Cats and the Creative process

There is something about cats, they seem much more interested in what I am doing while I am making things than a dog ever would be. Maybe it is the nature of cats to turn every stray thing into a game. If I play with wire they are right there swatting and attacking those wobbly ends. If I play with fabric that want to lend a paw to make things interesting. And knitting certainly seems fascinating to them.
It is easy to get creative for my cats. We seem to invent a new cat toy every now and then as they suggest some scrap of this or that is REALLY interesting with a high potential fun factor.
But I solemnly swear I will not be making any cat costumes now or in the future.

Now my sister and I when we were very young used to dress the cats in doll clothes and let them take naps in her doll crib. It was really pretty amusing when the two of us would haul the battle scarred old tom cat from his front porch lair to our bedroom so we could stuff him into a little knit sweater and then tuck him gently into the crib. He actually played the part really well. We could play house with the "baby" napping peacefully away, purring his heart out whenever we would check on him.  When he was done he would have somehow shed the little yellow garment and was waiting at our door to get let out to the great outdoors once more.
My parents used to laugh because the old veteran was a stray that showed up at our place only now and then and did not allow anyone generally to show him much affection. But dress up time was ok by him. Maybe it was the tlc or maybe it was just the peace and quite of a warm bed.

In spite of this memory that makes me smile, I do not dress cats up in silly hats or outfits. And I have a very sweet old lady in Texas to thank for my change of attitude. Her obsession was not cats but sea turtles. She rescued the endangered and injured turtles and rehabilitated them back into the wild when they were healed. And she would give presentations in her home where she had aquariums and pools everywhere filled with recovering turtles. Her dedication was amazing. But as she was introducing us to some of her charges she would have them dressed in little outfits and hats. Now these were not the full grown turtles but rather 1 and 2 year olds that weight less than 10 pounds.
The woman must have been in her seventies when I saw her and I think I read somewhere long ago she was nearly 100 when she died.
But the ludicrous sight of those poor turtles dressed in outfits, solidified my feeling that animals should not be made to put on a show for the amusement of others. I realized this woman had probably learned she could get more donations from her audience if she tried making some kind of connection between the turtles and them, but I walk away feeling embarrassed to have even watched such silliness.

As much as I know there is money to be made from adorable doggy outfits and frilly feline finery I will stay out of that create outlet.

starting my upcycle with Wood

Today I would like to start on one of those new directions I have for this blog.
For most of my life I think I have been something of a scavenger. Making good use of the things others did not.
I have aspirations of writing a books about a 2nd hand life, but for now I want to focus on creative uses for things many other people would toss away. I will organize this mostly on material or source. I write this not only to suggest creative way to enhance your life directly, but as possible ideas for objects to sell. Value added to something you got free or nearly free is all profit for you and worth your time to go get it. Details on how to make most of this stuff can be found with a little internet research. This is just a place to get you thinking.
 So today I will start with the a simple material that is typically all around us though sometimes hidden from view.

WOOD

Sources: broken furniture, twigs, firewood, lumber scraps, pallets

Some skills with a simple saw, hammer, sand paper and pocket knife needed to make the best use of this "free" resource.

Things you can make from wood

Home decor:

• Boxes: use molding scraps and thin plywood to make open boxes.  Create small open boxes and add sand as a safe decorative place to put pillar candles.
• Ornaments: take turnings from old crib rails, cut them to a pleasing size and paint in festive colors. add a small eye screw to the top to thread ribbon for hanging or attach as knobs in ceiling fan pull chains. Fresh twigs can be bent into small or large wreaths to hang on a tree or your front door.
• Small shelves: made from moldings or the wood found inside that old sofa sitting on the curb. 
• Lamp: Use the wood from the old sofa and some lumber scraps to create a one of a kind lamp. You can glue them together in such a way that you won't have to drill for the cord.
• Game pieces: use small pieces of tree branches to create rustic chess or checker pieces. Wittle down a twig to create cribbage pegs.
• Other furniture: Willow twigs furniture, scrap lumber and salvaged wood from pallets and old furniture can be remade into chairs, stools tables.
• Cutting boards and trivets: Glue together scraps of wood into a sheet, then cut to shape and sand till smooth. Finish with oil made for cutting boards.
• Picture frames: miter cut scrap molding or even rustic barn wood to create frames.

Jewelry:

some bamboo tiles salvaged from an old table mat, marbled with salvaged spray paint and turned into pendants

• Use small pieces of exotic or highly figured wood to create pendants and beads for your jewelry. The easiest way might be to drill a series of holes in a thin piece of wood and then cut them into cubes with the holes centered in each bead. Sand and paint or lacqer.

Outdoor/Garden:

• Use pallets to create sheltered areas for delicate plants, or create a compost bin. Twigs and branches can be woven into fantastic trellises and even fences for the garden.
• Use shavings from hard woods like hickory, maple, birch or fruit woods for smoking. Each type of wood adds a subtly different taste to smoked meats. (do not use evergreen wood or exotic hardwoods)
• Build bird feeders and bird houses from firewood or scrap lumber

Toys:

• Blocks are easy to cut from scrap lumber or leave them in irregualr shapes and paint them in bright colors. Add pegs and holes to the blocks in random ways to add another dimension to building blocks.
• Carving skills can create anything from a simple wooden snake to something amazingly ornate.
• A broken rocking chair could become a rocking horse.
• Puzzles are also easy either with a jig saw or by stacking cubes into a matrix. laminate a picture on one side, cut apart the cubes and turn another blank side up on each cube the laminate another picture, cut apart. do this until all six sides of each cube is part of a puzzle.