Crafty goodness.

They say one's trash is another man's treasure. Well, that's pretty much the story of my life. I make art out of crap and try to creatively repurpose any junk I see beauty in before it makes its way to the landfill. Setting up shoppe #2 here in Asheville has been super inspiring and I have found many ways to cut corners with my moola and still make beautiful displays. Here are a few examples of my Crafty Kathy ideas to share:

I needed something to hang small print, cards, photos, etc. on the wall with. And here in NC, there is bamboo a-plenty, so I took a couple of lengths and mounted it to the wall. $1.00 in vintage ribbon and clothespins from a local thrift store later, I have a fun wall hangy thing...perfect for my homemade moustache stickers and swirly tree greeting cards! (But you could use this in your home for photos!)

I love old windows and try to save every one (and shutter) I see abandoned in piles on the side of the road. Here are a couple of examples of displays that are the perfect project for slightly cracked windows. I cut scraps of foam core and cork board to fit in the window panes. And rather than buying fabric, I found some old velvety skirts at the Goodwill, cut them up and stretched them around the boards. I used liquid nails to adhere them inside the window panes.

Now anything can hang in these windows (jewelry, photos, etc.) with simple push pins or straight pins.

This display piece I take a lot of pride in: the orange ironing board wall hanging. Here's a tip for the thrifty: visit out-of-town dumps in your travels and see if they have a swap shop. I was about an hour out of town one day and stopped at a dump (mainly because I had been admiring the beautiful sign for years). They initially told me to leave because I didn't have a dump sticker. But when I explained that I was leaving nothing and wanted to see if they had a pile of junk I could look through for art projects, they waved me through and guided me to the swap shop. And there I found this orange beauty. I yanked the legs off the ironing board and mounted it to the wall with initial intention of making a magnet display board. But then I discovered that the holes were perfectly spaced for pegboard brackets. Excellent.

This was another dump find: a rusty old cart with a bent wheel. A quick coat of paint and some fabric scraps cut to size for the inside shelves and voila!...a gorgeous plant or display stand! This one is going to be filled with funky potted plants for the Anam Cara shoppe.

Everything is coming together and we open in just 1 day! Yippie!