I like to use materials I have salvaged from everyday use. These crafts are made out of a re-used cereal box, re-used cardboard, a salvaged old picture frame found moldering in the garage, and paper scraps from previous art projects. I even used the washers and springs from my empty homeopathy remedy spray bottles (the glass was recycled)!



This is funny!  After I took the photo above, I counted and recounted all of the parts on the art piece and realized that one dark blue washer and one spring had fallen off! I put the parts back on and took another photo below, then realized I didn't put the washer and spring back in the original place. Can you find the dark blue washer and the spring that I moved?

Made out of: re-used cereal box (5" x 7")  tissue paper, unbleached wax paper, paper scraps, re-used washers, re-used springs, non-toxic glue.

There are 18 colored tissue-paper discs, 18 dark blue washers, 18 light blue washers. There are 19 springs; there were going to be 18 springs as well, but an extra one fell on top of the work after I thought I'd finished it, so I added it in--just goes to show you the randomness of the Universe, and inspired the name "Chaos Theory"--no matter how much you might plan something, some randomness always seems to occur!




Interior of the work showing the original cereal box--I turned the box inside out to have a white working surface.





The leaf is made from layers of different colored tissue paper glued onto wax paper. I use Elmer's glue and dilute it with a bit of water so you can spread it with a small paint brush (be sure to rinse the paint brush out thoroughly once you are done, using a bit of dish soap). When it's dried, the wax paper curls up a bit, making the "leaf" look almost real. The "stem" is made out of rolled-up tissue paper over a very thin strip of waxed paper. The wax paper gives the "stem" flexibility so you can shape it after it's dried. Glued onto re-used piece of cardboard covered with tissue paper, then onto a re-used foil-covered cardboard.  Size: 6" X 6"




Nine "leaves" and "stems" made the same way as above. They are sitting on top of the salvaged glassed-in frame. The leaves/stems are loose--you can play with them and rearrange them on the frame-tray however you like--I call this "interactive art work".  Size of frame: 14" X 20" , each "leaf" is about 6" across.

MORE Tissue Paper Art:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1459334

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1449803
Art from nature/biodegradable containers

More Eco-Art with reused materials:

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1783684
"Petroleum Hive"

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1778437
"Mother and Child"

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1836008 
"Eco-MaGs by mayah" --homemade refrigerator magnets

http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1777065
More "Plastics"!