Media group. A lot of the members of this group are either Rowdy Grandmas or Rowdy Moms and are always giving me great ideas for arting and crafting. At the meeting last Saturday we all made jean purses from our old jeans, (the ones I brought were too small for me, a few claimed theirs were too large...yeah, right!!)

The beginnings of my jean purse!!

During the meeting we spent some time talking about using recycled materials in our art, such as the jeans. Mary Lynn, a fellow Rowdy Grandma showed us some items she has picked up at Goodwill. She purchases old pictures sold at thrift stores and reuses the canvas and frame for her own work.

Carla's purse with a decal she made of her dog and cat...so cute!!!

What a great recycling idea for all artists. In an older post I talked about taking the grandkids on trips to the thrift store and encouraging them to find something to use in their own art. I had not thought of looking through the old pictures..... kids love actually putting their work on canvas....this way it is already framed and if they like they can paint the frame as well!!

Remember bean and macaroni art? My next trip with the rowdies to Goodwill we will seek out a small framed canvas to fill with dried beans and macaroni...it gives them a chance to play with their food.

While at the thrift store pick up an old Tshirt and make a tote bag. My granddaughter Sarah and I did this a few months ago, next post I will share her Tshirt tote bag with you.

Please share your thrift store finds with me...I am always happy to have new things to search for when I make a trip to Goodwill, and would love to post some of your finds.

"Make my Day"

Random acts of kindness....what a cool concept!!

As a Rowdy Grandma I introduced the grandkids to a project which allows them to pass on a little kindness. I call it "make my day", (I always had a thing for Clint Eastwood).....anyway it relates to an article I read a few years ago about a movement called Found Art.

The idea is to create small works of art and leave them in public places in the hopes when found by a stranger it will "make their day".

simple materials

One of the easiest projects we do for "make my day" is also a recycle project. It is simple, simple, simple...all you need is a brown paper bag, a glue stick and an old magazine. You don't even have to have scissors. I love the effect of tearing my bag, as well as the images I tear out of the magazines. Most kids will like the idea of tearing the materials...but there will be a few who really prefer scissors...either something in their little minds just can't handle the randomness of tearing or they like tools!!!

You simply tear the bag into strips the size of a bookmark and find wonderful, colorful pictures from magazines to glue to the paper bag bookmark. Look for fun, inspirational words to tear out and add to the bookmark. If you use white school glue to glue on your pictures you may also add an overcoat of the glue to the finished bookmark, much like decoupage.

paper bag strips

The grandkids and I have added all kinds of extras, such as stamping and embossing powders...but even if you don't have a lot of crafting materials in the house you are able to come up with the simple items for this project. Using pens or crayolas to write words such as "have a nice day" is another option , if the rowdies aren't old enough to write words they may want to use the pens and crayolas for designs...aka scribbles. Construction paper is a nice addition if you want to frame the pictures on the bookmark.

First bookmark has a coat of white glue, the last bookmark has black construction paper.

This is another good project for getting the rowdies to brainstorm. Ask them where they would like to leave their art. A supermarket shelf, a library table.....they will be delighted to help think up their special drop-off spots!! Plan a field trip and take them to the areas they want to visit with their art, it is also kind of a secret spy feeling ...leaving your art piece without being noticed.....plus you giggle a lot.

Another option is to leave a note on the back explaining this is "make my day" art and if you find it please let us know. You can set up an email address just for the purpose of "make my day" responses.

Please let me know what projects you come up with for "make my day " art, I would love to post them.

How to make a jewelry box from an egg carton

Know your egg carton.....some are great for this project...some are not. The pink one is your standard styrofoam, the blue one is a lumpy cardboard.



PINK JEWELRY BOX

materials used

egg carton, acrylic paint, pencil with an eraser, circle sponge dabber
acrylic spray or brush on for topcoat, cotton balls, white glue, construction paper

Easy to do - paint the egg carton with 2 to 3 coats of paint and dry. Using a pencil eraser dab it into one of the acrylic paint colors and dot it onto the surface of the painted and dry carton. Add larger dots with the circle sponge dabber. Kids absolutely love dots, and my granddaughters love this pink. Let them put dots everywhere.....on the sides, the bottom....encourage them to use contrasting colors. When dry spray with an acrylic finish for durability. Be careful using spray paint on this type of egg carton, (they melt).......really!!!

My granddaughter added some of her artwork to the inside lid, a special surprise for mom. She used basic white glue to attach some black construction paper to the inside lid and then glued her art work over it. The black paper makes a nice frame for her work.

When all is dry use half a cotton ball and place in each egg section, or you might want to have some without cotton, better for earrings. We also used dry rice in two compartments to place rings so they can easily be seen.







Blue cardboard jewelry box

This egg carton is a little porous so it was first painted with gesso or white primer in order for the acrylic paint to adhere in one coat.
A teal blue paint was applied after the gesso was dry. The center picture is art from Ten Two Studios, the other images are from old magazines. Once the images were applied with white glue we put glitter around them. To finish the jewelry box it is a good idea to spray all with a clear matte acylic. For an extra touch an old costume earring was glued to the center of the lid.