PROJECT GENESIS - MAY

 Everyone can do at least ONE thing in this world to make a difference. It can be small and simple or large and complex. . . it is all worthwhile. 


Head on over to Suzan's oldgreymare and share something today and the first day of every month to come. Be sure to check the links on the right side bar to read precious posts of Project Genesis. You will be inspired.


Today I am sharing creative recycling ideas for toilet paper rolls. . . .


Seed starters:

Directions here.


Flowers:

Directions here.




  Floral Wall Art:

Directions here.


Binoculars for children:

Directions here.


Vintage favor pouches:

Directions here. 
These could also be adapted for children with brightly colored paint and chenille stems as handles.


 Farm Animals: 
pig, chicken, chicks, horse, cow, lamb, goat, dog and cat

Directions here.


And more . . .
very impressive ART:
Minature masks by French artist Junior Fritz Jacquet

Paper cutting by French artist Anastassia Elias

Mini sculptures by Japanese artist Yuken Teruya 

Be a part of Project Genesis TODAY!


happy day!

RAISING HER BED

She has a very small room, a cozy nest, which makes it a challenge to keep it orderly and efficient. Every square inch counts, and we are looking under as well as above for more storage options.


We decided to raise her bed higher to allow for more storage underneath, for those things she needs to have nearby, but not necessarily right out in the open. 


 Since we always try to use what we have we saw some beams, leftover from our house building, that would be just the thing.


We cut them to our desired height and drilled holes in the top. . . 

big enough to fit the leg of the bed frame . . . 

and deep enough so it would be held in there securely.

We wanted to be able to move the bed easily, without scratching the wooden floor, so we cut  some felt that we already had . . . 

 and glued it on to the bottom.

Now the bed can slide when you give it a strong push.

We have a few options for the opening: a dust ruffle that covers all of it or some of it, OR leave it open and paint the legs funky colors to go with her funky room OR leave it a bare wood.


 We'll just have to wait and see what she wants. In any case, the underneath will have square baskets, the height of the opening, for her to easily pull out her treasures, and it will look neat too.


We'll take a picture when we have it all together :)


happy day!

MAKE FLOWER ART

I came across another *creative spark* this morning on the desk in the great room. Finding these sparks is like uncovering bits of buried treasure, and I never know what I will find next.

It is a flower, still in process.

She cut out a shape from a  pizza box. . . 

chose her color palette and gathered her supplies of tissue paper, modpodge and paintbrush and got to task.

She thinks she will do the leaves and stem in the same colors.

What will she do with it when it's finished? 

She's not sure, as she often creates without a particular goal in mind but finds a use at a later date, or just enjoys it as is. It's all about the creative process anyway.

Perhaps it could hang on her wall , or as part of a whole collection of flowers, or can adorn the edges of a bulletin board or frame, or on the cover of one of her journals. There are so many possibilities.

One can use any shape and any color to make your own personal art !

Why don't YOU, and your child, go and give it a try!

happy day!

JUGS RE-PURPOSED

We save milk jugs for our many animal tasks and to add liquid fertilizer to the garden beds, but more recently, I came upon some cooler projects to use them for.


Sometimes when I am watching TV, or just chatting, I cut them up into squares, to someday make this cool curtain, inspired by homemade mamas. You can read the directions here.

The jugs also make great storage, especially for group projects, as seen on craftzine.

They could also hold a child's collections, to house his finds yet be easily seen and accessible. What child doesn't collect things? 


They could be used for games too... like sorting objects and matching colors and many more.
  
I would just make sure the cut edges are not sharp for little skin. Perhaps a couple times going over it with rough sandpaper would dull it enough.


This is my August post for  Project Genesis hosted by Suzan of oldgreymare

                                               happy day!

LET NATURE IN

  Enamored with Nature my entire life, it came as no surprise that my love deepened when we moved to twelve glorious acres. We did what we could previously, living on a tiny lot off the center of town, with bird feeders and birdbaths, compost piles and raised bed gardens, and many nature activities like catching fireflies, watching butterflies emerge, making ant and worm homes and more.


 We always had a Nature Table that was filled to the brim with collections and natural objects of our desire. We began to run out of room and needed to rotate the collections.

 One of the first tasks on my agenda ,when we moved to our new house, was to re-purpose a glass curio cabinet to use in addition to a nature table. Creative Recycling! 

It looked like this picture except with solid wood shelves not glass. Although looking at this makes me think glass would be wonderful and allow us to see underneath each specimen just by looking in.

   I painted the inside back a light green , just a hint of natural color so as not to upstage the beauty of the collections themselves, and soon the cabinet was filled to the brim with Nature....and a quote or two. 
  
 Friends came to visit and said  "Oh I brought something for your nature cabinet", and we would add it to the menagerie with delight.
  
 You can see a yellow plastic egg on the bottom shelf and while the plastic egg is not *natural*, the creature who bit through it trying to get at the treat inside that was left undiscovered after an egg hunt, was. It is a reminder of the day that all children love and always ask about.

The cabinet allows us to keep a great many items and to see them easily through the glass, and most of all, everything stays dust free. And it's easy to take something out to hold by just opening the door.
Here is just a sampling of the contents:

 "In all things of Nature there is something of the marvelous"  

~Aristotle

DRESS UP THE DRESSER

I love old things. I like to keep old things. I like to use old things in a new way or give them new life. It could be considered recycling, right? Creative Recycling!

 Old things have character and a feel to them I cannot adequately describe.
My youngest daughter takes after me in that passion. She has an appreciation for all things old.

One of my older daughters once asked me "Why do we always wait until something breaks before we get a new one?" I have thought about those words at different times over the years and it is just how I live and what I believe in, I guess. Even if money was no object, I still wouldn't go out and buy something new just to have the latest thing . If it still works, it does not even enter my mind to replace it?

Reaching deep down within myself, perhaps it is the basic fact that I LOVE old things. And  I love to create, so it comes naturally that I want to use what we have.

My idea of a delectable day trip would be to scour antique shops and salvage yards, but everything I get will need a *home* so I try to limit my visits, and instead, work with what I have here at home.

I have had a particular dresser since I was a baby and that would make it close to half a century old. It was cream colored with beautiful painted birds on the fronts of the drawers. It is so clear in my mind. I remember the birds literally disappearing as the dresser was used year after year, child after child, six of them.

It was eventually tucked away up in the attic and it wasn't until years later that I re-discovered it. Standing in a corner, strong and sturdy, paint chipped here and there, it called to me. Not only did it evoke childhood memories but it was a useful piece of furniture beckoned to be lived with again. I took it home.

I had to wait to be inspired and it finally came from an enormous piece of furniture I saw in a furniture shop that made my heart sing.

 It was huge and had a myriad of drawers, all sizes and in four different colors. I wanted to buy it but with the huge size and huge price tag it was not going to happen. Instead, I decided to used that inspiration for my dresser.

I painted it in FIVE different colors, attached white crackled porcelain knobs and filled it to the brim with art supplies like colored pencils, markers, various papers, wool felt, beeswax, stencils, yarns and more.

 Atop the piece at the moment are some favorite books for children, a ceramic bird and pieces of a walking stick from a yard of a friend. It is still sturdy, solid wonderful storage. You can tell it has been used quite frequently as it already needs a paint touch-up.

 This is one of my Creative Recycling projects for Deb's challenge.
 What have YOU recycled...creatively ?