Treasure Boxes from Trash

I LOVE when I can find a way to recycle something. So when I got a chance to snag a bag FULL of cat treats I was all over it. Cat treats you say?

 Well I'm not recycling the cat treats, but the nifty little tins the treats came in are lovely. I had to wash them out extremely well. You can imagine they smelled a bit...fishy.

But the tins are great! I love little boxes and tins. I don't know why, but I do. I also love working with polymer clay so these two were bound to come together. I thought these would make great treasure boxes or stash boxes, a cool place to keep a small sewing kit or small medicine kit for purse. I started laying out designs to cover the tins with and realized there was so much more I could do.

This is where they are at this point. I still need to sand them and put a layer of gloss on them. I still have a bag full of these though. I'm thinking on the next round I will add in some beads to the design or possibly make some small sculptures to go on the tops of the boxes. A tiny dragon perhaps or butterflies would look nice as a decoration to lids?

Hope you enjoyed this peak at my recycling adventure :) When I get some more made I will be sure to post those as well !! 

Til next time.... GO MAKE SOMETHING  and HAVE FUN!!

Island of Trash

There is an island of trash being built by us every day.
No lie.

1,600 kilometres west of the coast of California is polluted area being called "the garbage patch".
Ocean currents are pushing plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other "disposable" trash of all sorts into this area forming a sort of floating islandS of trash.

Thats islandS. Plural.

Bad enough to think this is happening to the ocean in just the scenic sense but also the animals are suffering in so many ways. Many of the shiny pieces are just so tempting to the birds and fish. Seagulls have been found with lighters in their stomachs. The plastics break down into toxic sand like parts eaten by filter feeders and going up the food chain from there. Building up toxins in the food chain. Many animals like turtles and such may starve to death while having a stomach full of waste they've filled up on but cant digest.

Do you part to clean up this mess. Don't leave trash on the beach. Don't dump things overboard. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

One more "r" Research.
Find ways to help save the environment each day in your life.