From This To That #1: Powering Through Powerade Bottles

This series is all about showing what my raw material sources get reduced down to after I harvest the parts I need for my crafts. The above photo shows two trash bags' worth of Powerade bottles. The photo just below shows what's left after I cut off the bottoms for paper mache molds, which incidentally fills less than one of those same trash bags. Not a bad start.

The Things We Don't Want To Keep But We Don't Want To Throw Them Away #1

I grabbed the Magic Grow Pellets from my pile and threw them all into warm water to expand them all at once. Boy, that was fun! Now to find something to do with my new fun shapes. I'm thinking some sort of jewelry.

The Things We Don't Want To Keep But We Don't Want To Throw Them Away

You know you have them. We all have them. Those bits and bobs that show up in kid's meals, giveaways, vending machines, or just little things we bought because it seemed like a good idea at the time. They hang around the house. They pile up in corners and on shelves. They collect dust. But no matter how useless and in the way they become, we cannot bring ourselves to throw them away. We think we will find a use for them someday or that we are obligated to keep them since we spent money on them, but these things are just dragging us down and keeping us from a clean and organized living space. My goal here is to find something useful or artistic to do with these objects. To that end, I am collecting all of them in one place until inspiration strikes me.

New Tags

Here are my new tags that I made for putting in my tote bags and purses. I used a custom stamp for the back and printable iron-on transfer paper for the front. This is a lot nicer looking and easier to read than the hand-stamped tags I was making. However, I am still using used light colored denim pants for the base material that these tags are printed on. I wonder what else I could stick them on...

Upcyclers Unite!

Yesterday I went down the main street in Westmont to check out the Creative Reuse Center. It's a tiny storefront filled to the brim with pre-owned things - bits and bob that would normally end up in the trash can like leftover craft supplies, partial bottles of glue, games pieces or games with missing pieces, and obsolete teaching aids.

My first purchase from the Creative Reuse Center

Nothing has a set price, you just pay by donations. I am thrilled to have this as a resource and I expect to go back frequently. If you are ever in the Westmont, NJ area you should check it out :  134 Haddon Ave. Or if you can't make it to my special part of the Garden State, check them out on the web at www.gardenstatecreativereusecenter.com and see how you might make a similar home for creativity in your own town.