What to Do with Doilies?

Woah, it's been a crazy busy summer and fall for my face painting business, so I blame that on my absence from blogging!  However, I recently got addicted to Pinterest and have found some really fun things.  This post is all Pinterest finds!

I bought a few a couple years back from a fund raiser for an animal rescue place...really beautiful hand made doilies for just $1 each.  Being a crocheter, I can really appreciate the work that goes into them. But, people just don't put them around their house much anymore.  So, what to do to bring 'em out of the attic and into the 21st century?  Here are some fun ideas!

Check out this gorgeous doily lamp!

This cute baby mobile uses paper doilies, although you could put some fabric stiffener in real doilies and make a better lasting one.

Another idea for paper doilies, unless you want to dye your real ones...but a fun idea for the fall season!

These luminaries are really pretty, and you can re-use some mason jars at the same time!

I always find these embroidery hoops at thrift stores...here's a great idea to pair them with doilies for some pretty wall art!

I think this table runner is a great way to showcase special doilies that may have been passed down or hand made from your grandparents or great grandparents!

Biodegradeable Balloon Bowls by Gitta Gschwendtner

 Aren't these bowls amazing?! At first glance they make me think of a geode...rough and neutral on the outside, yet brilliant on the inside.  Can you believe they are made simply of a latex balloon, with an outer shell of latex and sawdust?!

 The bowls and instructions to create your own were created by Gitta Gschwendtner as a part of TEN Plan.  "TEN" is a collective of 10 designers who have exhibited various environmentally sustainable projects, along with plans for you to try it yourself.  Visit the website to check out these bowls, among other projects, and download instructions to make your own!


(via Cobbled Together by Brenna...by the way, Brenna, I think yours are even more amazing!!!)

Cool Water Bottle Wreath from "Michele Made Me"

Check out this great wreath, made from plastic water bottles!!  Nice work, Michele! :-)  I just stumbled on her blog and will be adding it to my list of favorite links for sure!

Welle Designs: Turning Vintage Finds into New Treasures

I am in the process of sharing what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, and for today's vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Lauren & Lori Welle of Welle Designs.

I've seen these cool bowls before made from old records, and they had a fun selection of them at a great price.  My mom bought a couple as Christmas gifts.

I've always loved these cool ticket bowls too!! Wouldn't they look great filled with popcorn on movie night?

I just recently shared some message boards made from vintage trays, and they had some as well that had ribbons to hang on the walls (Above). I really like this cute and simple idea of the "message block," shown above in front of the tray.  The little block of wood has chalkboard paint on the front, and a hole drilled in the top to place a piece of chalk!  Love it!

As you can see by the little hand in this picture, Sammy was drawn to this cute record clock with game pieces and a bingo card in the center.  "No touching, Sammy!!"

I really liked this tray on display, covered with bottle caps and a thick, clear resin, which Lori described as "just an experiment."  Sometimes the one-off, experimental items really get a lot of attention.  It reminded me of my last year at the Craftstravaganza when I had a couple junk mail decoupaged TV trays out for display purposes.  They weren't even for sale but people were very interested in them!

If you'd like to see more of Welle Design's work or contact them to purchase, be sure to check out their website!

XO Handworks: Custom Recycled Pendants, Pins, Magnets & More!

I am still in the process of sharing what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, and for today's vendor highlight I would like to share the work of XO Handworks of Osseo, MN.

 I was really drawn in by this great display of jewelry made from recycled maps.  They have buttons, pendants, keychains, you name it.  I love how they displayed the soldered map pendants on a board with the map behind it, so you can find the location you want.  This is such a neat gift idea for someone who wants to show off their home state, country, favorite vacation spot, hometown, or whatever! Be sure to check out their beautiful creations here! They also have some really great items made from Scrabble tiles, bottle caps, and more!

A while back I used to sell pocket mirrors and buttons made from recycled maps, which were really fun.  I'm still hoping to offer more recycled map items in my shop in the future...once I get some better button making equipment that produces less duds!

Junk Bonanza 2010

I just returned to my studio after an overwhelmingly inspirational visit to the Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, MN! Described as "the best junk roundup in the Midwest," there is nothing junky about it!  I would describe this even as being like a walk through a really cool, antique flea market where everything has already been "upcycled" into quirky, creative gifts.  These are the people who scour thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets and antique shops for cool treasures and old "junk," apply their creative juices, and give everything a new life.

As a display designer myself, I found it equally as exciting just looking at the beautifully designed booths.  You can tell that every booth and display was designed for people like me, by people like me, who are easily drawn in by neat old treasures and recycled art. Walking through the aisles of creativity was like a constant struggle between the cool stuff pulling me into the next booth, and the desire to run home to my studio and start making things!  Many of the vendors were not only catering to those who want to purchase their items, but also those of us who like making things ourselves, by offering up bins and bins of little found objects just screaming to be made into something.

I went with my very artistic and creative mom, who so graciously offered to come along and help me maneuver the crowds with my two little boys in strollers.  With two little ones, we were only able to stay for a couple hours.  So, I didn't get to see EVERYTHING, but got a bunch of photos.  So many, in fact, that I can barely digest all of them myself, let alone overwhelm you with one post that covers them all.  So, I am going to post some more photos over the next few days from a couple vendors who caught my eye during the event.  Stay tuned for more photos and links to come!

Until tomorrow, here are a few more photos from the morning...

Cool Recycled Message Boards

Last month I was enjoying a wonderful girls' night out with some of my favorite fellow moms from my church, at a local Dunn Brothers' coffee house.  This particular Dunn Bros. is located in a historic house in Eden Prairie, MN (recently named the best place to live in 2010 by Money Magazine).

Anyway, the inside of the house is decorated with various pieces of furniture, art and decor for sale, I believe many done by local artists.  I had to snap a couple photos with my phone to share here.  I love this great way to re-use old metal tv trays and serving trays.  I believe these were painted, however, if you find a cool vintage tray you may want to keep the original art if it's in good shape.  Looks like they put a couple holes in the rim, tied a ribbon through it to hang on the wall, and then used them to stick notes to with magnets.  I think they were selling for $15-$25 or so.  I think that a few junk mail magnets would look great on these!  ;-)

This is another message board that was on display for sale...a piece of framed chicken wire with clothespins to hold notes and cards.  Another fun, simple way to display notes!

Here's an old post, in case you missed it, with another way to turn cookie sheets into message boards.

Used Lottery Ticket Creations

When we were little, my younger brother used to make amazing creations out of used lottery tickets.  This one's for you, Ben!  Check out this art created from used lottery tickets! (via Cool Hunting)

Recycled Kids' Art Project: Used Magazine Collage!

Okay, I'm mooching off of myself again, but I thought this would be a good post to share here on my Junk Mail Gems blog too!  I used to make collages all the time when I was little.  Here's how you and your kids can have fun turning old magazines into art too!

Recycled Crayons by Red Elm Designs

I remember melting my broken crayons in muffin tins to make marbled crayon "discs" when I was little.  They looked NOTHING like Red Elm Designs', who takes recycling crayons to a much higher level with these adorable cupcake crayons:

Their red, white, and blue stars would be fun for this holiday weekend!  Check out all of their fun designs here.  Sometimes the recycled version is way better than the original!

(via Inhabitots!)

Here's a great tutorial for recycling your own crayons, too!

Recycled Hubcap Creatures

I just came across these awesome "hubcap creatures" today (via Superuse). The recycled "creatures," designed by Ptolemy, are made from old hubcaps and other found metal. Every hubcap has been found along the side of the road, so every creature has his own real battle scars from his or her former life spinning around under someone's vehicle.

So, naturally, it got me wondering what else people have done with recycled hubcaps. Here's a cool clock by Starlinginc on Etsy:

I love it...the green would look great in my studio! Hmm, may have to put this on my mental wish list...

Creating Art with Trash and Shadows

An old high schoolmate of mine just posted this on facebook and I just had to share. Being an artist as well as a designer and creator of Junk Mail Gems, I especially love to see ways that people turn trash into art. This is a particularly unique method that I have not seen before...using light against carefully crafted piles of trash that cast intricate, recognizable shadows on the wall. This work is done by Tim Noble and Sue Webster...fantastic stuff!

"Innocent Spam" by Janet Nelson

So, here's how this post came to be. Yesterday I posted on my Facebook status that I "just deleted over 1,600 junk emails from my inbox from only 6 days; this is getting ridiculous!" A friend commented with something about how if only I could turn junk EMAIL into something crafty (like I do with paper junk mail). In chimes another friend out in Ohio, saying that he has seen artwork made from spam emails. You see where I'm going here? Anyway, I just had to share the link he sent because it made me smile, and was in some weird way, related to Junk Mail Gems...if only in a distant-cousin-twice-removed sort of way.

We all have gotten those spam emails with dirty subject lines. Well, thank goodness for people out there like Janet Nelson, who finds the innocence within the icky with her fantastic "innocent spam" cartoons. Check it out...you're sure to look at those nasty spam messages in a whole new light!

As I glance over at the now 244 messages in my junk email folder, I see a few that might be fun to illustrate...
"Women will stare at your member like at the museum."
"Never half-staying in bed."
"Ladies crave for bigger chest like the guys crave to be blessed."
"She won't hide her emotions when she sees your proportions."
"Just what your rod needs!"

These lines clearly are not written by people whose first language is English! Especially this one: "hoist your belove sexuality" and "Be sure in your hose." Huh? Well, I guess I can be glad that these forms of junk mail are electronic and not physically arriving in my mailbox, but they are no less annoying!! Thank you, Janet, for your creative and entertaining way to "repurpose" electronic junk mail!

The recycled magazine work of "Danny O"

I just hung up my 2009 calendar in the Junk Mail Gems studio...featuring the art of Daniel O'Connor (aka "Danny O"). It's really a fun calendar full of his work, which is made up of a collage of magazine paper.



This one is my favorite although it is not in the calendar:


Ever since I was little, my mom used to set us up at the kitchen table with some glue, paper, and a pile of coupon ads from the newspaper, magazines, etc. We would cut out shapes and make our own collages.

Collages are a great way to re-use, and just plain fun project for kids. It gives them an opportunity to create artwork by including images of things that they may have a hard time drawing otherwise...plus, what kid doesn't like using scissors and glue? Kudos to Danny O for turning his passion and talent into a professional fine art career!

Recycled Phone Sheep

I have not had a corded phone in years...in fact I haven't even had a land line in over 5 years now. What will happen to these phones when they become extinct? Only the lucky ones will get to retire and live out their final days in greener pastures (or in this case, tile floors) in their second lives as sheep! (via Geekware)

Michelle Stitzlein's Recycled Art

Michelle Stitzlein's work is just too cool for words. Check out her beautiful moth sculptures, made entirely out of recycled "stuff." SO incredible!!




(via eco-artware)

Recycled Bike Art

I used to often ride my bike to work (in the summer, as this is MN!) when I was working as a display designer for the Best Buy corporate office a little over a year ago. I have a super cool baby blue Electra bike...I can't wait to get back on it! I didn't ride last summer as I was very pregnant, off balance and top-heavy...and this summer my baby boy is still too small for the pull-behind cart I got. But, next year I'll pump up your tires and get you out of the garage, girl, I promise! In the meantime, I'll check out other people who bike and the creative things that these ladies have done with recycled bike parts...

Check out this great artwork made out of recycled bike parts! Angela Armstrong and Angela Kelly of Maine have a beautiful selection of everything from wine glass charms to coasters to framed art. Wonderful work, ladies!