1 TIRED Ol' LV Bag from the 80's
1 Can Metallica Gold Spray-Paint (non-fat cap)
1 glue stick
1 Skull & Cross Bone trinket
*All FOUND & FREE

1) Create stencil with "Stencil Letter" font
on computer-thingy

2) Print copy then
cut with x-acto knife (easy big girl) or cuticle scissors

3) Lastly, adhere to bag with glue stick then spray
~ INHALE DEEPLY~

Note: My actual website is ShoppingEqualsDeath.ORG

found items,
jersey shore diftwood while surf fishing

technique
leftover black and white paint, paint brush, tooth bush, and a broomstick to hit the brushes on for the splatter effect

title

surf and turf

Cork christmas ornament made of a single cork, leftover upholstry tassel, craft beads and ribbon

Cork wreath made from used wine corks glued to a purchased straw craft wreath ($2.00), decorated with ribbon and plastic grapes

This is a Hobo Wreath depicting a Hobo made from stuff a Hobo could obtain: Cardboard, twine, garbage bag, scrap of cloth necktie, beer bottle, yarn hair, a sad frown and a bandana pouch on a stick.

I made a headband to wear at Holiday time. The materials used include a Holiday craft tree that my departed mother-in-law left me. Using a leftover headband from my Halloween costume, I decorated with feathers, "chenille" sticks (ie fancy pipe cleaners), glitter and the tiniest googly eyes. My birthday is on Friday Dec. 3 so it would be swell to win!! Yes I am pandering!!

Scrap fabric and ribbon wreath. Recycle all those ribbons and fabric scraps from other projects by tying them on a cardboard ring. For a rounder look, pick up a foam circle at the dollar store.

After a glass or two of bubbly, inanimate objects seem to have a bit more personality. I call this project "Champagne Habits". My Nun friends are made from discarded champagne cork, paint, wire, and paper. Their main function is to provide a little company, humor, and holy wisdom through the stresses of the holiday season.

My niece is really keen on celebrating her birthday (which she does during her entire birthday month) but on her actual birthday, she wears a tiara out and about, and has done so since she was 25.

I used to make hats and I had been promising to make her a tiara, a much nicer one than the little cheap-y ones she'd been buying for years. So, for her 35th birthday, I found my milliner's wire to make the tiara base. I ripped apart the bunches of artificial grapes that I bought years ago at a Double Discount Store that were made out of 3/8" round faceted glass beads on wire "stems". I wrapped the beads around the tiara base with the wire stems and covered the rough ends w strips of old black tights.

She wore to her big birthday bash and my younger niece wants to wear it to her junior high school prom next year--it is on its way to becoming an official family heirloom :-)

This finger puppet has been knocked up and knocked about. She has a cigarette hanging from her lips and a pop-eyed infant dangling between her legs. The miracle of birth can be enjoyed over and over by sticking the babe back into her hollow belly and pulling it out again! Hours of family fun! AND made with less than two dollars worth of yarn!

This is the Ginger Chew Christmas Tree. It is made from the following materials all found at home or in the office brought together in perfect harmony with hot glue!

Base:
Keurig Individual Coffee plastic filter
Pennies for weight
Already-used aluminum foil
Scrap of fabric
Inner wax paper from Ginger People Ginger Chews

Trunk:
An Old Cinnamon Stick from my Mom's cabinet that resided in my Grandmother's pantry for a long time

Foundation for leaves:
Yellow Solo cup, cut
Keurig Individual Coffee plastic filter

Leaves:
Wrappers from Ginger People Ginger Chews

Thread, bread twisters and an old shirt's sleeves.
Just little (approximately one to three inches) fantasy creatures from the land of Art Blops.(which is my work space)

I reckon the whole family of four Blops run about two bucks to make.

Until . . .
Elizabeth Beckmann

Joy's torso is a toilet paper roll, her head is a flower made from a plastic bottle, and her arms are Zoloft sample "blister" packs, hence her name, Joy.
mdelgphoto.com

This is a Chanukah Box. It can be easily created for less than $10 and you don't have to be an artist, but you should know how to measure paper and cut. Mostly it can be made from stuff around the house: a largish shoe box, scotch tape, double-sided tape, copy paper that can be drawn on, gift wrap, adhesive paper if on sale, say, at amazing savings, a ruler, scissors, colored markers, pencils, etc. and, most importantly, velcro dots. I did use stamps that I had carved, and ink, with my (at the time) young daughter helping with decorations. But, why make it? I didn't have birthday presents, much less chanukah presents, growing up - my mothers' reasoning was that we got what we needed when we needed it. Indeed, I was a frequent if unwilling beneficiary of Marshalls every time my mother went there, well into my 40s. The box was my impulsive attempt to combat my goyish husbands' Christmas traditions with a 3-year-old. It didn't work but the box has added a new level of expectation to my now teen-aged daughters' 'holiday season.' Advantages of the box: 1. you don't need to gift-wrap; 2. any member of the family (or more than one) can get a gift in the box; 3. a magazine gets the same treatment as perfume; 4. it's really nice on the last night when all the 'candle's' are on. I believe that this could be adapted as a lazy persons' Christmas tradition easily - again, no more gift wrap, and it's communal. It's very 'green.'

My wife and i had a wedding and invited 300 people - who all showed up. We served Portuguese Vinho Verde (a little bit bubbly)and had many bottles left over. Casal Garcia is the vinyard and uses bottles with a lovely blue hue.

For my birthday, my wife bought me a glass bottle cutter. Now, whenever we need drinking glasses, i set up a table in front of our apt house and get the local kids to help me etch, heat/cool and sand the edges to make beautiful glasses - which they each get to take home at the end of the afternoon.

NYC produces many excess wine bottles everyday. Enough that we would probably never have to import new drinking glasses ever, if we use what we have.

My 4 year old daughter and I walked around the woods in the Bronx and picked up leaves (Sweetgum, Dove Tree, Fig, European Beech, Magnolia, and Pine), branches and corresponding fruits (nuts) that we found on the floor. The leaves were wet so we allowed them to dry for a few days. We purchased a large cardboard display board (1.5 feet by 2.5 feet) for $1 and wrapped it tightly with left over burlap fabric that was in the garage; stapling it copiously where necessary. We used industrial strenght glue ($5) to adhere the leafy and woody objects to the burlap/cardboard frame. We call it "Fall" and it hangs in our living room.

SOAP – I’m sure I’m not the only person who saves those small pieces of soap left over from the once new and large bars we use in the shower. Process: gather your pieces and divide into two piles. #1: all the same or close to the same color (about 2 cups chopped) and #2 all other colors (about 1 cup chopped). Chop pile #1 into small pieces and in a pot with water. Heat slowly and stir until most of the pieces have melted and your mixture has a goopy consistency. If desired add your choice of essential oil for additional scent and mix in. Now add pile #2. Stir until all pieces are coated with the goopy mixture. Finish by moving the contents of the pot into a lightly greased (Crisco, not butter!) loaf pan or other vessel that will allow the soap to harden and easily be removed. After 12 hours or so, remove the soap from the pan. Not coming out? Try placing the pan in a shallow dish of hot water for 15 minutes or so. Once the soap is out, wait another 6 hours or so before slicing, and at least another 7 days before using. It is important for any excess moisture to evaporate – otherwise your “new” soap will melt too quickly in the shower. To give as gifts: wrap with cellophane or tissue paper, a bow and a gift tag!

I made this dandy hair clip at a recent meet-up in Hoboken among craft minded people at my friend Meghan's store. I used discarded candy wrappers (re: trash) to sew flower petals that I then hot glued onto a silver clip (I bought a six pack of clips at a craft store for 1.29. With a coupon, of course.) Amy, I'd love to make a red one for you (hmmm...Kit Kats?) for Christmas!

Craftily yours,
Laura

Lily, 99 years old, made this last month. Anticipating great grandchildren visiting she created this craft project.
Cut toilet paper tubes into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices, or beads. Color with markers (or any pens or crayons or paints you have around the house.) These are strung on old venetian blind cord.
We used these as part of our Halloween costumes. I hope it is okay that we submitted two ideas. If not, pick the best one.

My Mom, Lily, 99 years old, made this apron a few years ago.
The skirt is made from the back of a pair of my uncle's bermuda shorts. The bodice and strings are from my Dad's shirt. The neck piece is recycled from venetian blind tape that held the slats in place.
Since then, she has made aprons out of dresses, skirts, shirts, so that the apron retains the look of the original source-as with the bermuda shorts.