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Why Should I Create with Trash?

December 5, 2022 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

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.

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Easy Patriotic Decor

June 21, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

inexpensive_summer_decor

A must-do event during summers in Georgia is the Stone Mountain Laser Show. It’s quite the cultural event down south and I’ve been going to it since I was a child. Anyone that has been a part of the Laser Show tradition knows that the grand finale is a rousing rendition of Proud To Be An American with plenty of Americana and tons of fireworks. This year we stood with mouths dropped open as the show wrapped up void of the traditional finale!? How could they leave out the show stopper? I left feeling jipped and like my kids had been robbed of a part of their childhood.

Since this event, I decided I need to ramp up the patriotic decor and compensate for Stone Mountain’s total lack of good judgement. Ok, so I’m being a little dramatic, but I did make some pretty sweet patriotic decor out of recycled items around the house and I thought you’d enjoy them.

I’m going to first show you how to make some fabric scrap flags, and then a few ways to create things to help display them. I started by gathering a pile of scrap fabric and felt. I have a hard time throwing out little bits, when there are projects like this one that just needs a little bit. So, I was thankful I had some scraps on hand that worked perfect.

red_white_blue_crafts

I cut out a few flag pendents. You might remember this technique with my fabric arrows. I cut the flags out on a piece of fabric folded in half, so I had a fold that separate two sides. This worked perfectly to glue my stick in the middle and then glue one side over to create a clean and front back on my flag.

scrap_fabric_flags

fabric_flag_tutorial

felt_flagsAfter I made one, I made a few more and made sure to have two different styles cut to add a little variety and fun.

4th_july_table_decorThe flags were so cute left like that. I decided to embellish two of mine with some materials I had left over from my Christmas Spoonful Lab. Aren’t these leftovers fun? 🙂

4th_july_flagsI love how easy these flags were to create, yet what a fun little embellishment they can make! I see these helping to decorate a food spread. For example, how cute would they be sticking out of a of big bowl of popcorn!?

inexpensive_July 4th_decorI displayed my flags by simply adding them to a few recycled crafts. I took an old beer bottle and literally just wrapped a piece of fabric around it. I used some jute rope to hold the fabric in place. This was much easier than trying to peel off the beer label or heating my hot glue gun back up to glue it place. I love how it turned out. I also used a little white acrylic paint and painted a recycled refried beans can. I used a little sandpaper to scratch it up to look a bit more rustic, and it was done! A few of these cute cans would look great holding silverware on a party food table. The possibilities are endless! Have fun creating and using your imagination!

What other trash could you turn into patriotic treasures?

**Thank you to everyone who entered my Albion gift card giveaway! Our winner is Brittany T. D! Congratulations! I will be in touch. If you are bummed to not have won and would like to purchase a suit, use code spoonful15 for a 15% off discount before July 1 on their site!**

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