Waste Not, Want Not

It is all my Mom's fault!  Growing up I always heard the phrase "Waste Not, Want Not" or something similar to that.  As an adult, I have somehow won the battle of not keeping every margarine or cool whip container that goes to recycling but I can't pass up any unwanted crafts or art supplies.  They call out to me.  It may just be a piece of ribbon off of a package or a piece of shiny wadded up tissue paper, I snag it and think that it can be used for something. 

My need to rescue art supplies is at war with my need for organization.  I try to follow a strict guideline of if I don't use it in a year then it has to go.  Yikes!  What about the paper maker that I held onto for five years but didn't use?  What about the adorable box of scrapbook paper and cardboard animals that I found at a scrapbook store that was unwanted?  Their year (or two) was coming up quickly and if I didn't find a use for them then I would have to find them a good home.

Then I had an idea!  An amazing idea that just might work.  When the owners of the house we rent moved out they left this atrocious  curious shelf in the hall bathroom.  It has several 8X8 squares, which wouldn't be so bad if they were deep enough to hold things, but the squares are shallow.  This shelf needs a new home - anywhere but mine.  Unfortunately, removing things from a house that an owner has left behind makes me nervous.  I am concerned that if they move back to their home after we are stationed someplace else they will want their shelf, or curtains, or old dry paint, or the five gallon bucket of Spackle... the list goes on, and I don't want to have to pay for the missing item out of our deposit.  So, the shelf has been hanging on the wall empty since the day we moved in.

 Nothing would really fit safely on that stinkin' shelf.  If I tried to put pretty containers on it they would hang over the edge and one slam of the door would send them plunging into the toilet below.  You can guess who would have to fish them out.  Yuck!  I needed something small and flat.  So, I picked up some 5X5 canvases and decided to make little mixed media pictures that the girls would enjoy, would fit on the crazy shelf, and use the supplies that were marked for donation.

 Step one:  pick out my paper and modge podge it on.

Step two:  add paint, rub ons, scribbles, the animals, and anything else that I think might work.

Step three:  I wanted to give each animal a purpose so they were all assigned a word. 
Finished...  It was a quick project and I like them.  Smile!