Art • Nature • Food • Life • Spirituality • People • Creative Ideas
I learned a new term - "upcycled" instead of "recycled". I like it! Taking an item (like a used gift card) and turning it into something better than it's original purpose. This green art is en entirely new art form and it is getting bigger all the time. Jeff and I are both experimenting with making upcycled art and this magazine just added fuel to the creative fire. I think I am going to take some plastic grocery bags and make something . . . .
She sat at the dining room table and started drawing. She gave it lots of thought and attention and after several drafts came up with a design she really liked.
Next, I sketched her design onto the canvas, set up the easel, paints and brushes and let her go (with a bit of supervision). She did an awesome job. The hardest part for her was waiting for the paint to dry between colors.
Once the design was painted we stood back and looked at it and she said "I know what it needs, dots and stars". So we busted out the gold paint and she get busy! Here is her final creation. She is quite the artist! And just 5 years old. I know she will love having this in her room.
Fast forward . . . . on Saturday we found a street sale (love those) and there was tons of great stuff. At the second house we went to the only thing she had on her table was Fiestaware and tons of it! She had plates, bowls, mugs, serving dishes, all kinds of shapes and sizes and she even had Fiesta flatware! (And the prices were cheap!) I was feeling a bit stunned, thinking the Universe was trying to tell me something. First I negotiated a great price for the flatware and then picked out a couple of dishes - great chartreuse color. As I was deciding what to pick next a woman walked up and before I could do anything she had bought nearly all the good pieces. Panic! At that moment I realized the collector in me was alive and really peeved! As I look back on it, I still regret not just offering her $100 bucks for the lot when I first walked up, but I now know that I am a Fiestaware collector and that won't ever happen to me again!!
The good news! I did get away with two pieces a plate and bowl (the chartreuse was retired in 1999!) and flatware service for 8 in some really wonderful colors. Also found two packages of vintage MOD looking decals in vibrant colors at another sale. This look is the beginning of my new Urban Cottage vision for our new home in Nashville. A mixture of cottage, modern and retro (the concept is evolving). It will all go into a box marked Inspiration and I will continue the hunt! Now I have an excuse to garage sale and hit the flea markets! ALERT: If you see any Fiestaware out there , give me a call!
Another wonderful thing about Hartville is the farmer's market. Beautiful locally grown food from area farmers and Amish families. I couldn't resist taking some pics of the great produce.
We had a fun morning, exploring the market, eating breakfast at the Hartville Kitchen, but the girls got a little bored and it was time to go. When Bella made this face I thought she had reached her looking at "old junk" tolerance level! So we headed for home.
At the end of the day, most all the stuff was sold, what was left over was given away and Jeff brought home two nearly new tires (for my Vue) and a lawn mower. Both things we needed and were about to buy. So it worked out so well. We basically traded our purged stuff for things that we really needed and still came out with some cash! That is a new form of recycling!
