04/23/2012 - "Lettuce" Plant Marker

I love old advertisements, from the Victorian era through World War II. That is the look I am trying to accomplish with these markers. I did a bit of internet research and looked at various vintage advertisements to come up with my designs for these.

Reclaimed Material: wood scrap
Other Material: none
Tools: paint, paint brushes 

How I did it: Just like the tomato marker, I cleaned up the wood, sketched out my design and painted it on. The wood scrap was already white and liked how the finish was weathered so I left that alone.

What I would do differently: This marker is a little more interesting than the tomato marker. I wouldn't change this one, even though it is simple.

04/22/2012 - "Tomatoes" Plant Marker

Can you tell I am on a gardening kick? I have never been as excited about gardening as I am this year. It must be all this Oregon rubbing off on me. I am quite certain I won't let myself kill too many plants this year. Well, I am hoping my little markers will keep me motivated. 

Reclaimed Material: wood scrap
Other Material: none
Tools: paint, paint brushes

How I did it: The piece I used is from a broken vintage cigar box so I only had to clean it up a bit. I sketched out the design and painted "tomatoes" on the front.

What I would do differently: Now that I have gotten around to doing this post, I have done 4 other markers and each one has gotten progressively more interesting. I still like it, but maybe next year I will redo the tomato marker to have more character.

04/21/2012 - Newspaper Plant Pots

Although I am a very novice gardener, I seen people using these little newspaper planting pots for a very long time. Some recyclers are starting to accept the plastic planter pots for recycling, but they are a hard to recycle item. These are great because they are biodegradable and much cheaper. You can buy newspaper pot makers but being the cheapskate that I am, I just used an aluminum can.

Reclaimed Material: newspaper pages
Other Material: none, unless I count the dirt and seeds
Tools: aluminum can

How I did it: I tore newspaper pages in half along the fold, then folded the page in thirds on the longest side to make a strip about 6" wide. I wrapped it around the aluminum can so that there was about 2" hanging off the bottom of the can then folded the overhang under to make the bottom of the paper pot. I set the pot on a flat surface and filled it with potting soil, then put it in a box with the seam facing a box side. I continued this with placing the seams against another pot or the box.

What I would do differently: After I made these, I read about someone who wet the pots before filling them to make the seam stick. That sounds like a smart idea, but the way I did seems to be working so far.

04/20/2012 - Bike Ring Pendant

My collection of random bicycle parts has grown over the years and I as I have said before bicycle parts are my favorite medium. Even though I have been holding onto this bit for quite a while I had to ask Jason what this part was called. Oh, it is a cassette lock ring, but you probably knew that already.


Reclaimed Material: bicycle cassette lock ring, game marble
Other Material: resin
Tools: electrical tape, mixing cups


How I did it: I taped the electrical tape to the back of the ring to trap the resin. I mixed the resin and poured it into the ring. I gently set the game marble into the resin then let it set. 

What I would do differently: There were a couple mistakes in this little project. I had filled the ring with resin to the brim so it would have that nice rounded look to it. It looked beautiful until I placed the marble in it and I had a big "duh" moment when the resin spilled over the edge. The electrical tape left a sticky residue on the back of the resin, so I need to figure out another way to trap the resin in the ring. Ideally I would like to fill the rings with glass, but don't have the skill level to try that yet.

04/19/2012 - Bike Firefly

I went into this project knowing what I wanted to do with this piece would not work. Grandma BJ gave me an old soldering kit that I have been determined to use for quite a while now. I knew that the stainless steel bike parts I wanted to use them on could not be soldered, but I just had to try it out anyway. Surprise, surprise, surprise, it didn't work. I have read in quite a few places this type of metal can only be welded. One of these days I will learn how to weld and have a lot of fun with metal.

Reclaimed Material: bicycle chain links and spoke
Other Material: none
Tools: metal clippers, vise, hammer, epoxy

How I did it: I put two chain links halfway into the vise and used the hammer to bend them in half -- at about a 45° angle. I then cut the spoke to 1.5" long using the notched end of the spoke that was in the center of the bicycle wheel. I used the epoxy to adhere the chain links to the spoke for the wings of the firefly to the spoke.

What I would do differently: I would much rather avoid using the epoxy, but again, I don't have any welding skills or equipment. Also, I should have added a little bead for the tail of the firefly.

4/18/2012 - Woven Rubber Handbag

I know this sounds pathetic for a woman to say, but I hate carrying a purse and always try to make sure that I have pockets to put my stuff in. Even though I don't carry a purse, I love making and designing purses and bags.

Reclaimed Material: rubber inner tubes
Other Material: decorative brads
Tools: scissors, cereal box, X-acto knife

How I did it: I cut six strips of rubber 24" long and about 1.25" wide for the horizontal pieces, five strips about 20" long (same width) for the vertical, and one long piece 2" wide for the sides and the base. I took one whole tube and carefully cut the valve stem off. For the horizontal pieces, I cut slits on one end and tabs on the other to make loops, then closed them around the cereal box. I used the fatty strip of rubber and wove it along the short sides of the cereal box for the base and sides of the bag. I folded the whole inner tube in half and wove the sides through each side of the cereal box and made sure the handles were even. I wove vertical strips through to the top working around the handles. To hold the handles in place, I inserted six small brads into each square along the handles.

What I would do differently: As you can see by the pictures, this bag isn't complete. I tried many variations of this and my original thought was to use whole inner tubes by twisting them to size for the horizontal pieces and whole tubes cut to size for the vertical pieces. That didn't work, so I sliced open the vertical pieces...still not quite right, so I took the whole thing apart and did what I explained above. I wasn't loving the way it was turning out with the brads, so I gave up on this...plus I didn't want to invest even more time into a piece I didn't really love. My mother-in-law liked it though so I should probably revisit this another time. I would like to add a fabric liner to it and maybe some sort of closure.

04/17/2012 - Tiny Rubber Sign

I found a nice little stash of tiny wooden frames at SCRAP and thought it would be fun to make mini-rubber pictures. The frames are all about 3"x3" or x4". I think they would make fun magnets.

Reclaimed Material: rubber inner tube, frame
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, staple gun, paint pen

How I did it: I cut a piece of rubber from a fat inner tube that covered the entire 3"x3" frame with overlap. I stretched the rubber over the frame and stapled it to the wood. I used the paint pen to paint the bicycle sign onto the rubber.

What I would do differently: This project did not go smoothly at all! It should have taken me about 10 minutes to do this instead of an hour. The regular staple gun wouldn't push the staples all the way into the frame and then some parts of the frame got splintered. I switched to an electric staple gun and really did not have any better luck. For these little guys I think I need to use flat push pins.

Happy Earth Day!

I have spent my Earth Day by celebrating my nephew's 5th birthday and gardening. How lucky we are in the Portland area to have this fabulous 80+ degree weather! I will be catching up on my posts soon....working on plant markers for my garden. As I was digging in the dirt and planting seeds, my mouth was watering for the taste of fresh veggies...I am anxious for harvest time!

04/16/2012 - Zoe's Cuckoo Clock

I went into Zoe's room after her rest and she tells me that I have to help her make a cuckoo clock...how could I say no to that? What was going on in that little head of hers when she should have been napping?

Reclaimed Material: game board, plastic lid, splash sticks, wooden stick, rubber band
Other Material: modeling clay, masking tape, straight pin, googly eyes
Tools: scissors, box cutter, glue, awl, X-acto knife, Sharpie marker, ruler, paint and brushes

How I did it: Since I started this project right when the 3 year old was ready to rock and roll and asking me every 5 seconds if it was time for her to paint yet, I had to distract her with random tasks like pre-clay modeling and painting on wood scraps until I put the house pieces together. I measured out two 5"x5" squares and three 5"x2" rectangles from the game board and used the box knife to cut them out. I used the masking tape to build an open top box with the three rectangles as the sides and let Zoe work her painting magic. While she worked on that I started on the roof of the house. I cut another 5"x5" square then cut it in half diagonally. I cut two 5.25"x2" rectangles for the top of the roof and one 7"x2" rectangle for the base. I cut the door for the cuckoo with the X-acto on one of the triangles, then made a slit on the other that lined up with the door. Next I taped the roof together and handed it off to Zoe to paint. I modeled a little bird (again using Zoe's paint, but with her blessing this time) and glued it onto the wooden stick.

The plastic lid that I used happened to have twelve notches around it, so I didn't have to measure it out. I used the Sharpie to mark the notches and make the numbers. I cut down the splash sticks for the clock hands then used the awl to start the holes for the pin to go through. I didn't punch it all the way through because the hole would have been too big. I poked the pin through the holes I started and through the clock face and glued the whole thing onto the game board box. I pushed the pin all the way through and bent the pin so it wouldn't stick Zoe when she stuck her hand in the box. The rubber band I used was just a circle I cut from an inner tube and I put it around the door that was cut out. I slid the stick under the rubber band and pulled it out the back through the slit I made and Zoe began "cuckoo-ing" it.

What I would do differently: This is obviously not a working clock...but it is a great teaching tool. It is amazing what kids pick up because Zoe immediately called the clock hands the "little hand" and the "big hand". After we finished this project Zoe decided we needed to make a cuckoo horse next. What I would do differently is figure out a sturdier cuckoo option.

04/15/2012 - Gift Tags

After a quick search, I found that a set of 6 gift tags can be purchased at Target for $3.99. This project proves that you don't have to be really crafty to make a cheap or no cost gift tag. These are just neatly designed clothing tags that had enough open space to be used as gift tags.

Reclaimed Material: clothing tags
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, paper cutter, paint pen, glue

How I did it: For the tags with the birdies and circles, all I did was trim off two sides with text on them using the paper cutter. I used the scissors to round off the end diagonal from the original rounded end. Really simple! I glued one of the pieces from the birdies tags to the black tag to cover a larger block of text. I used my trusty ol' paint pen to mark out random text lines, but couldn't resist leaving the words of wisdom printed on it.

What I would do differently: Gift tags can literally be made from anything, but by using clothing tags that still have strings on them, you save a bit of time. Random ideas for tags are cereal boxes, magazine covers, plastic bits, etc.