Upcycled Design Lab Blog

My Crazy Upcycled Board Game of "Life"

 

 

 

I recently posted this picture of a board game that I invented on my Facebook Page.  It was made mostly from upcycled materials, some old linoleum squares, pieces of cardboard and cut up cracker boxes, altoid tins and bottle caps a few wine corks and some other misc junk.  Ironically I posted it because I was having some technical difficulties with facebook and so I was looking for something to post just to test the problem with FB.  Well the issue with facebook resolved itself within an hour or two but by that time my picture had already been shared, liked and commented on. 

 

Anyway I thought maybe I should give this project a little more attention.  In truth I never quite finished it even though we did play the game once or twice at a family gathering.  So I have decided to resurrect it and see what happens next.

The title of my post isn't quite fair to be honest I was influenced more by the game "Careers" but how many people remember that one?  And actually there is a pretty strong resemblance to Monopoly as well as a touch of Candy-Land.  Ah Yes my childhood is coming back to haunt me.

With the holidays coming up I should have an opportunity to do some more product testing.  I am pretty sure that none of the rules were ever written down and the spaces on the board are currently made from post it notes. 

Maybe after some further product testing I will actually finish it and it will become a great family heirloom. 

 

(I don't think Hasbro will be knocking on my door anytime soon :-) 

 

 

Happy Upcycling,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eggsperimental - Upcycled Natural Egg Dying

 

 

I had so much fun last year dying Easter eggs with purple cabbage and silk neck ties, I decided to give some other things a try.  In the spirit of Upcycling I wanted to use things that I was going to throw away.

Here are the items I selected.

1) Black Olive Juice - Light Grey Eggs

2) Used Coffee Grounds - Brown Eggs

3) Yellow Onion Skins - Golden Orange Eggs

4) Beet Juice - I used the pickled kind which was quite unsuccessful.  I was hoping for pink or red.

5) Dandelion Greens - Light Yellow Eggs

I did select one other ingredient still hoping for pink or red:

6) Red Wine - Deep Grayish Purple

You also need some white vinegar.  Some tutorials have you add it to the dye bath others have you wipe down the eggs before you dye them.  I did some of both.

 

 

Some of the eggs were boiled in the mixture.  This gives a smooth solid color.

 

 

I also experimented with mixing colors and wrapping the eggs in the onion peels.  Here I added the onion peels to the red wine.

 

 

And let it sit over night.

 

 

The onion peel mixed with the dandelion greens yielded a more medium orange color.  I never did get my pink or reddish color but for the most part I was quite please with my eggsperiment.

 

Do you like my little upcycled egg stands?

 

 

Happy Crafting

 

 

 

 

Upcycled Vintage Suitcase - Yes I did :-)

 

 

Oh dear. 

Where have I been? 

Was my last post really in November?  It is Shameful really isn't it?

At least I have been crafting a few things here and there and will attempt to post them without monthly delays in between. 

 

So let's get to it.

 

Today's post can only be describe as well ...... as........ Truly one of a kind never seen before and probably will never be seen again.  It was constructed from mostly upcycled materials and is completely whimsical which is what you get when you mix Christmas my nephew and his gift request made specifically for his Crazy Aunt Cindy (that me.)

 

The request....

"A suitcase full of Mustaches with a Barber Shop Pole coming out of it." 

 

Does that make you giggle?  If not read it again. 

You have got to at least smile.  Don't you love how creative and specific it is?  Well I do. 

Perhaps that is why the request went to me and not Santa.

I started with this:

And these....

 

And an old book

I scrounged through my cupboards for all the cardboard boxes I could find.

 

I make messes all over my house.  This project was constructed mostly on the living room floor.

 

 

Here is the Barber shop pole taking a little more shape.  It's just missing some shiny sliver duct tape.

 

 

 

To fill the suitcase I bought some mustaches at a party store.  Cut some more out of fur and felt and I even made some out of candy.

 

 

Of course color and varity where important.

 

 

 

I didn't get at lot of pictures of the mustaches that I made but here are a few in the finished Mustache Suitcase with a Barber Shop Pole.

 

 

 

 

I don't know what my nephew is planning to do with all these mustaches but I sure had fun making the whole silly project for him.

 

So what's your crazy?

The Party's Over and The Frog Rabbit Done Got Drunk

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Before I tell this tale....

it should be noted that for this Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Tea Party certain creative liberties were taken.  For example:  Alice and the Mad Hatter were not actually in attendance, there were no pink flamingos available for croquette and therefore mallets had to be improvised out of other poor unsuspecting creatures.   

 

Furthermore, no one actually drank any tea and perhaps most importantly the role of the white rabbit was played by the understudy Plush Green Frog.

 

 

 

Here is another picture just so you appreciate the full effort that he put into his character.

 

Does his tail make you want to giggle or is it just me?

 

Now some of you may be thinking that these discrepancies negate the right to call this a Mad Hatter Tea Party but I believe that just about anything goes in Wonderland and it was my party after all.

 

 

As a side note I should also mention (in order to stay out of trouble with PETA) that the frog rabbit was not actually allowed to drink anything as he is under age and well...

 

 

you know.....

 

 

 

stuffed.

 

 

 

 

Honestly I can't remember what sparked the idea to make this party the Mad Hatter theme but I do believe my brain works a little bit like a trip though wonderland.  My thoughts go tumbling down the rabbit hole and get curiouser and curiouser and what comes out is.. well.... often a little left of center.

 

 

This "gift" (read craziness, madness, lunacy or eccentricity if you are feeling generous) is what prompts me to make these:

 

 

 

 

out of bar stools, couch cushions, trash bags and crepe paper. 

 

 

Or do this

 

 

 

 

to our pool table.

 

 

How many people out there above the age of 12, I wonder, are wired in such a way that they imagine their pool table as a giant ladybug? 

 

Surely I can't be the only one. 

 

Right?? 

 

 

Ok, never mind don't answer that.

 

 

Shall we continue? 

 

 

 

 

Do you feel any smaller?

 

 

 

 

How about now?

 

 

You may be thinking that since I am willing to tell you this crazy tale that I do not embarrass easily but I have to be honest.  I am embarrassed about this...

 

 

 

To be fair though, the Hookah smoking caterpillar did successfully cover up the stationary bicycle and I feel that it gives you the full scope of my "talent."  If you are not convinced of my great artistic skill please see blog entry regarding the Green Ceramic Cat.

 

 

But I digress.  Onward.

 

Of course you can't have a tea party without a crazy table.

 

 

 

 

 

or two.

 

 

 

Oh!  Please, do forgive me.  Did I forget to mention that the Cheshire Cat was actually a Cheetah?

 

 

 

 

As always my family were such good sports and played along with my crazy pants party.

 

 

 

 

 A little croquette was played.

 

 

 

 

 

Prizes were discovered.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was served.

 

 

 

 

Presents were opened.

 

 

 

 

And then things got really weird when the guest decided to wear the chair covers.  :-)

 

 

 

 

Oh... it's so good to be silly sometimes. 

 

 

Isn't it?

 

 

 

:-)

 

 

 

 

 

Time out from T-Shirts for a Tea Party

 

Ok so the time out from my T-shirt project isn't really a new thing but the Tea Party is my current distraction.  I have mentioned before in previous posts that I am easily distracted so if you are new here and you are hoping to see some cool things made out of T-shirts you have my deepest apologies and I recommend that you check back later.  How much later I can't really say.  It's any body's guess. 

 

For the rest of you folks that already know about my inability to stay focused on anything for more than than a few hours,  it should be no surprise that I am again off on a tangent, or more precisely that I have fallen down yet another rabbit hole.  I have posted on my other blog about past crazy theme parties.  Gypsy Mothers Day, Viking Fathers Day (sorry, no link I guess I didn't write a post about fathers day after all) and last years Lady Gaga Birthday Gala, but since I am using primarily things that I already have on hand I think it is acceptable to post this here.

 

So drum-roll please........  I am hosting a Mad Hatter Tea Party (Family Birthday Party) tonight.

 

 

 

I am knee deep in cooking, cleaning and of course crazy pants decorating.

 

Sometimes I wonder if I should so publicly admit to my peculiar craziness.  But I am working toward being a little more fearless in my life and just being who I am.

 

After all I believe that everyone wants to feel both of these opposing things.

1) That they are different and unique and special.

2) That they fit in and aren't too weird.

 

At least I know that I want both of those things.  But they do tend to tug and pull at one another something fierce.  Now trust me I know that my plans for a Mad Hatter Tea Party are definitely tipping the scales on the weird-o-meter.  But I think it is a fact that the attempt to fit in and not look too weird is the default for most of us.  There-fore, I believe, every now and then we should all go a little bit out of our way to embrace our inner kookiness.

 

On that note I am off to make my pool table into a giant ladybug and my stationary bike into that dope smoking caterpillar.

 

Wish me luck I am never certain how these things are going to turn out.

 

:-)

 

In the beginning....I made a green ceramic "cat"

Since I was on the subject of less than successful projects the other day and I still have not started a new and satisfying project, I thought I might take you back to the beginning.  All the way back to 2nd grade and a project that can only be called my green "cat" blob.  It's green well because it's actually green.  It's a cat because I deemed it was a cat when I made it although there isn't much evidence to prove that it is a cat.  And it is a blob because there is actual physical evidence to show that it is, in fact, a blob.

 

 

 
 

 

See what I mean??

 

 

It's remarkable really that I still have my little green "cat".  There were more successful childhood projects I assure you.  In first grade I drew a scene from "Where the Wild Things Are" that I was quite proud of.  I remember getting many compliments on it.  In 2nd Grade I won 2nd place in a poster contest and I even ventured into clay animal making again, the outcome was an appropriately colored chipmunk with more appropriate limbs.  But none of those things made the cut over the years of sifting through what to keep and what to let go of.  I only have a few remnants of my grade school years, some class photos, a silly gift from my first grade "boyfriend" and my Green "Cat."

 

 

The truth is I love that cat.  

 

 

As you can see it is a horrible rendering of a cat (even for a 2nd grader) with its stumpy hippo like legs, its deformed body shape and it's goofy drawn on smiley face.  As for the green color well I don't know if our teacher didn't explain that glazes change color in the kiln (it was supposed to be a black cat, at least that is what I thought when I painted it.)  Perhaps she did explain and I just wasn't paying attention.  From the shape of my "cat" it seems obvious that I was not overly concerned with accuracy.  In my defense we didn't have a cat and I was working from memory of the few cats that I had seen at that point in my life.  Still I have to believe that I knew it was not a very close rendering of a cat.  I do remember being startled when my cat came out of the oven green and not black but I don't think I really cared that much.  It certainly didn't keep me from diving into the next art project that came along.  I never felt scared by my failure to create an accurate cat sculpture.

 

 

My point, I guess, is that my crazy green cat has come to symbolize what this blog is all about.  Not everything I make is beautiful or even good but it is important to keep creating and not get bogged down with those "adult" thoughts about how I should know what I am doing and that my projects should all turn out exactly how I expect them too. 

 

 

PERFECT.

 

 

 As adults why do we feel like everything we make has to be good?   This kind of perfectionist thinking just keeps us from trying and experimenting and learning and creating. 

 

 

It makes us stuck. 

 

 

And I have certainly been stuck for the last several days.

 

 

Sometimes I wish I could be a little bit more like that 2nd grade girl who thought  "Wow my cat turned green!! 

 

 

That's weird."

 

 

And then move on without giving it another thought.

 

 

 

 

 

I love how confident and happy he is.  Look he isn't the least bit intimidated by his perfectly proportioned and realistically colored big cat buddy.

 

 

I need to go make something today.  I need to just play and see what comes out of it.  I need to let go of my expectations and just have fun.

 

 

I need to embrace the wise teachings of the sage (green) cat.

 

 

 

 

 

I will share with you tomorrow whatever comes out of today's creative messiness.

 

 

Even if it is worse than a green cat blob.  :-)