| Recycling Bin Tips...A thru D |
| ~~ B ~~ BABY RATTLE: just too cute! Hobby stores sell the smallest plastic 'eyes' with a pastel or primary colored bead in them. Do you know what I mean? The moving goggley eyes.... flat on one side with a black circle "eye" floating inside a plastic dome. The tiny ones are only 1/8" in diameter. First, glue 2 of the "eyes" together, back to back and set aside to dry. Next, make the handle. Find a fancy-handled toothpick or plastic skewer and paint the fancy end any color/colors you want. Let dry. Cut off the sharp end so the fancy end is about 3/8" long, just where you stopped painting. Make sure to make a flat cut so your "eyes" will stay glued. Glue the "rattle" to the end of the handle and you have a baby rattle that actually rattles. Cool huh? BALLOONS: Pull stems from some old plastic grapes, paint them bright balloon colors. Glue on florist wire as "strings". Glue to dolls hand! BOAT OARS: Coffee stirrers from McDonalds look amazingly like boat oars for all you mini lighthouse builders! BAR STOOLS: Metal (or plastic) chair glides could make good seats for bar stools. BIRDHOUSE: Acorns with the caps still attached make great little birdhouses. Just drill a "door" hole in it and attach a tiny twig for a perch just below the drilled hole. Drill a tiny hole in the acorn "cap", add a string and hang! BOOKS: Clip color pictures of covers from magazine ads and glue over blocks of paper. Add realism by scoring a groove along the binder edge with your fingernail and a ruler. BOTTLES, ANTIQUE: Would you believe it! There's old-fashioned glass bottle shapes inside of light bulbs...different bulbs have different shapes. Caution! Practice good safety! Protect your eyes and hands when working with broken glass!! BOXES-CORRUGATED: McDonald's has corrugated cardboard take-out boxes with tiny flutes. Use this material to make your own mini corrugated boxes! Add a tiny "FRAGILE" label and/or address label. BOWL: Make a "crystal" fruit bowl or cake dish from those clear plastic suction cups. Remove the hook!! To make it a pedestal dish...glue a silver pony bead to bottom! BRASS TUBES: Could be used in lots of projects....for plumbing pipes, lamps & lighting fixtures, brass furniture legs, etc. When your ball point pen runs out of ink...take it apart and save the "brass" ink reservoir! It can be cleaned out with a pipe cleaner and bent easily when warm. Save the springs too!! You never know! |
| ~~ C ~~ CAKE: Styrofoam has a perfect cake texture!! Denser textures cut easier. Cut into cake shape..."frost" with Spackle...cut out a slice for realism...paint the "cake" part "chocolate"!! Don't forget the filling!! CANDLE: The stem inside some glue sticks is great for a spiral candle. Cut into desired lengths and paint or leave white. CANDLE HOLDER: Look for some pretty buttons with 2 holes. Insert a short bugle bead into each hole to make a nice looking candle holder (the holes may have to be enlarged some). Glue the beads in place and let dry on wax paper. Paint gold or silver if desired. Add "candles". You can also add mini holly leaves to decorate around the bottom for Christmas or some flowers for other occasions. CARPET: Rubbermaid makes a knobby foam shelf liner that could resemble Berber or Hi/Low carpeting. Check it out! CEILING TEXTURE: For textured ceilings (or rough stucco "Spanish" walls): Cut brown paper bag a little larger than ceiling (or wall) and crunch it up into a ball.** Open it up and gently smooth it out. Paste this wrinkled paper onto ceiling and, when dry, paint. Wallpaper paste works best for attaching paper...and don't forget to smooth out air bubbles. **If there isn't enough texture when you first unroll it, crunch it up into a ball again for more wrinkles. Do it as often as necessary to achieve the look you want. CHANDELIER: Use a large Treble fishing hook and 3 clear faceted beads on each "hook". Attach a piece of jewelry chain to the hole on top with a jump ring. Now you have a simple, but elegant, chandelier. COOKIE SHEET: Eye shadow metal pans are perfect for bake ware in the kitchen. Make some donuts, cookies, etc and place on cookie sheet and place in an oven or on a countertop COUNTER TOPS: If you want laminated kitchen tops go to a kitchen-making place and they often have off cuts that they are happy to give away. When cutting to size tape both sides of the laminate where you are going to cut so you get a smooth cut. Also wear a mask. You will need a circular saw, as it is very tough. |
| ~~ D ~~ DESSERTS: Candy molds in small shapes can be filled with plaster of paris or filled with Sculpy/Fimo and baked and painted for 'cakes' and 'desserts'. Tip: Lightly rub a very tiny amount of glycerin with a small brush so it will easily drop out. DOORS, SCREEN: The flexible springs found in ink pens make a "realistic" addition to a wooden screen door . DRAWER PULLS: If you don't have any purchased mini hardware, use staples, beads or map tacks! |
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