Trashy Finds and Wreaths

Yes, I'll confess it: I'm a trashy lady with trashy finds. But don't try to picture me in fishnet stockings, a tight leather mini-skirt and a boa to cover my bosoms. Wait. Go ahead. Even I have to admit that would be a really funny, entertaining vision.

No, I'm not trashy in that sense. You know that I enjoy a good dumpster dive with really good trash left behind! But looky here ~ this wasn't even in a dumpster! TWO of these old treasures were dumped behind a dumpster that was behind a freshly-abandoned Dollar Store.

My DH, who enjoys trash diving as much as I do, was actually the one who found them. He brought home one and a couple of days later I lucked out when I returned to the area and saw not only this one was there, but two others! The others, however, were in extremely bad shape. The screens were torn, full of holes, and shredded. The frames were busted beyond repair.

One of them had a small screen area in one of the panels that I identified as being useable. So I tore it out, loaded my van and left.

The first door that my hubby found is sitting (as is/was) in one of our rooms at the Shop Around the Corner (Elizabethton, TN). This one will soon join it.

The piece of screen that I salvaged is now being used as a strainer for my paper-making endeavors. If you haven't recycled paper into "new" handmade paper, you may want to consider giving it a try! Click HERE for directions.

There are many instruction sites available but this one gives you a "2-fer"; you are also given a project idea after the paper is made.

And you're probably wondering what wreaths have to do with my trash pickin', right?

Here are a few wreaths that I've made so far this year:

Have you guessed yet? Yep - some of the materiels used (and that is the proper spelling, by the way - look it up!) were found in one of our dumpster dives.

Before you say Y-U-C-KKK out loud: One of my stepsons lived in a small apartment complex a few miles from here. My DH (oh yeah, he's GOOD at this stuff!!!) spotted the manager cleaning out a vacated apartment and noted that BAGS of "stuff" were literally being thrown into trash bags before being hauled to the dumpster.

He, of course, had to investigate the contents of those trash bags. He found several silk flowers still in their wrappings, clean unused fabric, even unused wreaths. I've reclaimed other wreaths, ribbons and silk flowers at estate auctions. (Love those box lots!) The decorations on the wreaths may be outdated but most of the time they can be removed and the wreath can be reused.

I also use my own fabric scraps quite a bit. The scarecrows used in these wreaths are made solely from my scraps, as were the two crows. Found objects are among my favorite artist tools and art medium. The nose on the sitting scarecrow is a tiny pinecone from one of our trees and his nose is an old nail.

The nose on the lady scarecrow is a piece from a broken bracelet. I made her hat from a used dryer sheet that I stained; the decorations on it are items that Nature dropped about my yard, ie, seed pods, dried leaves, etc.

The little signs used in these wreaths are shavings or pieces of wood left from one of our projects. Oh, and the berries used in the wreaths were cut from old swags.

Opportunities to recycle and reuse are all around us; I'd appreciate knowing about some of your recycling attempts and ideas!