Would The Buddha Recycle?

While this blog was never intended to be one of personal disclosure, I don't think it does any damage to reveal some information that helps the written word move on. So, I will tell you that I am a Buddhist.

Now why is that important? It's not ... except, as I said in my last post, I've been scouring the web for (early) Christmas gifts and I came across a title that just floored me.

Now, I can't think of any of my list of friends or relatives who would read this book -- maybe my older brother, Paul -- so I'm posting information about it here in hopes one of them will notice and maybe surprise me with it on my birthday ... or on Christmas ... or on any day when we traditionally give gifts. It almost fits the under-ten-dollar rule.

Hint, hint.

I bet the Buddha did recycle.

Looking to Learn

Progress on the fossil table top is slow mainly because life happens between crafting. I live in the desert and it's hell-like hot right now so outside of work and chores, which require movement, it's hard to focus on doing much more than staying cool.

Decided to use some kick-back-stay-cool time and start searching for bargains for Christmas gifts. (Just the thought of Christmas helps.) Of course my first choice is to make things but some folks I know, well, let's just say they aren't into the homemade gift getting scenario.

So I clicked over to Amazon and surfed around. (Books make super gifts) And of course I found something I probably can't live without. It's a book called Tiles Gone Wild. (Cute, huh?)

The description says the book has 20 projects. I'm not as much interested in copying the designs as I am in the fact that I'll be getting inspiration and information about methods of working with different kinds of "stuff" .... which is what recycling is all about. After all, it's not every day you get the perfect elements for that dream design.

Found a couple of good titles for the gift season ... can't say what they are,though because, you know, it's a secret Santa thing.

Felted Beads for Christmas Decor?

(Photo courtesy of littlehouseinthesuburbs.com)

While I'm working on the "big project," (that fossil-embedded mosaid table top) I'll be blogging on other recycling fun you can have.

If you're a knitter and you have left-over odds and ends yarn from various projects, why not make some felted beads? I found this set of instructions that teaches you how to make these cute little furry balls of felt.

Here's the link to felting instructions

Can't you just see these strung together and used on your Christmas tree instead of the traditional store-bought strings of decoration?

As an additional note, my local thrift shops (Goodwill, Opportunity Village, Salvation Army and Catholic Charities) almost always have yarn for sale at super low prices. Check them out because every penny you spend at these places goes to help those folks who are less fortunate than you and I.

No Progress is Not Good Progress

One of the people who saw my last post was confused by it all. I guess that's because I forgot to say that the overall mosaic will be a flower. The fossil at the end of the tiles is the center of the flower. I'll be building the petals around that. And eventually it will all look like it's suspended in a landscape.

Now that I look at the task in front of me, I realize people would have seen the flower image better if I turned the big fossil around. That's going to be the center and as such would work better if it's rotated.

The more I think about it and look at it, the more I realize I will have to put the fossils in place first then build up the background as I put in the little stones then build it up with additional backing (I'll probably have to use thin set ... I'll know more when I research it on the web.) for the tiles because they are the thinnest of all the material here.

I'm going to do a rough layout sometime in the next few days and I'll post a photo of that.

Of Found Objects and Fossils - A New Project Begins

This is the start of my latest project. Two things I should state at the onset: Only part of the stuff used for this ambitious effort will be from recycled materials ... and this might take all summer. The time frame is okay, though, because in the desert here, it's way too hot to do much outside fun.

I bought the table sans top from a charity sale where neighbors from across town were hosting garage sales to help raise money for a friend who needed medical attention. Ordinarily I would have paid about five bucks for this but it came with a coffee table (my next project -- maybe), also without its glass top, and it seemed like an okay deal to pay $25 for the pair. (After I paid for them one of the women said she was about to put them out for trash collection.) I knew what I wanted to do with the coffee table and I saw the end table (this one) version as a good starting point. Practice does make perfect, doesn't it? (She said with fingers crossed.)

I also had to pay for the MDF at the local Home Depot. Not too much of that out there on curbs and thrift shops.

My brother lives and messes around the coal fields and he picks up these fossils. (This is a close up of the opening picture, showing the fossils a bit sharper.) They are all over the mountains near his house so he has a nice collection. He gave these to me because I told him I'd like to use them in a mosaic. So the fossils are recycled, sort of.

About half the glass and tiles I plan to use come from garage sales and thrift shops. (It's amazing what you can find in these places. I found a big brick of Sculpy for 50-cents last week.) Some of it is left over from my first mosaic project and a bit came from ebay.

I'm not sure how this is going to work out since my education in mosaic work is pretty much grade school level. (I believe I'll have to use something other than glue to fasten these to the MDF). I think when it's all finished I might put some kind of acrylic coating over it. That should bring out some of the brilliance of the coal and make the table top level. Much nicer for setting glasses and cups on.

Wish me luck, gang. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.