Let’s talk about trash! There are 5 reasons why I think you should create with trash! Trash is anything you might normally throw away or recycle. It has served its purpose, but what if it could serve a second purpose!? You could get more mileage out of your goods and your money?? That is a win!
Follow along with Erica and Reagan in a new video where they teach these tips or keep reading to be inspired how you can create FREE fun at home this holiday season.
Let’s dive in and see, if I can convince you to create with trash. We go through a lot of it everyday, and I believe that we can creatively be intentional with what we re-use.
Have you ever turned a spaghetti jar into a flower vase? Or a soup can into a pencil holder? These are some quick ideas to get you thinking of how you can repurpose something to serve you again.
In this post, Reagan and I make a collage out of trash. A collage is sticking a variety of different objects together to cover a backspace. We use cardboard and a tin pan as our backdrops to hold our collages in this example.
Now, let’s talk about why creating with trash matters!
1. Trash Turns into Art
When we work with new and unusual items it taps into a different area of our brain. As a result, we are learning. We are experimenting and can enjoy the process. We are doing something we have not done or maybe seen done before. We aren’t creating towards a finished product, but we are having fun and learning in the process.
2. Trash is cheap
There are so many assumptions and stereotypes that art is expensive. It doesn’t have to be. We all have supplies (yes, like trash) that we already have paid for and can use to create. When we create, we are bringing something to life. That is art.
3. We Learn
When we work with unusual supplies, we are placed in a position to learn.
We learn about the artist. What are they making? They must care about that!
We are also figuring out how things attach, work together, and so we are being engineers. In the process, we learn about 3d creations. Paper is the cheapest form of “typical” art supplies, which is just flat. When we work with trash, we can create bigger sculpture projects.
4. We Have Fun
When we create with trash, there are no expectations of what we need to make or how something needs to turn out. What a freeing feeling to be able to take risks without judgement and just play!
5. There are no souvenirs
The clean up, when we are done creating with trash, is super easy! Just throw all the extra stuff away or take it to the recycling center. It was going there anyway! There is no need to store any extra supplies.
We can then enjoy our creations, but we can also toss them when they end up taking up too much space and need to move on. We didn’t invest a lot in them.
We had fun. We created. The supplies served their purpose and now they can move on and we can create more.
What do you think? Did I convince you that the next time you feel an itch to create something to first stop and look in your recycling items? The kids are coming home for the holidays. I promise you, if you save some trash, invest in a hot glue gun and scotch tape that you will have hours of what feels like FREE at home fun to do together. It’s such a fun way to connect and see your artists’ brain at work being an engineer and imagining the possibilities!
Are you curious at what you can do with your newly created trash collage, after you create it? Reagan and I will be showing you a second part to this idea in a new video going out in our newsletter this week. It’s a collaborative art game that is fun and teaches TEAMWORK.
If you aren’t on the list, sign up today to be sure to get it or comment below and we can get you signed up.
This sweet babe of mine is my baby girl. Three weeks ago her world was rocked as we welcomed another little boy into our lives for a season.
Creativity is a complex idea. I think most people think of creativity as literally pulling out craft supplies and creating something awesome. Creativity can look different, and that is something I have been learning. I like how Wikipedia defines the word CREATIVE: “a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created (such as an idea, a joke, an artistic or literary work, a painting or musical composition, a solution, an invention etc.). The ideas and concepts so conceived can then manifest themselves in any number of ways…”
God is in control of our lives. He has my kids in the palm of his hand, and he is their protector. I do my best, but then I am reminded I am not their Savior. In all my deep talks, I was reminded the other week that some of my well thought out and intentional moments with the kids may not even be the most meaningful things. In a moment of exasperation of asking, pleading, and enduring an unusual amount of timeouts, I asked my foster son what was going on. I will never forget what he said. He said, “I think I need some Jesus music”. It still brings tears to my eyes as I replay this story.
I made this sweet little sign to hang in my office as a daily reminder that I can be creative right where I am now. In the moments where kids are my entire day, I can still be creative.
Now, when I look back I wouldn’t have the picture any other way. It sums up where I am at. Four cute, sweet kids that I love and adore and we are not perfect but doing the best we can to remember love is patient and God is not through with any of us yet. As you are making it through your day, know that I am thinking and praying for you that you would be filled with “a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created” and that it makes a difference for the people around you!