I’ve always admired assemblage art. I just love the complexity of these art pieces and how much content and meaning they combine into one cohesive art piece. I finally tried my hand at one, and as it took shape I noticed the theme of cats and owls emerge.
Assemblage art took form in the early 1900’s and in the 1950’s French artist Jean Dubuffet coined the term. Assemblage art embraces the idea of giving found objects new meaning. It aims to spark one’s imagination – to create new objects or beings out of disparate individual pieces collected over time. Some of the components may be owned, some may be found on “treasure hunts” to thrift stores and some may be consciously sought out.
When I attempted this piece I first sought out a frame or “container” for the components of the piece. The piece I found was the bottom half of an old wooden box. I removed the hinges, creating two wooden frames. It was already a nice vintage red. Used toys are a great source of wooden objects for any assemblage. Think tinker-toys, building blocks, wheels. Also look for vintage games, anything that contains old cardboard or wood pieces. Scrabble games, chess pieces, pegs or dominoes add dimension. I go through the aisles of Good Will looking for metallic pieces in the kitchen, garden or jewelry sections and reimagining them.
Once you have a good collection the fun begins; preparing pieces by painting or sanding and starting the process of arranging pieces until a theme starts to emerge. This piece took me several days of assembling and tearing apart until I found my theme. Go ahead and give one a try, it’s really quite therapeutic!
The Origin of Spirit Dolls goes back as far as most anyone can remember. Spirit Dolls were created in ancient times to protect one from evil spirits, to memorialize loved ones or as cherished gifts.
Spirit Dolls can be created from scavenged materials found in you craft closet, sewing box, junk drawer or backyard. Start with a stick that mimics the frame of the Spirit Doll you’re creating; I like to find one with a gentle curve that mimics a human body in motion. Often you can find one with branching “arms” or “feet” for more realism.
Creating The Spirit Doll Head
As you hold and feel the doll you will proably start to develop a feel for the personality of the doll you are creating. Creating the doll’s head is probably the most important component.
I’ve created mine with FIMO clay that is baked until hardened. Start with an egg-shaped lump of clay and push holes in for eyes, and add small lumps of clay to fashion ears and nose. Any fine-tipped tool can be used to detail eyes, ears and nose. The clay can be reworked until you get it right. Flesh-toned clay can be left as is; or you may want to paint to age the face and give the doll more personality. Apply a protective finish if desired, even modge-podge will protect and add a sheen.
I place the head on the “body” before baking the clay to create a hole to insert the stick in after the head is finished. I insert glue into the hole before placing it on the body and allowing it to dry.
Dressing The Spirit Doll
Choose materials that complement its personality. I start with its clothing; I tear scraps from recycled clothing, or leftovers from sewing projects. I attach the material with hot glue or by sewing pieces together and tying to the body with string. You can add scraps of ribbon and leather to act as belts and necklaces or to hold the clothing together.
Use broken jewelry, spare buttons and ribbons and lacing for decoration. Honor a loved one who’s passed on by adding just a scrap or bauble that belonged to them.
Go for a walk outside to forage material. Embellish your spirit doll with twigs, evergreens, acorns, pinecones, feathers and other durable natural materials. Finally, add beads, bells and coins as jewelry to amplify the doll’s mystical aura.
Giving your laundry area a built-in look..
Let’s talk about hiding washers and dryers. Our new house had a fairly large bathroom downstairs next to our main bedroom. It was right around the corner from our bedroom. Since we had no en suite, this also served as our private bath. When we moved in the layout was galley style. There was a toilet on the left, vanity on the right, then beyond that laundry area on left and tub/shower on right. We wanted to hide the washer dryer and give the bathroom a more finished look.
If we put up a wall in front of the washer/dryer it would have created a very narrow hallway effect between that and the tub. I started searching for ideas on the internet. I found lots of examples of built-in that not only hid the appliances but created a folding area and made the entire area more open.
My husband started by installing the washer and dryer. He then started building a framework around them with 1×2″ lumber. It was kind of like using an erector set; screwing cross pieces across the back at the top height, adding cross pieces to the side walls at the counter height, and creating a frame to slide between the two to support the counter.
We have a junk store near us that specializes in salvaging solid panel doors at $20 each. We cut down two of them to use here. The counter pieces can be removed so we wanted those pieces to be constructed of a lighter weight wood. We ended up using cedarclapboards, stained in driftwood. We’re still debating if we should leave those gray or stain them solid whit e to blend with the doors and shelves. We use baskets for all our towel and laundry product storage. Here are some pictures of the finished project.
Flip-up panels to access controls
I think a welcome sign outside your door is like applying lipstick for that finished look! We had a unique problem by our kitchen door. The spot where the propane gas line entered the house was quite ugly. It hit you square in the face when you approached the house. I had to think of a way to hide as much of it as possible.
After searching the web for different door or porch treatments I noticed the trend of wooden boards with various sayings. I thought to myself, perfect! Next step was a trip to the workshop to look for appropriate scrap wood. I’m a bit lazy so was excited to find some remnants of fence boards we had used for another project; a screen for the propane tank itself.
I found four boards of same length, and secured them together by screwing on smaller crosspieces at the top and bottom of the back. I did give it a coat of white exterior paint as a base. The wood was rough so the paint did not fill all nooks and crannies, but I liked the shabby look.
Then it was back to the drawing board to decide on a design to paint on the sign. The first thing I did was decide on color palette. The house is gray with a bright yellow door. Being Scandinavian, I love yellow and blue, so built it around that. Sunflowers seemed a natural for the yellow required. I did buy a sunflower stencil on Amazon to start with, but I have to say didn’t have much luck with it. But I managed to touch it up by detailing the outline a bit more. I also used stencils for most of the lettering. I added a Scandinavian version of Hello, and also Italian, since I live with one, haha.
I played with it some, sanding it down a bit to give it a shabbier look, and finished it with a coat of varnish to protect it. I added a couple of eye hooks on the back with some picture wire andVoila! I couldn’t completely cover the gasline, but it does hide the ugly entry hole. I added a sunflower wreath on the other side of the door to tie the whole thing together. Do you think this is enough, or should I add more?
It’s hard to believe you can change silver metal to gold or brass…but I found you can! So everyone makes mistakes when redecorating, right? Too bad you can’t easily try out hard-wired light fixtures! When I chose chrome pendant lights for our kitchen I made the mistake of listening to Amazon reviews. “We love these lights; everyone compliments us on them!”
We redecorated our kitchen based on an inspiration photo I found and loved. We chose navy lower cabinets and contrasting white upper cabinets so it wouldn’t be too dark overall. We added an island made from a Lane nightstand I found at Goodwill, and brass handles throughout. A shiny white hand-cut tile backsplash completed the look.
Now it was time to choose the lighting. After scouring articles on what finish to use I found decorators touting that mixed finishes were the latest trend. Great, that solves my quandary; should I use brass to match the cabinet pulls or nickel to match the stainless appliances. The kitchen was looking a bit nautical with the navy, white and brass so I chose fixtures that looked like ship lights. I started with a beautiful brushed nickel pendant over the sink. The others were only available in chrome which I thought was a bit shiny, but hey mix and match right? Plus everyone on Amazon was raving about them! After many hours of a difficult installation I stood back and ewww, they looked so new and shiny compared to everything else.
So I actually lived with this disappointment for a year or so until one boring day I thought, let me explore my options, could they be painted? In place? (It would be much too difficult to remove them) Would it look cheap?
Rub ‘N Buff
That’s when I came across this product called Rub ‘n Buff; everyone raved about what they’d done with it (yes I know, I believed reviews again) but I thought what the heck. I ordered antique bronze and tried it on a spot, then just went for it! The wax goes a long way just like the reviews said, is easy to apply and actually looks very realistic! The process is similar to applying shoe wax; rubbing in a dollop at a time, waiting for it all to dry, and buffing to a sheen. It is actually made of ground metals so I felt like I wasn’t cheating with a paint coating. I was actually changing real silver metal to real brass (or gold)!
I was waiting for my husband to freak out that I had altered them, but true to form he didn’t even notice for a few months. Then one night he looked over from the couch into the kitchen and said you know what? “In this light those lights almost look bronze!” Well I had a good laugh and fessed up. He agreed they look great in brass! Let me know what you think of the transformation.
Original Fixture in Chrome
After applying Rub ‘n Buff
Our fireplace was constructed with heat-a-lators; these were openings in the stone to allow for fans to help distribute the heat from a stove insert. When we bought the house we removed the fireplace insert and decided not to use them. That left us with two openings carved out in the stone to repurpose in some way.
Creating a Diorama
I wanted to do something fun with this little space, something that would surprise and delight. I settled on creating a miniature library! It was actually a lot of fun to make tiny books and shelves from scraps.
The oriental rug was from a coaster set! The candlestick was a jewelry finding. I sometimes change out the figurines. We love gnomes in our family.
Then we decided to add doors to hide it and increase the surprise factor. My husband carved the wooden doors from old scrap wood. We love asking visitors to open the doors and our grandchildren love “visiting the library” whenever they come over.
I love to create warm vignettes throughout the house. These collections of favorite mementos, pictures and collectibles can form an inviting nook or scene. Vignettes draw people to them; they can evoke feelings of the past or create special auras. They are also wonderful conversation starters. These small collections are what make your home unique. They can provide a glimpse into your personality or one’s past. Here are a few of mine..please share your favorite ones!
Rules for an Inviting Vignette
- 1. Build a scene around light sources
- 2. Use pieces that reflect the style of your home (shabby chic, traditional, etc)
- 3. Pull different colors from the rest of the room
- 4. Use different sizes and shapes to fill the scene
- 5. Include different textures (ceramics, wood, metals, fibers)