Recycled container lights

Check out these cool lights, posted by "mattsparkes' on Superuse.
Very cool idea!!

Ugly Lamp : BEFORE

Well, It's been a little while again since I've blogged, as summer happens to be the busiest time of year for my other business, face painting! I also am now expecting and due on Christmas day! So, I've been "recycling" a messy, un-used room in our house into a nursery. So, enough with the excuses...

At this very moment I am also manning my own garage sale, which got me thinking about this great way to re-use. Never be too proud to go to garage sales! You never know what treasures you'll find. This ugly lamp above, which I got a long time ago at another garage sale and had filled with marbles, was about to go into my own sale. But, then I came up with an idea to use it for my new bug-themed nursery. I have already covered the shade with cute bug fabric, and next I plan to paint the base, and fill the inside with fake grass and bugs like a little terrarium. So, stay tuned for the "after" shot of my ugly lamp!

Garage sales are a great way to personalize, recycle and re-use things that might otherwise end up in the trash. I got a fantastic crib the other day for $30 which is unreal. And, now I'm sitting here eyeing my dad's beat up dresser, thinking I could keep it and paint that for the nursery as well. It is an obsession that never really ends... But that's okay. If you're not the creative type, don't toss out your useable stuff, as someone out there can fix it up! Donate it to a thrift store and help the rest of us feed our obsession!

Junk Mail Gems on Etsy

Hey there,
Many of you have told me I should set up a shop on Etsy, so I finally decided to give it a whirl. I just finished setting up an Etsy shop for Junk Mail Gems...check it out! I don't have everything up there, but it's a start. I'll see if it is worth keeping up. You can still see my full line of products at Junk Mail Gems.com! I literally JUST put it up and have 18 views on my wallets. Not sure how that works out, but I'll take it! :-)

Beautiful Magazine Mobiles

Gotta share this cool product that my design savvy sister recently emailed my way...Check out these beautiful mobiles by Frazier & Wing, made out of recycled magazine pages!


So gorgeous!! This morning I took a break from some of my design work (as if I need a break from something I love), to make some more paper beads. Keep an eye out at Junk Mail Gems as I'll be updating my bead section with some new products and new improvements to what's already there! Or, sign up for my newsletter on the first page to keep really up-to-date. (I'll give you a juicy tip...I'm planning to include a coupon in my next issue!!)

Elevating Garbage to Art

Sometimes trash is pretty enough as it is, without turning it into something else! Check out what New York City artist Justin Gignac is doing with the trash he finds on the streets of NYC. You can purchase an elegant box of signed, dated, colorful NYC trash for only $50. And don't worry, every box is sealed, and will not leak or smell!

Pen Chandelier

Well, I just got my latest issue of ReadyMade and am tempted to give the MacGyver challenge another whirl. The new challenge is to find a way to make something out of old dead pens.

I looked around the web and found a few cool ideas to get the juices (ink) flowing...

Check out this cool pen chandelier! I have a feeling this was not made with dried up, dead pens, but I could see someone making a cool lamp shade if they've saved up enough old pens!

New Uses for Satellite Dishes

Hello everyone,

Well, I haven't blogged in a while as I was out in Arizona spending some time with my in-laws! But, while I was out there I saw something along the road that I was unfortunately unable to snap a photo of in time to capture. I saw one clever homeowner who had taken an old satellite dish, cut it in half, and attached it as an awning over a window. And, it really didn't look half bad! You could probably even decorate it with a canvas cover or even some vines to spruce it up. But, I thought it was a cool idea.

I don't like to post anything without pictures though, so I thought I'd peruse the web for some other things people have done with satellite dishes. I found some pretty creative ideas, like this satellite dish gazebo.



...even a feeder & shelter for llamas!



Here's someone who uses small dish satellite's as a canvas for artwork.