Green Creativity: Garden Art from Recyclables



Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

At Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, the summer flower show includes lovely summer blooms as you would expect, but also some "green" ideas for recycling used items as art in your garden.

Phipps, one of America's Greenest Public Gardens, prides itself on being a leader for a more sustainable future.

Below (and above) are some photos of how items were recycled into garden art such as using bamboo, a great renewable resource, to create fabrics, as illustrated by the sculptural flower petals in the photo above.

Also, glass bottle pieces are suspended in architecural panels; cans become decorative accents, and plastic bottles are repurposed into fabrics.

Great ideas and only the beginning of reducing the amount of trash that ends up in landfills.



Creativity Tip No. 39

Bracelets Galore!

If you can't tell, this is a jewelry organizer holding all of my bracelets. I have been looking for something to display my bracelets so that I can remember what I have and wear them all. I previously had them in a cut glass dish my aunt had given me. It worked more as a decorative piece than a way to choose bracelets to wear. I would always have to dig into the bowl to find what I wanted, not really seeing all of them.

Since I have been accumulating them my entire life, there are quite a few as you can see. (Like most of you, I love bracelets. You never have to try them on,  they are usually inexpensive, always colorful and perfect.)

I bought this jewelry stand at Michael's the other day, but now realize I at least need one more since the bracelets are so crammed together I still can't see them all.

Got any suggestions on how you store your jewelry?  Pass them on!

Creativity Tip No. 38

Haul out your summer jewelry!

The locusts are strumming, the songbirds have stopped singing and there are mums for sale at the big box stores. It can only mean one thing: Summer is drawing to a close.

I have made a conscious decision to wear as much of my summer jewelry as I can, as often as I can in the next days. If I could wear two sets of earrings at a time, I would be tempted. Too soon I will be putting this colorful stuff away and replacing it with the more conservative jewelry of fall.

Gone will be the white capris and the white sandals and the lightweight evening bags. Gone will be my pink (with blue trim) shoes and my mint green walking shoes. Back to black and brown and navy and gray, which I love, but doesn't it seem like we wear those colors more than enough?

I hope you will take this hint and start wearing all of  those whimsical items you cherish and wear only in the summer. Enjoy them while you can, even if you have to make a smiley face with them!
  

Creativity Tip No. 37

It may be dorky, well, actually it is, but I have begun to use a springy wrist coil to attach my keys to my wrist when I am out and about. The idea came to me when I found that a lot of summer slacks and capris don't have pockets, for some insane reason. And putting my keys into my purse caused them to be lost for minutes at a time.

I had to look around for a few days to locate this type of key ring, since most places were sold out I kid you not! I found one finally at Loew's of all places.

One of the best ways I have found to use this new toy is when I walk and am carrying way too much stuff in my pockets, like my phone and my camera and sometimes my ipod for music.

As cool as this can be, I have to admit that even with the keys jangling from my wrist, I still find myself often beginning to search for them in the caverns of my purse only to realize where they are. Guess one thing wrist coils can't help with is  loss of memory!

Not sure this is a fashion forward step, and may not be approved of by Tim Gunn, but for now, it's helping me keep track of things, even though I may look like someone who should be managing a warehouse on the waterfront somewhere. I can live with that.

Creativity Tip No. 36

Some tiny indulgences while on vacation, gathered by a friend of mine:

·        a small vase of mint in the bathroom (buy mint in the produce section)

·        slice up a lemon or lime and keep it in the fridge for your ice water, food

·        real half and half for your coffee. Really.

·        cocoa butter for your hands

·        a special CD for a relaxation “trip.” This could be anything from spa “New Age” music to Ella Fitzgerald to Gregorian chant. When you are stressing out, put it on SIT DOWN and close your eyes for 15 minutes or five songs. (a sleep mask helps to keep your eyes closed)

·        a sleep mask