Zipper play

 Before we begin with this recycled project,

I just have to point out this is my final alma mater.  I'm so proud of Wichita State.    If you live in a country other than the US (and I know many of my readers do), Wichita State is one of four basketball teams in the Final Four.  They play Louisville today, and our mayor has designated this Shocker day.  I always thought the Wheat Shock was a wimpy mascot, but it's apparently a fighter.  Go shocks!

Now lets do a bit of recycling before the big game.

My friend Kathy gives me all kinds of weird things she thinks I'll have a use for.  She thought I might use these plastic bags that originally held her new curtains and drapes, to store things in my craft room.  But I had other ideas.  I wanted to use the zippers, so today I'm getting ready to use my thread ripper to remove the zippers from the plastic.  Sadly, I have no use for this plastic, so I fear it will surely end up in the recycle bin unless I come up with a smart way to recycle it in my art.

Once the zippers were removed, I got out my Staz-on reinkers and 91% alcohol. 

I used three colors of green and two colors of pink/red to dye these zippers.  I simply rubbed the black piece over my black Staz-on ink pad.

 

Once I was convinced the dye had saturated the zippers, I laid them out on a paper towel to dry.

When they were dry, I proceeded to make flowers.  But this is a lesson in glue I must pass on.  The savvy reader will probably use a thread and needle, but I don't hand sew, so I first tried E-6000.  It took an entire day and night for it to dry with the help of a clothes pin.  Then I thought I would try my regular white glue, but that took equally long and the clothes pin crushed the rose in the process.

I was just about ready to grab my tacky glue when I saw my double sided tape.  This stuff was a god-send.  Not only did the rose look so much more realistic, it also didn't require any drying time.

I prepared a background from the white paper my friend Kathy gives me, which she considers trash.

(In the garden of Zip and Pierre)

After adding several buttons I colored using a yellow bingo dabber, this abstract mixed media piece is finished.

Today is Day 6.  I recycled seven zippers, four buttons, and a piece of unwanted card stock.  I even made some real art, too.  I would call that a good recycle day!!

Now let's watch the basketball game.