Tiny but mighty, a watercolor piranha

This small green frame was free from one of the suburban 'transfer stations' where residents have to bring their trash, recyclables, and free stuff to a central location.

Creative Roommate was inspired to frame an original watercolor of a piranha, mouth agape.

who has the hungers?

Naturally the hungry little fish found a place on the feeding wall in the kitchen.

would eat those birds, if only I could reach...

Happy freestyling!

Who's hungry to see the food wall again? With sea food!

Every time I dive back in to the photo archives I'm amazed at how many little projects came out of our sunny Cambridge apartment.  Imagine all the creativity that could be unleashed, and the trash avoided, if every community had a swap area run by their local department of public works.  This clip frame (missing one clip) was salvaged from le dump during one weekend visit.  I know the picture is rotated, but maybe the original piece was supposed to be viewed that way?  That one will have to live in mystery.

this way or that? 

After a frame cleaning and a commission to Creative Roommate, there was a new addition to the 'feeding wall' in the kitchen.

nom!

This neat watercolor of a bird eating an octopus joined the ranks of animals eating in the freestyle kitchen gallery.

so many appetites

Happy freestyling!

NQF: A silver plated creamer serves up some succulent plants

Last week's succulent+silver was a large soup tureen, this week's post is on the other end of the tableware size spectrum.  Check out the lovely detail on the handle of this silver plate creamer from the thrift store.

Small planters can still be lush. I love the way the green and white burro's tail plant (a.k.a. donkey tail) wraps around the silvery pink echevaria cultivar and then drapes over the end of the creamer.

Small planters like this can dry out faster than larger deeper pots.  

The succulents don't seem to mind, even a year later.

Happy gardening, thrifting, and freestyling!

NQF: Silverplate soup tureen to succulent display

 Let me start by saying that this is probably my favorite succulents+silver project to date.  

I found this large silverplate vessel at the thrift store for $8.99, so much shiny for so little coin.  Was it  originally a soup tureen? Perhaps a punch bowl?  There was no lid, but there is a maker's mark / hallmark.

eye catching 

If you have any insight into the age or original use of this silverplate specimen, feel free to share.

English Silver Mfg. Corp.

I bought it for the shape, but also the small nice details like the decorated handles and feet.

For a planter that has no drainage holes you can either use an interior container, or be lucky enough to find some free aquarium gravel at le dump. Yes, I took it before I had the planter, but who isn't always thinking about their plants?

So how did I transform this thrift store find into a lovely succulent planter? Read on for the bare bones tutorial.

Step 1 - Assemble your supplies: planter, gravel, potting soil, plants, and straws.

Step 2 -Pour gravel into container, this will allow for drainage.

Step 3 - Don't forget your straws, these will poke down through the gravel to the bottom of the planter. The dirt will go around them. My idea with this is to bring air down to the bottom of the planter, and possibly help with evaporation or ventilation. I don't know if they actually help, but they don't seem to hurt.

breathe easy baby

 Step 4 - Identify plants for transplanting, such as this little beauty who was outgrowing its present home.

Roots coming out the bottom, maybe time for a new home.

Step 5 - Place your straw, add some dirt, add a plant.

Repeat until you have all of your succulents into their new home.

Step 6 - Enjoy! (and water occasionally)

Happy freestyling!

NQF: Silver bowl into succulent planter

Remember the succulents + silver combination?

It hasn't gone away!

In going through my photo archives I rediscovered this arrangement that combined what were possibly free succulents, or at least some free cuttings, with a tarnished silverplate bowl from the thrift store.

big plant and little plants

Here is a photo of the final project in its original planter-hood in Cambridge.

soakin' up some sun

Happy gardening, no matter what size you have to work with, and always happy freestyling!

NQF: Argyle sweater into pillow cover

     Summer isn't the usual time to look for lambswool sweaters, but any time of year is right for felted wool craft projects!  This  Not-Quite-Free project arose from a request for some softer pillow covers to go over existing pale blue denim pillows. I don't remember who made the request....it might have been me.

Another gem from the thrift store

This project is from the archives, it started more than one winter ago, maybe even two, but I'd never gotten the photos together until now.  Anyway, if you are doing summer clothing cleanouts and want a new way to use that sweater than you like but never wear, consider re-purposing it into a pillow cover. 

The sweater I used was made from 100% lambswool, says so right there on the tag.  If you are going to shrink a sweater make sure it is 100% wool, no nylon or rayon allowed!

 This was a bit of a quick and easy project, I didn't want to fuss with zippers or buttons, so I opted for tie closures along the bottom.

See the denim peeking through? Durable, but not as soft.

 Not super pretty in the end, but this wasn't for a fashion magazine.

The end product after over a year in service - a few fabric pills but still soft and sporting that awesome argyle patterns.

Happy re-using and freestyling!

Sieve Supplies for Fossil Huntin'

 "Do you want to go fossil hunting?"  

A text message I've received exactly one time in my entire life. 

Obvious answer - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This particular type of fossil huntin' was in a sandy cliff and beach area that millions of years ago was underwater, prime fossils include shark teeth, crocodile teeth, and fossil shells.  To find such treasures you need to sift through the sand.  Some people BUY sieves, use kitchen colanders (aka strainers), or buy wood and screening to make their own box sieve.  I wanted to make my own sand sieve, for free. 

Lucky for me there were some discarded screens in the disposal area.

Raw material for an adventure.

My design was inspired by the leather catch-alls you see for sale in the 'gifts for men' section of home decor magazines.  Basically a square with the corners pinched together to make a kind of low basket.  To make my sieve I did the following:

1. Cut a large square of the window screen mesh (~2ft x 2ft)

2. Fold the edges about 1 inch over, then over again (so the cut edged are less likely to poke your fingers)

3. Use a hole punch to punch a hole near the corner on each edge.

4. Thread twisty-tie through two holes at one corner, wrap, secure.

5. Add chopsticks on two sides inside the folded mesh section, for reinforcement.

Supplies and a sieve.

I made some other sieves in the car on the way to the fossil huntin' beach, one of them was a triangle, because why not?

When we arrived at the beach this poster gave us some inspiration and guidance about what to look for.

Look!

Turns out fossil huntin' at this beach is a mix of swimming, sitting, sifting, and not losing the interesting things you find. Some of our party found what appeared to be fossil crocodile teeth, cool!  I found some nice rocks and shells, but clearly we need to go back until we find a giant fossil shark jaw or at least a Megalodon tooth. All in all a wonderful day at the beach with friends.

Hard at work, prospecting for fossils.

Happy fossil huntin', dumpster divin', and freestylin' as you go.

Dumpster Dock Loot: Over-the-door hanger

In a room with no closet clothing organization takes some extra work.  Without a dresser or a hanging rack of some sort every surface becomes a possible storage solution.  Music stand becomes coat rack, steamer trunk becomes.....everything else.  So imagine our delight when this over-the-door hanger appeared on the loading dock.

Now those lovely dresses have somewhere to be displayed where they can inspire a morning toilette.  

Or something. 

What a lovely little organized corner, white lace and a collection of rusty iron - pretty much says it all.

In case you are wondering, that door goes to another room, but it never gets opened. Now it has another function besides being almost as good as a wall.

Happy multi-purposing, and freestyling!

Dumpster Dock Loot: Large metal shelving unit

Sometimes it is hard to be a minimalist.  It's not so much that we want to acquire, or seek to acquire, but rather that the realities of salvaging, reusing, and creating require tools and inputs to be stored somewhere, on something, if there is to be any semblance of order.  If all your hobbies can be contained inside your head or within the confines of a laptop it's easy to maintain a spaceship-sleek living space. Good for you.  

We live in a world of the tangible and tactile; we need shelves.

Black metal shelf: waiting for a new home,
and would you like some refreshments?

Lucky for us this appears to be a busy move-out time in our large apartment complex.  Moving is a chore, and so I EXTRA applaud all of those people who take the extra time during the cleaning/packing chaos to set aside things that are clearly reusable and place them in the loading dock area so that others can reuse them.  You are good people, I hope your moves go smoothly. Also we appreciate your free stuff, like this lightweight black metal shelving unit.  

New home

The metal shelf now gives a structured home for art supplies, books, and those interesting odds and ends.

As an added bonus, below is a closeup of the collection of artistically arranged rusty iron bits.  

See the potential.

Happy freestyling, collecting, and displaying!

From discarded door to larger-than-life mural.

Anything can be a canvas.  Please keep that in mind next time you have construction, or deconstruction, scrap materials that you can't find a use for.

For example, when moving from one apartment to another, you might find yourself in possession of a spare door (these things happen in the world of Cambridge Freestylers).  We kept it with the original intention of using it as a door in the new apartment, but the design plans changed and it wasn't the right size for the new doorway.  No worries, it was the right size for a door-sized mural.

This lovely piece or birds at a body of water brightens up a bedroom in the new place.

Of course it is totally portable and still usable as a door, but right now just rests against the wall in grand fashion.

Happy freestyling, and painting.

Freestyle A Room, The Challenge, Post 4 - Fabulous fabulous fish art

The original Freestyle A Room Challenge list did not consider artwork. Luckily we came across an awesome piece at someone's front porch sale on our way back from dropping off compost at le dump one sunny weekend.  By this point the freestyled room was occupied by a graduate student who also happened to enjoy scuba diving in the Caribbean, so the theme of this piece was an extra bonus.  When we balked at the asking price the lovely young woman selling stuff told us to just take it, she would rather someone enjoy it than have to throw such a gem in the dumpster.  We happily agreed.

Soon the canvas fish print was up on the wall in its own little sea of blue.

This gold octagon mirror was another freestyle find that got utilized for this challenge.

Happy freestyling, and if the price isn't right it never hurts to ask.

Freestyle A Room, The Challenge, Post 3 - Gold mirror for dressing area

A dressing and prep area in your own bedroom is important when living in a one-bathroom apartment with multiple roommates.  Although not an original goal of the Freestyle A Room Challenge, this little octagon mirror was just large enough to be useful when getting ready in the morning.  It only needed some minor fixes.

Some of the gold paint had chipped off on the frame, an easy fix since I had a similar color already on hand.

I also glued small piece of felt onto the back of the sawtooth hanger and along the bottom edge of the mirror so that it wouldn't scrape the recently painted wall if bumped.

Little blue felt protectors

The gold is a nice contrast with the light blue walls.

Happy freestyling!

A cat considers a mouse, framed in black and white

 When something is nicely framed with a dust cover on the back and information about the artist and the piece of art it is a little bit sad to have to take apart all that finished work. But only for a second.  This nice white-washed wooden frame came from le dump in Cambridge.  We soon got to work taking things apart.

The grays and blacks of this watercolor are echoed in the black mat and dark whitewash of the frame. I wonder if the mouse was convincing.

We were convinced to hang this on the kitchen wall.

Happy freestyling!

NQF: From off-white to bold and blue-tiful

Falling in to the Not Quite Free (NQF) category, this $5 purchase from a thrift store originally caught my eye because of the nice scroll/vine detail around the edge. In the picture below there is no glass in the frame, maybe that is why it was so affordable.

Nice curves

I had recently learned that you can get mirrors cut to size at many hardware stores, so this was my 'make a mirror' experiment. I also spray painted the frame with a few light coats of a bold royal blue in a gloss finish.

Here's looking at blue

The mirror insert makes the frame heavier than if it just had a glass frontpiece.  When hanging on the wall I use two small nails through the attached triangular hangers on the back of the frame (with extra measuring to make sure it hangs level).

I think it reflects my style nicely.

Happy freestyling, upcycling, or just plain re-styling!