Meet Aunt Agnus

Happy Monday Everyone. Today we have a special guest with us. I am happy to introduce Aunt Agnus to you. It is amazing what you can do with an old pair of panty hose. To make Aunt Agnus was a challenge. I started by hunting down clothing for her. I wanted the perfect suit, gloves, purse and hat.


Next she needed the perfect shoes.


Once I had all my supplies I started on her head. Using an old pair of nylons I stuffed away until I had something similar to the shape of a head. Next was the hardest part, her face. I had to keep starting over, but with practice I finally made a face. The hairdo was fun, I laid stuffing out on cardboard and spray painted it silver. Then I attached it to her head for hair and added some to her face for eyebrows.


The hands were not hard at all. I just stuffed an old pair of gloves.



I posed her hands around her purse. Aunt Agnus always has her purse on her lap. I wonder what she has it there that is so important??? It certainly isn't money.


Her legs and ankles were a bit difficult, but I just kept playing with them until I finally had a pair I liked. I wanted her ankles to be swollen and puffy for an authentic look.


The kids think she is creepy, but I like her. Since her torso is just pillows I can put her in a box when I am sick of her. When I get lonely I bring her back out and set her up for another visit. I sometimes forget she is visiting and am startled to walk in the living room and find her sitting in her chair. I have to go now, Aunt Agnus is calling. If she keeps this up I will be cutting her visit short.



Have a great week.

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse.......................

Keep On Junking

Nora

Circuit Board Birdhouse

Happy Monday Everyone... All the snow in my yard has melted. Yippee.... In celebration I am sharing a circuit board birdhouse.



I started with a thrift store birdhouse. My son helped me dismantle an old satellite receiver box and salvage the circuit board. I traced the birdhouse front, back and sides on a piece of paper to get my pattern. I taped my pattern on the circuit board and cut out all my pieces and glued them to the birdhouse. After the glue had dried completely, I taped all edges with copper foil tape. Finally, I used my trusty (not) soldering gun and soldered all edges. My soldering skills are sad, but with practice I think this could be a really cool project...



Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Have a great week...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Repurposed Gloves, Wreath & Metal Tray

Happy Monday Everyone. Today I am sharing a couple of quick projects. Let's start off with a thrift store pair of gloves. I lightly stuffed the inside of each glove and posed one on top of the other to my liking. I stitched here and there making sure they would keep the pose when hung upright. Next using my trusty hot glue gun I added tulle, ribbon and flowers. I added a heavy coat of tea stain and a wire hanger. I love the way they look displayed next to my vintage plate.

For my second quick project I wired a decorative metal tray to a thrift store wreath. Place the wreath face down on you work surface. Place the tray face down on top of the wreath. Hook your wire to the top back of the wreath. Run the wire down the back of the tray and connect to the bottom back of the wreath. Repeat one more time attaching at the sides. What could be easier?





Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Have a great week...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Mosaic Jewelry Box

Happy Monday Everyone. This is a project I did a while back. The top of this jewelry box had seen better days and was a perfect candidate for a mosaic project. Sometimes referred to as Pique Assiette, using broken pottery shards to make a mosaic project is fun and not all that complicated.

Supplies
dishes (try to find smaller ceramic plates with flower motifs)
tile nippers
large clear plastic bag
clear silicone caulk and caulk gun
Popsicle sticks
rags
sanded grout
plastic bowl
rubber spatula
sponge
rubber gloves


I don't like to smash my dishes with a hammer because you don't have any control over how the pieces break. I place my dish inside a large plastic bag and use my tile nippers to start nipping the plate down. When I first used the nippers I was clumsy, but with practice I learned how to point and hold the nippers on the plate to get the nip in the direction I wanted. I suggest nipping on a practice dish first to get an idea of what you are doing before you start nipping your heirloom china. My first nip is an attempt to get the plate to nip in half. I remove one half and keep the other half in the bag. I continue to nip and remove pieces until I have a manageable size to start nipping into tiles. I continue to nip, dry fitting my pieces as I go until I have covered my surface to my liking. Next, I use the clear silicone to glue all of my pieces. This is messy so keep a damp rag handy to clean and goofs as you work. I use a caulk gun and place a generous amount of silicone on a paper plate. I use a Popsicle stick to butter the back of my tile and place it on my surface. When I have completely covered my surface with my tiles I clean off and excess caulk and let it dry. I like to wait 48 hours before I grout the piece. The grouting process is fun, but again very messy. Completely cover your work area with newspaper. It is hard to gauge how much grout you will need for a project. I prefer to mix more than I will need as opposed to not mixing enough. I use an old plastic bowl to mix my grout in. I add enough water to get the consistency of cake batter. Once the grout is mixed you need to let it sit for ten minutes. I use this time to gather any additional supplies I might need. I apply the grout using a rubber spatula, making sure I get in every groove, scraping my spatula in different angles and directions. After the grout has been applied, I wait an additional ten minutes to let the grout sit up. Then, I use a damp sponge to start cleaning off the excess grout from the tiles. Next I use a dry paper towel to clean off the top of the tiles. Once the grout has completely cured seal the grout with a grout sealer. Now sit back and admire your new work of art.

Oh, one more thing, I wanted to tell you I have been featured on another blog. I am so very honored. Please visit, read the post and comment here.

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Keep On Junking
Nora