Sisal Wrapped Balls

I've seen these trendy-looking balls used as lampshades countless times, and found several tutorials on how to make them. Here is my result. When I find lamp parts, this will metamorphose into a lamp.

I Have the Best Ideas at Night

It was 11:30 PM and I should have been sleeping, but instead I had the bright idea to take the trip down to the recycling room of my building and see if there were any good finds. I have been wanting to make some cool coasters for a while, and until last night that meant one of two things. First, polished stone coasters of smooth irregular shapes, not really something I can accomplish with the tools I have on hand. Second, slices of varnished tree trunk. I never thought of how hard it is to get my hands on a tree trunk until then, especially in the heart of downtown Toronto. So my bright idea was to harvest a tree product of another kind from the "forest of the city," in other words, cardboard from the recycling room. A few drawings of Canadiana icons and wildlife later, and some kindergarten-reminiscent cutouts later, and voila: a set of Canadiana coasters.

Art from the Recycling

Here is a little treat I finally put together today after those garlands of paper beads have been sitting around for at least eight years. The beads were made from the pages of Famous magasine. In middle and high school, I used to pick up the Famous magasine every time I went to a movie theatre. They sat around and got used for collages and this. I took the IKEA frame from the recycling room in my apartment building. Voila, the result is a rearrangeable piece of wall decor.