Junk Bonanza 2011 - a sneak peek

Hey Twin Citians!  Did you know that the 2011 Junk Bonanza is going on as we speak in Shakopee, Minnesota? I didn't, at least not until yesterday when my mom, who saw news coverage of it, reminded me!  So, we made some last second plans, which were set in stone late last night, to attend this morning.

We came...we saw...we left just in time for my boys' naps.  (Which left us with maybe an hour or a little more of actually looking at stuff, after you subtract the time we spent letting them burn energy on the playground.)  But, I did manage to take lots of photos again this year and made my one purchase, which I'll share with you next week! 

In the meantime, here are a few photos to whet your appetites....

I love that this show not only sells really awesome upcycled items, but it also caters to people like me who are looking for interesting found objects to upcycle myself....

...all over the Junk Bonanza are bins and bins of little objects just begging to be used in some cool project...

...vintage and retro and antique, oh my!

Are 'ya drooling yet?  I always have to limit the amount of cash in my pocket at this because it doesn't last long. Next week I'll post some of the cool recycled and upcycled finds as well as my own personal purchase!  Stay tuned!

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!

Green Cricket Salvage: Unique Salvage, Inspired Restoration

In continuation of what I saw at this year's Junk Bonanza in Shakopee, for my next vendor highlight I would like to share the work of Beth Heeney of "Green Cricket Salvage."

This chair decoupaged with maps grabbed my attention and I just had to check out her display!

I love these cute necklaces made from vintage Fisher Price people!  She also had keychains.  What a fun idea.

Here's Sammy checkin' himself out in her cool mirrors made from tennis rackets.  Very cool!  I have taught Sammy to say "hey good lookin'!" whenever he looks in the mirror, so of course I have to show him every mirror in the place.

These cute sconces made from licensed plates were a neat idea!

Check out her website for more great stuff!

Groupon Offers Half Price Admission to Junk Bonanza!

I apologize for all of my non-Minnesota readers, but for those of you who live in the Twin Cities and love to find cool vintage stuff and repurposed items, be sure to check out today's Groupon for half price admission to the Junk Bonanza!  The event is held this September 16, 17, and 18 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee.

If you are NOT in this area and unable to attend, you might enjoy checking out their online gallery for a little eye candy and inspiration!

I've never been to this but it looks very much up my alley...and perhaps yours as well!  Happy hunting!

Recycling vintage costume jewelry

I love getting blog post ideas from my readers!  Recently I received an email from Sherri, wondering what to do with her aunt's box of costume jewelry.  I have always enjoyed picking up old jewelry at garage sales and thrift stores and cutting them up to re-use the beads and embellishments in new jewelry.

Buzz Buzz Designs turns recycled vintage jewelry into something new.

About.com has a pretty nice tutorial on re-purposing your old costume jewelry, with a list of supplies needed and some suggestions.

Curbly posted a great idea to use costume jewelry to create knobs!

 The Willies' Etsy shop sells some cute wall art that uses vintage jewelry. You could make some cute flowers using buttons as shown below, or more jeweled pieces like on the knobs above!

Throw some vintage photography into the mix too, and you can create something like this idea posted on Craftstylish!

Wall art is a great way to keep your vintage jewelry on display, even if you aren't wearing it, especially if it has sentimental value and helps you remember the wonderful women who wore it!  Here's one way that Heather used her family members' heirloom jewelry to create wall art to display each Christmas.

Other ideas that come to mind...
Decorating the top of a jewelry box that stores your own jewelry.
Use them to embellish home made cards and gift tags.
Sew them on an old purse to give it some extra sparkle.

Okay, I think I need to go to the thrift store now...

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 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!