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Arts & Crafts


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Oh. THAT kind of Crafts. I was hoping it was something food related that touched on the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th Century (William Morris, Gustav Stickley, the Roycrofters et al). I've often wondered if their approach to their work and living spaces extended to their food and in what manner.

Absent that discussion..... I nominate the wine bottle encrusted with many layers and colors of molten and then hardened candle wax.

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Well, there's always the favorite--pasta art. Take your favorite dry pasta shape, glue to oak tag, recycled oatmeal containers, etc. and paint (throwback to my pre-school days). Always a crowd pleaser--especially when hung on the refrigerator. I've got others up my sleeve too--but I don't want to show off too much.

Ellen Shapiro

www.byellen.com

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Corks. Any wine geeks has piles and piles of corks. I've made wine-based wreaths with 'em and there are patterns out there for trivets and bird-houses. I've even seen one guy put corks all over one wall.

Then there are the piles of saved wine labels. I just recently had to construct a cat door for a window. The only way to make it work was to install the cat door into a piece of plywood. Not wanting the ugly plywood, I covered it in wine labels. Looks pretty cool, actually...

Anyone from the 70's remember bread dough art?

And, at Christmastime, I make stained-glass cookies - any refrigerator dough made into outline shapes in which crumbled Lifesavers are put. When baked, they turn into pretty stained-glass designs that can be either eaten or hung in the window.

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And, at Christmastime, I make stained-glass cookies - any refrigerator dough made into outline shapes in which crumbled Lifesavers are put. When baked, they turn into pretty stained-glass designs that can be either eaten or hung in the window.

You can also make those stained glass cookies into candle holders. Bake square cookies and use a stiff icing to build little topless boxes. Insert votive candle (be sure it's in a glass holder). Looks great for the holidays. I think the idea was published in an old Sunset magazine.

Julie Layne

"...a good little eater."

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Well, there's always the favorite--pasta art. Take your favorite dry pasta shape, glue to oak tag, recycled oatmeal containers, etc. and paint (throwback to my pre-school days). Always a crowd pleaser--especially when hung on the refrigerator. I've got others up my sleeve too--but I don't want to show off too much.

we can't forget fusilli Jerry...did kramer ever make the other characters or just Jerry?

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Pomanders--lovely scented clove-spiced pomanders rolled in orris root powder before spiking with a pointy tool and inserting cloves in designs.

I would like to make some of those dehydrated citrus slices that look so nice in a potpourri and are hellishly exorbitant at the Michael's Craft Place.

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Corks. Any wine geeks has piles and piles of corks. I've made wine-based wreaths with 'em and there are patterns out there for trivets and bird-houses. I've even seen one guy put corks all over one wall.

Then there are the piles of saved wine labels. I just recently had to construct a cat door for a window. The only way to make it work was to install the cat door into a piece of plywood. Not wanting the ugly plywood, I covered it in wine labels. Looks pretty cool, actually...

Anyone from the 70's remember bread dough art?

And, at Christmastime, I make stained-glass cookies - any refrigerator dough made into outline shapes in which crumbled Lifesavers are put. When baked, they turn into pretty stained-glass designs that can be either eaten or hung in the window.

I must say, the level of creativity is astounding. I'm working from childhood memories (ideal for mother's day gift giving) but the cat door! The bird houses! Oh, how you put me and my macaroni art to shame.

Ellen Shapiro

www.byellen.com

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I made a pretty cool wind chime with a Lancer's bottle that I cut the bottom out of, suspended a big macrame bead where it would clang, and hung some old brass decorative pieces for weight. It sounded very nice, and I've often thought of doing it again.

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My reason for looking at this thread was to find some inspiration for what to do with my corks! I just might enough for a voyage to Portugal! :laugh:

When I was a Girl Scout, about 110 years ago, we made chip bowls out of old albums, they were bigger than 33 lp, and came from a local radio station. That is if anyone still remembers what 'lp' means. You put it in the oven over a can and wait until it melts. My mother said she loved hers....

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...we made chip bowls out of old albums, they were bigger than 33 lp, and came from a local radio station. That is if anyone still remembers what 'lp' means. You put it in the oven over a can and wait until it melts. My mother said she loved hers....

You can go to readymademag.com for complete instructions on how to make the LP bowl. Check out the coasters...if I can find some cheap old vinyl i want to make those for Christmas gifts this year. I made tea towel holders out of old silver spoons from flea markets (you drill a hole and bend it into a "hook") and little finished blocks of wood (which I painted, then sanded for a beach-house effect), origami paper (cut to fit the back for a professional finish, attached with spray adhesive), and picture hangers from the craft store. The only tool you need is a drill with bit and screws. Not neccessarily a food craft, but kitchen craft. I made a bunch on a rainy saturday after Thanksgiving...will post photo soon.

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Does anyone remember seeing those pins made from old silver forks? I always thought they were very nice.

I love the spoon hooks.

My grandmother has had a ring made from the handle of an old silver spoon for as long as I can remember. No idea where she got it but it looks pretty neat.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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When my uncle was in the navy during WW2, he made my mama a ring made from a silver quarter. Somehow, you pounded on the quarter and eventually had a plain silver band, but inside the ring was the date from the quarter. I wonder if your gram's ring was one sort of like that?

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When my uncle was in the navy during WW2, he made my mama a ring made from a silver quarter. Somehow, you pounded on the quarter and eventually had a plain silver band, but inside the ring was the date from the quarter. I wonder if your gram's ring was one sort of like that?

Maybe. My grandfather served in the Navy during WWII, so perhaps he brought it back from somewhere. He's passed on and she has Alzheimer's so I can't ask either of them, but maybe it's in their letters somewhere. I have those.

It's the one thing of hers that I asked for in her will.

Heather Johnson

In Good Thyme

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