PRINTThe dirt on trash art
One person’s trash is another’s purse
Maggie Rife
Morgan Smith uses a leather puncher to put holes in her purse handles. Smith, a local artist, has plans to start an entire line of accessories made out of recycled materials. Currently, she has her own purse line, Trashy Clutch.
January 11, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Your Coke bottle is not what it seems. Its bottlecap looks better strung on a bracelet, and the bottle will dump soda in a flash to hold flowers. Give your trash a second chance. From license plate purses to jewelry made of utensils, your junk might have something else to tell you. Make your junk work for you by quitting the trash talk.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., a community improvement network, reports that in 1960, each American produced approximately 2.7 pounds of garbage per day; in 2001, the number reached 4.4 pounds. Tin cans, light bulbs, cigar boxes, newspapers -- make them food for thought, not food for Oscar the Grouch. Get online and find creative inspiration at allfreecrafts.com. The Web Site shows how to make magazine holders out of cereal boxes, pillows from T-shirts and more.
Be imaginative, but don’t start too complex; follow these five easy steps to turn a ratty purse into a fashion statement. The steps can be applied to anything -- wallets, nightstands, lamp shades, picture frames, clocks and more.
1. Search for a handbag to reflect your personality at thrift stores, vintage shops, flea markets or garage sales. A little dirt can be easily washed off or covered, but make sure the stitching of the purse is in good shape. Good Will offers purses starting at $3.
2. Grab your favorite magazine, and cut out images and words. You can also snip small pieces of color from the magazine to create your own picture.
3. Cover your magazine pieces with decoupage glue (Modge Podge, $4.27) with a small-sized paint brush (try “Loeur-Cornell Natural Hair Bristle” brushes: three for $1.99). Place your magazines pieces on the purse and gently smooth your finger over them to get rid of bumps.
4. When you’re finished designing, let the pieces completely dry then brush two coats of Modge Podge on top to serve as a varnish.
5. Let it be, let it be! Make sure your creation is entirely dry before using it. When the time is right, take it out when you hit the town and watch friends admire.
*Materials found at Hobby Lobby
--Jenn Hueting
Morgan Smith adjusts the straps on her handmade purses in her craft room full of ...
On Broadway
“Paper or plastic?” For fantastic recycling, think plastic. Morgan Smith is earning bagging rights by weaving handbags out of colorful cut-up strands of plastic bags, finishing each with a vintage belt as a handle and decorative buttons and charms that she finds in garage sales and thrift stores for extra pizazz.
“Velcro is really the only thing I use that isn’t recycled,” says Smith. “Everything else has at least one previous life.”
Her purse line, “Trashy Clutch,” has been selling at Maude Vintage on Broadway, the Columbia Art League and craft shows for two years.
“Morgan has a really good visual and design sensibility,” says Channing Kennedy, an manager at Maude Vintage. “Her stuff always looks new, fresh and inviting.
Maude Vintage is full of creative crafts, with items such as purses made from tablecloths and wallets made of duct tape. Down the street, Poppy shines with handmade lamps constructed of musical instruments and jewelry crafted from typewriter keys. Glance at Poppy’s walls to find HGTV star Aaron Foster’s art, including a car made of old license plates. Visit his Web Site, Aaronfoster.com, to see more projects, such as a United States map, each state made of its specific license plate shaped accordingly.
Think for yourself
Save your trash to save your mind; creative recycling is an easy and affordable form of artistic expression. For vintage treasures other than what your trash offers, hit the thrift shops. Lisa Bartlett, owner of The Vintage Shop on Ninth St. sells “artist grab bags,” which she says are full of beads, buttons, fabrics and other materials.
“People come in the store looking for things like furs and minks to make teddy bears. One girl makes purses out of hats,” says Bartlett, who says she keeps artists in mind when buying items to sell for the store.
For help making your vision a reality, Barnes & Noble in Columbia has three sections of shelves entirely devoted to craft books, with titles from Collage Unleashed to Hip Knits to Stupid Sock Creatures. Todd Oldham’s book, Hand Made Modern, gives step-by-step instructions on how to make funky creations such as a pillow cover from ribbons, small lamps from photographs and vase gardens from test tubes.
For those who work on hobbies while watching television, tune into the Style Network’s Trash to Treasure, a show where two teams of strangers search garage sales and flea markets to find unique items to remake and resell. Creativity is the ticket, and the group with the highest profits from their revamped items wins.
