Jan Haddad's jewelry was made from turkey bones that have been cleaned and bleached. Various paints, strings and beads have been used to to decorate the bopnes that have been made into pins, necklaces, and earrings.

This is a Christmas ornament known in our family as "Peanut Jesus". So popular was this little guy that one year we made up a story to read before we put him on the tree (heavily influenced by the original Walton's Christmas movie), and the kids (11 cousins, all a year or two apart) would draw names to see who would read the story (which I've also attached). The original Peanut Jesus came from a grammar school craft sale many decades ago, but he has been reproduced many times since. It is just a cardboard toilet paper inner core cut in half and glued back to back, with a peanut wrapped in TP glued inside, glued to a wooden clothespin. Total cost estimated at about 75 cents. I have accepted Peanut Jesus as my personal savior of crafting. Here is the story the children tell:

Peanut Jesus and the Spam Loaf

Every Christmas time, well really just around Thanksgiving – when the nice folks from the Christian Children’s Fund would drive a tractor trailer full of non-perishable goods into town and give all the kids from the hills a milk crate full of canned food to take home – Mama would make sure she separated all the Spam and canned meat products from the cans of tomato soup and creamed corn, and she’d put them aside to make her famous Spam Loaf for Christmas.

Whoever Mama’s boyfriend was that year would go out late at night and cut down a nice tree from along the side of the Interstate, and we’d keep it outside by the woodshed until it lost most of the nasty smell from the stuff the highway patrol sprayed on them.

Mama and us kids would unpack the crate full of ornaments, mostly made from old car parts that we also found along the Interstate. But most favorite of all was Peanut Jesus.

Peanut Jesus was made by my Granny before she died. It was made from a toilet paper core – the cardboard tube you find in the middle of a roll – and it was cut down the middle, lengthways, and glued back to back to make the Manger. Then Granny had glued a little piece of toilet paper inside of that to make the Swaddling Clothes. Then she took a peanut – just an ordinary peanut, like I heard you get at a circus – and she made a little face on one end, with a pen, just two dots for eyes and a little crooked line for the mouth – and glued a little halo from a gold pipecleaner on its head. Peanut Jesus.

Sometimes Peanut Jesus would slip out of his little manger, and once the hounds got hold of him and nearly et him – but we would always find him and fit him right snug back into his little toilet paper wrapper before it was time to put the ornaments away until next year.

Then, on Christmas Eve day, while she was cooking up the Oleo and toasting the Sunbeam bread to stuff the possum for Christmas dinner, Mama would mash all the Spam and canned meat, mixing it up with chopped onion, some evaporated milk and a can of cream of mushroom soup, and she’d put it in this old copper Jello mold shaped like a giant lobster, which she found in the Salvation Army dumpster back before I was born.

Just before putting it in the oven to bake, she’d sink a nickel way down into the loaf, way down deep where we couldn’t see it, and then she’d bake it up until the bright pink meat turned a kind of browny-pink. Then, late on Christmas Eve, just before all us kids were being sent to our room out in the back of the woodshed, she’d take it out for supper, and we’d all gather round while she cut it up into tiny little squares – there were seventeen of us, after all – and she’d dish out a little square onto each of our paper plates, joined by a glob of mash potatoes from a box, and a single slice of bright purple beet from a can.

We’d all save the square of Spam Loaf for last, and the lucky kid who found the nickel got to put Peanut Jesus on the Christmas tree before they went to bed.
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My cousin had a baby in September. She also raises mini cows in Texas. I made this for her Christmas gift with felt I cut out and hand stitched on to the store bought onesie. It is pretty time consuming, but I have made many and they always turn out very cute. And that also means I have a large supply of felt (at about 25 cents a sheet) on hand.

Luggage tags made from repurposed Cheeto's bags.

This luggage tag is 3" by 4". I used empty Cheeto's bags, stiff interfacing to give the piece stability, 2 small pieces of clear vinyl, for the front & back (which you can use from bedding or shower curtain packaging), a ball chain & fabric for the backing. I hand dye a lot bamboo fabric for my fiber pieces, so I have scraps of fabric laying around the studio at all times.

This is Erica the Drunken Debutante and Butler Bill. I used old pill bottles and covered up the labels with construction paper. For Butler Bill, I drew a little suit on, and for Erica I cut a little cocktail dress out of felt. Erica's pendant necklace is made with a pipe cleaner, and her hat is a colored cotton ball. The googly-eyes are entirely inspired by Amy Sedaris. And, best of all, the lids still function so that, after a long night of drinking alone, you can turn to your only friends for an ibuprofen or that last-minute Ambien. Good times!

Rocks from outside are painted with acrylic paints. Mouse rock also has a tail made of braided embroidery floss

Cross made of matches (children should be supervised) and shrine made of popsicle sticks

Sweet little old lady Halloween Nosegay made from crepe paper, pipe cleaners, glue, ornamental leaves, and ribbon.
About 25 cents a bunch. Maybe $5 total investment for materials.
Great way to get kids back to work, America!

I used a shop rite tomato soup can, glued that to a tuna fish can. I decorated the cans with items found in a junk drawer in the kitchen. it will be used in the guest bathroom to hold tampons in case one of our guests gets her period unexpectedly. the totla cost of this project was $3.00.

This a scupture made from Starbucks coffee stirers and Starbucks straws. there are two sizes of straws at Starbucks. I have developed a system of attachments and mechanisms to hold the sticks together.
I started making sculpture using sticks and straws out of artistic fustration due to lack of space to build rather large pieces in similiar genre using lumber.
With this technique I essentially need no tools or rather very few hand tools and I can create sculptures anywhere there is a Starbucks. Most people see a coffee shop and I see an art supply store. thank you Starbucks.

These are remote controls made our of yarn, buttons and bows. They don't turn anything on but are pretty cute.

This is a yarn stereo system with 2 speakers. It has speaker connector cords and power cord on the back. It is made with 3 wine boxes, yarn and buttons.

These chocolates are made with beautywares (pantyhose, curlers, q-tips, cotton balls, etc) and housewares (garbage bags, sponges, etc). They are bite size and look a lot more yummy than they taste.

These are cupcakes made mostly with yarn. The toppings and sprinkles range from pantyhose (chocolate icing), tacks, twistie ties, fake eyelashes, etc.

I made a basket from bodega bags (also chick pea and other food bags). I guess I probably spent $1.20 on the crochet hook, though it's likely that my Mom gave it to me.
At some point I got so crazy about making them that I couldn't throw any plastic away. Friends, and later strangers would give me their old bags - sometimes they were really gross. Thankfully, I've now stopped making the baskets.

I made a latchhooked pillow cutting down extra yarn from old crochet projects.
I call it dirty pillowz.
The actual pillow is uncensored.
Enjoy!

I couldn't afford the book (seriously I have been on unemployment for months) at $27.95. Plus wouldn't the price already exceed the $10 limit?

Photocopy mounted on corrugated cardboard (perfume packaging insert). Acrylics, Elmer's, glitter glue, sequins, irridescent eye shadow, punched out cardboard stars and black ballpoint pen.

sock monkey
2 mismatched socks
felt for eyes
stuffing from old pillow
needle and thread

wrist warmers
i took 2 mismatched wool socks. cut the toe and heel off. from the toes and heels i cut polka dots and sewed them on. now my wrists stay warm.