Wood nymphs?

Are you familiar with wood nymphs?  Some call them gnomes.  If you are not familiar with either of these terms, then you need to stop by Cow Palace, as I have just received quite a nice selection of these magical characters!

Tom Clark, the artist who created these whimsical creatures, hales from North Carolina.  Crushed pecan shells, wood chips, resin, imagination and artistic talent are the ingredients used to create these fabulous creatures.  The detail in each is unbelievable!  Each gnome is signed by the artist, numbered and has it's name engraved on the figurine, as well as the year it was created.

Acorns, apples, leaves, even a random coin are just a few of the elements that make up these delightful creations!  Come by for a closer look.  You'll be enchanted, I promise.  

Repurposing Glass

I love repurposing any and everything, but my new favorite is repurposing orphaned and/or unwanted glass items.  Here are some photos of my current projects.

The first pic was taken through a glass window, thus the shadows and reflections.  But focus on the lotus-type flower on the bottom left.  That is actually a luncheon plate, a dessert plate and a small glass cup of the same pattern all glued together.  Once glued, I attached a small glass jar on the back of the plate, then slid it onto a iron stake.  I call them Forever Flowers.  Even someone with a brown thumb can keep these flowers looking beautiful!

Beside the flower is a glass angel.  I created this using an orphaned globe from a light fixture for the body, a glass butter dish for the wings.  The head and halo were a tea light candle holder.  Once I attached all the pieces, I slid the body over a stake.

The second pic is a teapot that lost it's lid.  I decided it would make a great birdhouse!  I curled wire to imitate steam coming from the spot, made a curly-Q of wire that I attached inside the top where the lid should be.  To embellish it a little, a made a flower from a a soda can and glued it to the side.  The last step was to loop a piece of wire through the handle so the birdhouse would 'tip' correctly and allow our fine feathered friends to enter and build their nest.

Repurpose, recycle, upcycle, re-invent...no matter what you call it, it's creating art while saving items from the landfill!!

Window Shopping

When you are as limited on space as I am at Cow Palace, you look for every possible area for display.  For me, the perfect spot is the HUGE set of windows that front the warehouse. Unfortunately, the windows don't offer the best environment for photo ops, as you can see in the photos below.  Between the glare of the sun and the reflection the glass offers of everything across the street, photographing the window is a challenge I can't seem to overcome!

See what I mean?  But if you squint your eyes and look closely, you'll see some stinkin' cute birdhouses.  I man in North Texas makes these for me and each one is totally unique.  Just so you can appreciate the craftsmanship applied to each house, here are a few pics of the birdhouses BEFORE they went on display in the window.

 He uses a variety of elements to create these...logs and branches, barbed wire, rusty tin, to name a few.  I love them and know you will, too!

Batter Up!

Mother Nature is trying to fool us into believing spring is here. It's not. Yet. But baseball season is in full swing! Pun intended. I've seen a lot of different baseball wreaths on Pinterest and decided I wanted to try my hand at making one. Here's the result:

It wasn't too hard and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Our Florence Buffaloes are already making their name known in the games they've played, so I decided to embellish my wreath with a little team spirit, thus the 'F' and the purple bow. If you'd like to try making one for yourself, here's what you'll need:

1. Used baseballs.  (New are too expensive to sacrifice for decor!) I used 13 balls.
2. Drill.  I used a drill press, which made the process a lot easier.
3. Stiff wire or clothes hanger.  I discovered a regular clothes hanger couldn't hold the round shape, once the balls were added, so I used a hanger for tablecloths that came from the dry cleaners.
4. E-6000 glue.  Optional, but recommended.
5. Pliers and wire cutter.
6. Whatever embellishments you want to add.

And here are the steps I took in making my wreath:

1. Drill a hole all the way through all the balls, using a bit large enough to accommodate the wire's passage through the ball.
2. Unwrap the 'hook' on the wire hanger and straighten out the wire as much as possible. Some of the 'wrinkles' left in your wire can be cut off, if they are near the end and don't effect your ability to fit all the balls you want on your wreath. 
3. Feed the wire through each of the baseballs.
4. Once all the balls are strung, bend your wire into a circle.
5. Using pliers, wrap the extra wire at the top several times around itself to close the circle as much as possible. Tuck in any sharp points.
6. There should be a little slack between the balls.  Place a smidgen of glue between each ball, to make the wreath more stable.
7. Now add whatever embellishments you want!

Hope you have fun making this baseball wreath!  Let me know if you have questions about the process.