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Archive for the ‘Recycling’ Category

From Garage to Bedroom: An Old Chair Gets a New Look

Posted in About me, Creativity, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2012| 7 Comments »

giving an old chair new life
If you’ve got the urge to spruce up your place and don’t want to spend a lot of money, go shopping in your own home first. Odds are you already have something in your home or garage that can be upcycled into something fabulous. Two weeks ago the decorating bug bit me and I’ve been busy transforming my oldest son’s former bedroom into a guest room. Gone into storage are his Pez collection and other bric-a-brac that he hasn’t looked at for over a decade. A new bedspread and throw pillows turn a formerly male-feeling room into a much brighter space. By hanging a painting taken from another room and placing one of my chintz teacups on the nightstand, the room instantly becomes inviting and cozy. “A small chair for guests to sit on or to put their luggage on would be a nice addition,” I think to myself. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on it, though. That’s when I remember an old chair in the garage. Buried under a pile of crap and with water-stained legs and a flat sticky seat, I’d almost forgotten about the chair I purchased over 20 years ago for my first furniture refinishing project. Time flies while you’re raising three kids.

I wanted to give the chair a shabby chic feel, so I did a little research on glazing furniture and then went off shopping for supplies. It was a relatively easy process and I’m really pleased with the chair’s transformation. It’s the perfect addition to my updated guest room!

Paint Supplies:
paint supplies for glazing furniture Kilz Primer
Satin or gloss spray paint
Glaze
Test-size flat paint, tinted to desired color
Wood glue, if necessary
supplies for glazing furnitureSmall paint brush
Rags, old ripped up tee-shirts worked great
Plastic container
Measuring cup
Paint stick
Bucket of water

Supplies for reupholstering:
batting for reupholsteringThick batting for cushion and thin batting to wrap around the seat

fabric for reupholsteringUpholstery fabric for seat cover and black fabric for underneath the seat
Large piece of paper, pen, and ruler for seat cover pattern
Supplies for reupholsteringStaple gun, hammer, and safety goggles

Instructions on Glazing the Chair:
1. Remove seat.
2. If the chair is wobbly, remove braces, gently knock apart the chair frame just enough to apply wood glue into the spaces. Screw back on the braces or use a vise grip to hold the parts together. Let glue set.
3. Minimal sanding is required, because the chair is meant to have an aged look and slight defects and imperfections are desired.
4. Spray one to two coats of primer, letting each coat dry thoroughly.
chair after priming
5. Spray with base paint as many times as necessary to get even coverage, letting each layer dry sufficiently.
6. Watch instructional videos Glazing Furniture 101 at All Things Thrifty.
7. Mix together 1 cup glaze with 1/4 cup paint in plastic container.
8. Brush on some of the tinted glaze and wipe off with a damp rag. Repeat process until all areas of the piece have been glazed. Rinse off rags in water as you go along. Layers of glaze can be reapplied for a darker look. Chair after glazing

Instructions on Reupholstering the Seat:
1. Remove tacks or staples from the seat cover underneath the seat.
2. Make the fabric pattern: using the seat as a template, trace around it on a large piece of paper. Determine the thickness of the batting you are using for the seat. Add this amount to the perimeter of the seat tracing. Add another inch or so to allow for stretching and tacking the fabric onto the back. Seat cover pattern
3. Cut out the seat fabric using the outer line. Cut the thin wrap-around batting using the second line in from the edge. Cut out the black fabric (for underneath the chair) using the third line from the edge. And finally cut the dense batting the size of the seat tracing.
4. On a clean surface with the right side of the seat fabric facing down, place the thin batting over the fabric. Next add the thick foam batting and then the seat itself.
5. Staple through the layers along one side first and then pull the layers taut on the opposite side and staple them down. Repeat with the other two sides. Adjust the corners and staple them down.
6. With seat cushion facing down, place the black fabric on top of the seat. Tuck under the raw edges and staple all the way around the seat.
7. Screw the seat bottom back on the chair and stand back and admire your fabulous creation!
Completed glazed chair

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/31/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Health, Helping Others, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Kids, Photography, Recipes, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One penny, one lottery ticket, and one ounce of luck . . . that’s all it takes. Who doesn’t like the thrill of potentially winning something? That’s what I thought when I made these fish-lottery favors. Wanting to combine a fun activity with a fish-themed party favor, I created these “Lucky in Love” fish for all the guests at my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner. Since I never throw anything “useful” away, I was elated to find a use for a stack of paper fish frames that remained after cutting out 300 paper fish for the wedding. After carefully cutting the fish silhouettes apart, I glued colored paper behind them. Then with repositionable adhesive, I attached a lottery ticket to the paper and added a “fish eye” or penny for scratching. One fun idea, one way to repurpose, and more than one winner!

#1 – One Body, One Site
Thanks to the wedding, for the first time in my life, I’ve been exercising seriously on a regular basis. I’ve learned that I can get a thorough workout with very little equipment – so basically there is no excuse for not exercising! Whatever exercise equipment you have at your disposal, you’ll want to check out excercise.com for its list of exercises and videos. Whether you have no equipment at home or only a set of dumbbells or only an elliptical trainer, this site has exercises for you to do!

#2 – One Day

Photograph by Lee Jeffries

One day a man with a camera sees a homeless woman and takes her photo. The result of that experience is a collection of black and white images taken by photographer Lee Jeffries. He has journeyed across the world and into his heart to capture faces of the homeless. Through his powerful portraits, Mr. Jeffries emotionally affirms the saying that “the eyes are the windows to the soul.”

#3 – Cooking for One or Two
The kids are all gone. No more cooking for my army of hungry children. It’s been a difficult adjustment for me to scale back on the amount of food I buy and prepare, but I’m slowly adapting. If, like me, you find you are now cooking for one or two, you may want to check out these recipes that are formulated to serve only one or two people.

#4 – Create One Meaningful Life
You’ve got only one life, so make it meaningful. From GPS for the Soul comes this article Tools for Creating a Meaningful Life. Ira Israel, the author gives us 10 things to be mindful of as we go about our lives.

#5 – One Thing

This weekend – do one thing that you’ve always wanted to do, but never have!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/24/12)

Posted in About me, Aging, Art and Crafts, Creativity, Helping Others, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Organization, Photography, Recipes, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The outside temperature says it’s another hot summer day, but the heat doesn’t stop me from going outside with my camera. I know I will never get this day back again, so I seek to capture bits and pieces of it to enjoy and to record in my memory. Looking through my camera lens, I see things differently. Something mundane or ordinary becomes extraordinary when focused on intently. If you always look at things from the same distance and in the same way, they will never change. However, if you zoom in on them, you might see them in new and exciting ways.

#1 – Creativity in the Kitchen
Creativity reigns in the kitchen if you think outside the box. Here’s a series of ideas from Easy Food that are so interestingly-good, they need to be shared!

#2 – Reuse It!
While cleaning out my craft closet this week, I came up with a way to keep my many spools of ribbon from becoming a tangled mess in their tray. After cutting tubular accordian-foam sleeves, that protect fruit packed in boxes, into narrow bands, I placed a band around each spool of ribbon. Each band gently prevents the ribbon from unrolling. These bands work so much better than rubber bands, which can crush the ribbon, or tape, which can leave a sticky residue on ribbon. I’ve also used these foam sleeves to keep my rolls of wrapping paper from unrolling and for protecting fragile Christmas ornaments while they are in storage. Three ways to reuse something that’s normally tossed away!

#3 – Dimensions in Art

Sculptural Painting by Shintaro Ohata

Born in Hiroshima, Japan, artist Shintaro Ohata creates work of art that depict the “little things in everyday life.” His charactersistic style tells his stories by combining 2-D and 3-D elements – by placing sculptures in front of paintings. Additional dramatic effect is created in his artwork by his extraordinary ability to paint light and by his use of a young girl as his subject and representation of youth.

#4 – Cases for Cheer
Here’s an example of someone who looks at and thinks about pillowcases differently. When her Great Aunt Willie passed away from ovarian cancer a few years ago, 10-year-old Madison Zenker, founded Cases for Cheer, a nonprofit that makes and donates colorful pillowcases to cancer patients. Now thirteen-years-old, Madison continues to bring cheer to those going through cancer treatment and is a wonderful example of how someone so young, with a simple idea and the desire to help others, gives hope for the future of our world. If interested in donating funds, fabric, or time to Madison’s cause, check out Cases for Cheer.

#5 – Fountain of Youth
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”
Sophia Loren

Tap into your “fountain of youth” this weekend by doing something you love!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (8/3/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Creativity, Environment and Ecology, Gardening, inspiration, Marriage, Pets, Photography, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

My BFF (Best Friend Forever) and I have known each other for forty years now. Next week we will celebrate our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. How time flies when your life is filled with love.

#1 – Rescuing Dogs
I don’t know anything about the organization Hope For Paws, but if you love animals, particularly dogs, as much as I do, you will cry while watching the rescue videos on its site. If you would like to adopt/foster the puppies in the video below, please contact the Bill Foundation.

#2 – Don’t Throw These Away!

My neighbor and I were commiserating the other day about how we can never throw anything away, because we know we can ALWAYS find another use for it. In Don’t Throw That Old Pallet Away, you’ll see some pretty amazing ways to repurpose old wooden pallets. Don’t you just love creative people!

#3 – It’s Okay to Be Negative

Art By Tang Yau Hoong

The space around and in between subjects in an image or a piece of artwork is called negative space. According to Wikipedia, “Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape . . . .” Check out these 22 Artworks With Clever Use of Negative Space and see how Malaysian artist Tang Yau Hoong manipulates negative space in his work.

#4 – Pictures of the Day

Photograph by Don McLeish

Who doesn’t love a great photograph that tells a story or transports you to another place? You won’t be disappointed by these Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012. They’re almost as good as the 2011 series.

#5 – The Paradox of Love
I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.
Mother Teresa

Have a lovely weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (6/29/12)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Environment and Ecology, inspiration, Pets, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Seriously, can’t you hold onto your own chew?” I say as I look into the child-like brown eyes of Buster, my 90-pound grand-puppy. For several minutes now, I’ve sat next to him holding on to one end of his chew stick and watching him gnaw and tug on the other end. “Grandma’s got to get back to work now,” I say. He lets out a low bark, because I momentarily put his chew back down on the ground. “Such a spoiled boy,” I say to him as I gently pat his head. “Some of my friends get to babysit their grandchildren, but I get to watch you,” I say to him sarcastically. Buster cocks his head as if he is trying to understand what I’m saying. He then takes his chew and holds it between his giant paws and a few gnaws later, he looks up at me, as if to say, “See, Grandma, I can do it all by myself!”

#1 – Reusables!

Organic Cotton Rounds

I won’t be able to reuse my dinner napkin, because Buster ate it. Besides buying cloth napkins instead of paper napkins, here are 10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Buy Reusable.”

#2 – Free Travel Ebooks

Traveling is so much easier these days, thanks to ebooks. No more lugging around heavy guide books from city to city! Here are some sites that offer free travel guides. Just download a book to your electronic device (laptop, iPad, etc.) and GO!

Bookboon.com – Textbooks and business books, too
Hostelworld.com – Pocket guides
ebook3000.com – Great variety of books
Tripadvisor.com – Free guides to members

#3 – New Art Amongst Old Art

Takashi Murakami

In this series of photographs, the Palace of Versailles provides an interesting backdrop to “manga-inspired sculptures” by Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami. It’s an unusual juxtaposition of old and new that allows spectators to see the contrast in styles and to appreciate each style for what it offers.

#4 – Folding a Suit

This tip will come in handy next week when I mail my oldest son the suit he’s going to wear at his brother’s wedding. Watch the video to see how Jacky Tam of British Tailors in Hong Kong folds a suit and a dress shirt, so that they arrive in wearable condition. This a good tip for traveling, as well!

#5 – Happiness
A man once told the Buddha, “I want happiness.” The Buddha replied, “First remove the ‘I’ – that’s ego. Then remove the ‘want’ – that’s desire. And now all you are left with is, Happiness.”
Unknown

Have a great weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (6/22/12)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Environment and Ecology, Gardening, Health, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A mass of red Lady Bird poppies moves with the breeze and resembles lady bugs in flight. Bees buzz from flower to flower. In the background, water trickles over rectangular-shaped stones. The wonder that is the Central Garden of the Getty Museum surrounds me. Robert Irwin, artist and planner of this garden, wrote these words to describe this living work of art:

EVER

PRESENT

NEVER

TWICE THE

SAME,

EVER

CHANGING

NEVER

LESS THAN

WHOLE.

Robert Irwin 1997

But as I stand in this garden, his thoughtful words make me think about how they relate to moments, minutes, and my life.

#1 – Carrying a Torch

The Olympic flame arrived in the United Kingdom on May 18th. Since then it has traveled “through villages and cities, across lakes and mountain ranges, on foot, by train, on horseback, and through the air, from Cornwall to the Shetland Islands.” Follow it’s journey in this series of photographs from The Atlantic. 8,000 torchbearers will have had the privilege of carrying the Olympic flame by the time it reaches London for the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics – only 35 days away.

#2 – Breaking Point

A podiatrist once told me to buy “P-shaped or clown shoes.” Ha! Ha! Except he was serious. Did he realize how hard it is to find stylish clown shoes? For days, I have been walking around the house in a new pair of high heels that I bought for my son’s wedding. The idea of breaking them in before the big day is a good one, however, my splayed toes ultimately are not meant to be forced into pointy shoes! After some research I found a great post The Secrets My High Heels Are Hiding on the style blog Alterations Needed. The article suggests several shoe aids that ease foot pain as a result of wearing high heels and ill-fitting shoes. The author’s suggestions are good ones, particularly the slingback foot liners, as are some of the suggestions from her readers. For instance, taping toes 3 and 4 together makes wearing pointy-toed shoes more bearable. Even though my toes look funny while taped together, I think the technique helps!

#3 – Intolerable Beauty

Oil filters, Seattle 2003, by photographer Chris Jordan

Photographer Chris Jordan’s series Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption is both a sobering reminder of the wasteful, throw-away-world we live in and an example of art existing everywhere and in everything, even in the least expected places. Linger on his website a while and view the powerful photos of In Katrina’s Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster.

#4 – Re-purpose It!

Chris Jordan’s photos speak to us about our wasteful ways, so let’s find more ways to re-purpose things. I’ve saved Altoid tins and other metal candy containers for years and was excited to stumble upon these clever 15 Cool Crafts Made With Altoid Tins!

#5 – Peace
Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
Unknown

Have a peaceful weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (6/8/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Creativity, Entertainment, Environment and Ecology, Gift Ideas, inspiration, Photography, Recycling, Style and fashion, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »


Friends. They make our world infinitely better. Like a favorite pair of jeans, they are comfortable and without pretense. They are the twin sails of support as we steer through rough seas. They blanket us with gentle security, like the warm fuzzy blankets of our childhood. They listen, but need no answers. They bring laughter to our hearts and add sparkle to our eyes. They embellish our souls. Friends need no rewards or thanks and without them we are not whole.

#1 – Size Is Relative
A friend sent me this link to a wondrous lesson on perspective, The Scale of the Universe 2. Whether this perspective is 100% accurate or not, is not as important as the contemplation of the big picture of life.

#2 – It’s In The Jar

Source: Good Housekeeping

Ask your friends to start saving jars for you! There are so many ways to re-purpose glass jars. Serving drinks and food in them are very popular trends, but there are also many ways jars can be used to decorate your home and garden. Check out these links for creative ways to use glass jars:

DIY 101 Ways to Upcycle Glass Jars and Bottles
50 Ways to Re-Purpose and Reuse Glass Jars
20 Brilliant Things To Make In A Jar
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Repeat – Mason Jars
10 great Ways to Use Empty Glass Jars and Bottles

#3 – Easy Shopping

Most of the time I’m dressed in old jeans, a tee-shirt, and depending on the time of the year, either a pair of flip flops or Uggs. When I need to dress up, I always look to my friends for advice. Knowing that I’m frantically struggling to pull together a mother-of-the-groom outfit, one of my friends shared this shopping link with me. ShopStyle is like a personal shopper shopping the grandest and largest store in the world for you. It’s been said, “ShopStyle combines fashion, social networking, and shopping, providing readers with the tools to interpret style trends so they can create, share, and shop personalized looks.” Prices for items run from “Not too bad” to “Oh my!”

#4 – Friendly Photos

This series of photos about The True Meaning of Friendship was too cute and poignant to pass up! Enjoy!

#5 – Four For Friends
“I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”
Jon Katz

“How many slams in an old screen door? Depends how loud you shut it. How many slices in a bread? Depends how thin you cut it. How much good inside a day? Depends how good you live ’em. How much love inside a friend? Depends how much you give ’em.”
Shel Silverstein

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
Anaïs Nin

“I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar.”
Robert Brault

Have a great weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/18/12)

Posted in About me, Creativity, Entertainment, Gardening, Helping Others, inspiration, Organization, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Zoom! Zoom! Ka-Boom! Aggression rages outside my kitchen window – thanks to one particular alpha male. With all his speed and might, this guy slams his body into another male. Zoom! He’s back to his guard post. This mighty hummingbird perches protectively on a chain that supports a sweet nectar feeder. A few seconds later, he spies approaching invaders and darts off to give chase. I watch as other hummingbirds attempt over and over again to reach the feeder, but alpha-bird will have none of that. I sigh, “Come on guys. Why can’t we all get along?”

#1 – Love Those Hummingbirds
In order to learn more about this hummingbird’s aggressive behavior, I searched the internet for information. From the World Of Hummingbirds and How To Enjoy Hummingbirds sites I learned:

♥ Hummingbirds are the tiniest birds in the world and they are also the smallest of all animals that have a backbone.

♥ Because hummingbirds can rotate their wings in a circle, they are the only birds that can fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways and hover in mid air.

♥ The bright flashing-colored feathers of the hummingbird’s neck is called a Gorget.

♥ A hummingbird’s brain is 4.2% of its body weight, the largest proportion in the bird kingdom.

♥ Hummingbirds are very smart and they can remember every flower they have been to, and how long it will take a flower to refill.

♥ Hummingbirds can hear better and see farther than humans, but they have nearly no sense of smell.

♥ A hummingbird’s heart beats up to 1,260 times per minute.

♥ A hummingbird baby is generally smaller than a penny.

♥ Most hummingbirds die in the first year of life, but those that survive have an average life span of 5 years.

♥ Hummingbirds are very territorial and will perch in trees, vines or bushes, between feedings to watch the area . . . and will attack other birds that might try to feed at their food source.

#2 – No Limitations
In another inspirational video from TED, activist Caroline Casey “tells the story of her extraordinary life” and “asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have.” Worth watching.

#3 – A Can You Can Hang

This repurposing idea from Brian Jewett is beyond clever. By attaching cleaned paint cans to a wall, he creates multipurpose hooks. A garment can be hung over the can, stuff can be stored in the can (I’m thinking keys), and something, like a scarf, can be hung on the can’s handle! Directions for this project can be found on Instructables. These can hooks would look great in a garage, an artist’s workshop, a child’s bedroom or playroom, etc.! There’s no end to creative ideas!

#4 – Yosemite HD
The talented combination of Sheldon Neill and Colin Delahanty, two young videographers, brings us this under-four-minute incredibly beautiful video of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite HD, a high definition, time lapse video, depicts the majesty of nature. Even if you’ve seen Yosemite with your own eyes, you’ll still want to see it through their eyes!

#5 – Every Moment
Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.
Thomas Merton

Enjoy every moment of your weekend!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (5/11/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Health, Husbands, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Running with unbridled joy, Buster, my “grand puppy,” leaps into the air and performs his signature belly-flop into the water. Quickly, he locates his float-toy, snatches it with his mouth, dog paddles back, drops the float on the ground, sprays water over everyone as he shakes it off, and then barks a resounding “Let’s do that again!” Sitting in the cool shade of a tree, I watch Buster repeat this series of actions for almost an hour. During this time, my thoughts shift from “dog hair clogging the pool filter” to “what a joy it is to live in the moment.” This is just another life lesson I’ve learned from a dog!

#1 – Gelato or Ice Cream?

My family would leap in the air for a bowl of good gelato. It started several years ago, when my husband made it his job to find us the best gelato in each city that we visited in Italy. Thanks to him, we tasted some of the freshest-flavored and creamiest gelato we’ve ever had. Finding good gelato back here in the states is more challenging, so we soothe our demanding taste buds with ice cream. Both gelato and ice cream are delicious, but have you ever wondered what the primary differences between the two are? Here’s what I learned from TravelDudes:

1. Gelato is made with mostly milk, whereas ice cream is made with mostly cream. Therefore, ice cream has 2-3 times the fat content.

2. Gelato is made using a slow churning process, whereas ice cream is whipped. This means gelato has a lower air content making it denser and richer.

3. Gelato is served at a warmer temperature than ice cream, and freezes at a lower temperature, so it is soft from the first spoonful.

#2 – Don’t Just Sit There
During an NPR interview, Gretchen Reynolds, the New York Times PhysEd columnist, discusses the importance of standing up every two minutes of sitting. If you sit at a desk for the better part of the day, you might want to read or listen to her interview as she details “simple ways you can combat the effects of a sedentary lifestyle” and other health and fitness issues.

#3 – Take the Mystery Out Recycling Plastic
If recycling were made simpler, more people would do it. Storing recyclable items at home until enough accumulates to warrant a trip to a recycling center is a minor inconvenience compared to the problem of figuring out what is accepted and what is not accepted at recycling centers. The Daily Green’s helpful article, “What Do Recycling Symbols on Plastics Mean?” takes some of the mystery out of recycling plastic.

#4 – The Net Worth of Imagination


Artist Janet Echelman took a leap of faith fourteen years ago when her paints went missing and she was forced to create an art piece using an unfamiliar medium – fishing nets. Years later, hers is a story of pursuing and adapting her vision and creating building-sized, billowy, volumetric sculptures. The nine minute TED video is inspiring, but what I found most inspiring were the TED conversations regarding “Creative vision – how do you develop and hold onto it, especially when obstacles appear in your path?” Look for these conversations under “Comment On This Talk.”

#5 – Make the Leap
“Leap and the net will appear” ~ Zen Saying

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms!

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Friday’s Fresh Five! (4/27/12)

Posted in About me, Art and Crafts, Creativity, Gardening, Health, Helping Others, In The Kitchen, inspiration, Recycling, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 27, 2012| 1 Comment »

Bending to the wind and rain, the rosebuds looked as if they were praying. The first bloom of the season is usually the best, but this year the roses in my garden tempted fate by making their first appearance during a storm. Days later, with the sun on my back, I walked through my garden and inspected the blooms. Several had irregularly-shaped petals and showed signs of water damage. Reflecting on these imperfections, I thought about the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, where there’s perfection in the imperfect. With that in mind, these stalwart roses had to be some of the loveliest ones I have ever seen.

#1 – Held Up

Thousands of tiny figures support the weight of a man in a thought-provoking art installation titled Floor. Korean artist Do Ho Suh positioned the tiny figures, with their arms held upward, under plates of glass. Check out the rest of the photos first and then consider the artist’s message. Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type of person? Do you think this piece represents support or oppression?

#2 – Hold On To That Hose!

From This Old House comes this article 10 Uses For A Garden Hose. Here’s another 10 reasons why you should not throw out anything, at least if it can be reused!

#3 – Spice Up Your Life!

Herbs and spices bring flavor into our diets, but many spices do more than that. According to an article in Eating Well, the spices listed below are considered eight of the world’s healthiest spices. Read the complete article to learn about the benefits of each spice.

Chile Peppers
Ginger
Cinnamon
Tumeric
Saffron
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme . . . wait thyme’s not on the list?

#4 – Morning Rituals
Some of my most creative thoughts, whether related to problem-solving or just ideas for projects and recipes, come to me when I am blow drying my hair. Having short hair, I’ve wondered if my creative productivity would increase if I grew my hair out. You know –  the longer the hair, the longer it takes to dry. A wise friend advised me to write down everything I am grateful for every night before I go to bed. It keeps life in perspective. And in the morning, upon her advice again, I write down everything that’s in my head before I even get out of bed. She calls it the “Morning Dump,” where you dump out all the thoughts floating around in your head and you start your day fresh. Along the same lines, of being grateful and starting your day in the proper frame of mind, comes an article called How To Wake Up Every Morning On Top Of The World from the website Tiny Buddha.

#5 – What Would Dorothy Say?
There is no need to reach high for the stars. They are already within you. Just reach deep into yourself!
-Unknown

Have a great weekend!

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