Dumpster diving and up-cycling....

Those look really cool, A. Nicely done. And there's no better gift to get from someone than something they made themseves.

I never realized how much 'garbage' we generated until moving to the VI where I had to load all of it into my car and drive it away 😉 I'd like to have separate bins in my house for aluminum cans, water bottles, and cardboard, but I can't seem to find anywhere to take then to recycle in the first place.

PS - I was about to recommend Delly Deck for breakfast when I scrolled down and saw you just came back from there. The $6 breakfast is almost the same as the $10 your had, but it's so good I almost feel guityl only playing $6 for it. Their other breakfast stuff is fantastic too.

Very talented and imaginitive!
Merry Christmas!

Always good! I've had several friends over many years (actually getting into decades now) who've truly lucked out on dumpster diving. One even retrieved a painting by a local artist which she subsequently sold at auction for several thousand dollars. I'm nowhere even close to being as artistically inclined as the OP, but there's much to be had and refurbished in this "throwaway" society.

OOooo, nice stuff, I love what you did with the desk, very artsy & craftsy. Are two of the pendants sea glass? Anything for sale?

My goodness, I just can't get over those sand dollars, absolutely gorgeous.

AandA has a lot of talent. very nice work.

AandA has a lot of talent. very nice work.

You should see her Photos. I have one of Magens Bay with a rainbow across the Bay hanging in my Livingroom above my TV.

oh, i have seen those. she is amazing

Ive been painting glassware for holiday gifts this year. I've got one more set to do for our landlords - I'll send you pictures when Im done.
Got the glasses at ReUse Emporium.

Hey thanks everyone for the kind words!!! I love being artsy and for a long in AZ I got caught in the boring corporate life. Moving here has allowed me to do what I want and kinda rekindled my creative spirit. I guess I could have done that in AZ but I just never did. Funny how that works.

CA - if love to see it! Id like to see more stuff people do to recycle and upcycle. I saw a constructed pallet table at the northside dumpsters today, it wasn't there long so glad others are not afraid to reuse stuff by the dumpsters.

The sand dollars are very easy - I used white spray paint to give them a nice coat. This helps the sharpie not soak in. Then just sharpie them - it's fun and I love neons so that what I used.

I always go to the no flea botique. Its my favorite place for up cycling. I made this art from a dress that I LOVED the print on. Just cut it and framed the fabric. Total cost $5 including the frame and looks like something from silk greenery! Hahaha! Love it!

Very Nice!

CAtoSTX, i would love to see yours too.

AandA cool fabric

those are wonderful. i love to see how creative other people can be

CAtoSTX, AandA

Both of you are very creative, great work, and I hope to see more.
I agree with spee1dy, I love to see how creative others are.

CAtoSTX's photo shows in the post on my phone, but not A&A. Anybody know why? I have an Android phone.

I used to use dimensional paint on seaglass jewelry I made to add designs. I also incorporated bits of abalone chips onto a pair of cuff links I made. I bought clasps and glued them on instead of wrapping, because everybody was wrapping and I wanted a different look.

I have made clocks from old cds (old software) by ordering clock kits and printing photos on cd labels.

I've wanted to try the bottle cutter idea, but it seems like it's a pain to smooth the edge. Do you have a secret method?????

Um, I'm not using the correct terminology for the clasps. I think what I bought were bails. It's been years.

I taught the people on a previous job how to make sand dollar ornaments based on ones they used to purchase from the States. The ones they made sold better, because we controlled the art.

Another thing I used to do is cover plain clay flower pots with broken pieces of glass glued on and then covered the pot with grout to fill in the gaps. You could use the same treatment for other items. Sea glass would look good. Extra points if there's a plant in the pot!

I use martini/champagne glasses to showcase hibiscus blossoms. I have seed beads from broken necklaces that I put in the glass, add water, and then float the blossom. My friends loved this one.

I need to get a rotary tool to cut holes in seaglass... I tried framing a picture with it, mostly using hot glue + it did not work.

E6000 glue from KMart is better than hot glue for most projects.

Agreed. Ive used that stuff for lots of projects. Works great.

For the bottle cutting method its imperative to get an even score. That cuts way down on the sanding. I took the bottle cutter and using 4 inch screws I sandwiched it between two 2X4 about 2 feet long. This allows me to use my elbows to hold down the wood on the counter and turn the bottle smoothly. You can't use bottle that have raised marking on them... like the cruzan bottles. Honestly for the candle holders I only give a 5 min sanding - it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth. I use the other end for glasses that we drink from and I sand those for an hour off and on lol. I would like to buy a belt sander and use that some day.

If you don't feel like making them yourselves you can always visit Water Candy in Tillet Gardens on STT - she has AWESOME recycled bottle art and stuff.