Elegant Found Object Vases

Haha, okay, it was my idea, but I'll still call them elegant.  I decided to pick up some cheap flowers (baby's breath and purple eucalyptus) on the way home one day because ... well, I wanted to.  But then I got home and realized I didn't have a big enough vase for any of those tall stems.  I didn't want to cut them because I liked how tall they were.

So I went into my found objects box.  (I have one. It's not very big because I really try to limit myself from keeping cool trash.  It's a way of controlling the hoarding tendency that I think a lot of artists / art therapists have)  I found some packaging material from our wedding china (I'm telling you, HOARDING TENDENCIES) and wrapped them into tubes for the vases.  This worked for the eucalyptus stems, which I'm pretty sure don't need to be in water, but the baby's breath needed water.

I went back into my found objects box and found an old - but clean - yogurt container.  I filled it with water and then wrapped the cardboard packaging around it, taping it together on the inside.

This is a peak underneath, but I am keeping the cardboard flush against the top of the bookshelf so nobody can see the yogurt container.

The whole process took maybe 10 minutes, including some trial and error, and was completely free, made out of what would have been thrown away a year and a half ago when we opened the china.

Now, the baby's breath is in its own little vase on top of one bookshelf:

 And the eucalyptus stems are in their own vase on top of another:

So you see, found objects can be easy and crafty solutions to every day problems.  I think they look like nice vases, no longer lowly packaging meant to prevent dishes from break as they are hurled over a tall fence into a back yard - like how our china was delivered.





As an aside, the print of the woman by the eucalyptus is called "Mother Earth's Tears" by Canadian artist Maxine Noel.  We bought it in Stratford this summer when we were there for the Shakespeare Festival.  One day it will be framed.  It's not an original print; we got it at the gift shop, shhh.

The framed art above it is an original paper-cut that we got for our wedding that reads

אם אשכחך ירושלים תשכח ימיני
(If I forget you, Jerusalem, let me forget my right hand)

It's really intricate and lovely :)

Cheap projects

I have found a few sites that have some projects you can make with cheap, recycled materials.  Instead of spreading out the projects over the course of the next few days (which I guess would be the easy way to finish Found Object Art Month), I will post the links to the sites and set you off to explore on your own!


kinderart.com/recycle has tons of projects using household refuse... my favorites are the egg cup flowers, handmade paper, and paper bag kites.

make-stuff.com/recycling has a list of projects to make with recycled materials, such as a frisbie bird feeder, things you can make with old berry baskets, and things you can do with plastic bottles.


These sites have resources for either finding reusable materials or buying usable things from people using reusable things (say that 5 times fast).

The ReStore takes usable building materials from construction sites that would otherwise be junked and sells it (very cheaply). On their site, they say: "Since its inception, The RE Store has turned building material waste into a viable sustainable business venture that diverts close to 4 million pounds of waste per year from needless disposal while employing over 25 full time employees." Pretty cool.

ecobusinesslinks provides a list of artisans and businesses that use recycled materials in their products... anything from gifts to furniture to ... well, whatever!


I don't have a fun image to accompany this post, so instead I will quote a pertinent episode of Futurama (Season 1, Episode 8: A Big Piece of Garbage)

Leela: Fry, what the hell were you people thinking back then? How could you just throw your garbage away?

Fry: Hey, hey, gimmie a break! What do you do with it?

Leela: We recycle everything. Robots are made from old beer cans.

Bender: Yeah! And this beer can is made outta old robots.

Leela: And that sandwich you're eating is made of old discarded sandwiches. Nothing just gets thrown away.

Fry: The future is disgusting!

Extra cardboard, anyone?

Cardboard seems to be the junk art material of choice for many people.  It's easy to acquire, has many possibilities (melt it with water, peel back the layers, paint on it, layer it, can be strong enough for support of heavier objects, etc) and its color basically screams to be covered in something.  It's so cheap and easy that it's a relatively guilt-free material to experiment with.

When I saw this Cardboard Surfboard, I was intrigued.  The creator of this design posted directions and blue prints on this site so you can make your own and help improve it.

(image credit to linked article)

Not sure I would trust a cardboard surfboard but it is pretty interesting!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

(image credit: funnyphotos.net.au/melon)



Okay, it's not junk, but it's kind of a found object... if you have leftover watermelon. Anyway, it's kind of creepy how life-like the tongue looks.

Tinfoil (as found object?)

Stunning.

Or, check out the section of the artist's website about "Speed Creating".  For 30 days he tried to create completely new projects (often, they ended up being out of found objects!). This tinfoil project was Day 24.

(image credit to the artist, Dominic Wilcox.)

Make your own "Wristies"

(Image AND idea credit: mayamade.blogspot.com)

Ah ha!

I saw someone wearing these recently and she said she bought them at a store in the Village.  I said, wait, aren't those just sleeves from an old sweater with a thumb hole cut in them?  She said, ummmmmm maybe.  Debunking a purchase like that to a fellow art therapist probably wasn't the nicest thing I could have done (since now she knows how she could have made her own for free), but maybe now she'll make her own in many different colors and styles!

The ones on Maya Made are pleated, but you definitely don't have to do that to enjoy the wristies.

This reminds me a lot of the legwarmers my friend from grad school wore one day.  She said she just wanted to keep her legs warm in the Chicago winter but be able to slip them off once she got inside, but then left them on because they were cute.  So there you have it.  Legwarmers and wrist warmers.  Warmth never really goes out of style I guess!

So I decided to make my own!

Okay, they are knee-high socks instead of an old sweater because before moving to New York I donated all my old things and had nothing to recycle for this project.  Instead I went to H&M and bought some cheap, warm socks and cut them the same way.  I didn't pleat them because the top of the socks was stretchy enough.

At some point I may hem them because I don't trust the jagged edges not to unravel when I decide to wash them.  But they are warm and nice!  (Especially since our apartment still doesn't have heat!)

(PS: That awesome bowl on my desk is by Laura Zindel, and was a wedding present - along with three other Laura Zindel beauties :) )

Cereal Box Gee-tar

Made By Joel strikes again! What a great blog, he has so many ideas for making fun toys and objects out of easy-to-find materials.

(Image and video credit to Made By Joel)

Textile Recycler

(Image and info from The Textile Arts Center's blog post, artist website: Jrumchai Singalavanij)

Jrumchai Singalavanij has developed a process where he takes waste products from producing woven textiles and turns it into art material... Amazing!  It looks like felted dreadlocks!  I love it.  Click the links above to see more images of Jrumchai's work and learn about the philosophy that drove him to this process.

Sock Zombie!!!!

You've heard of sock monkeys, but how about sock zombies??

I have to make at least one of these crazy sock zombies.

Thank you, CRAFT magazine blog!

(Zombies are not just for Halloween, there could be a zombie invasion any time of the year).

Earth Day art contest (last year)

I made this little weird montage of images from the website for the City of Cerritos' Earth Day art contest last January.  They have some images from past projects, including a Diet Coke can helicopter and the (pictured above) frog made out of green plastic bottles!  How fun!  Maybe I should re-introduce found object art month in April for Earth Day...