Trash Treasure

F or me its not hard to look at something broke and like it the way it is or imagine i t as something else. I've always been drawn to the weird, quirky, old, broken, rusted. The things that no one else would even give a second glance at. You see clutter, I see a treasure hunt. You see rust, I see character. You see trash, I see treasure. I enjoy taking something that has been left alone for years, cleaning it up and making it useful again.

One of my friends started to clean up the creeks around our area. Its amazing the stuff that has been left and imbedded in the creeks for decades. Shopping carts that had store names on them that have been closed for decades, mattresses, bottles, cans, toys, tires and much more.

For some reason the bottles, cans really spoke to me. I mean we all know plastic is a major problem on land and in sea, and I thought what if I could take some of this stuff that is only gonna add to the nearby landfill and make it into something that would be beautiful to look at again. Possibly even something someone might want to take home and admire again.

I wanted to make flowers. Who doesn't love flowers? Even driving down the interstates, there are wildflowers growing and sometimes that's all there is to look at really, but it brings a smile to my face, so why not flowers that will never wither away and die?

I started to find whatever tools my dad and friends had and that they were willing to part with and started to cut up the cans and the bottles. It was interesting to find what pliers worked well with this and which tools would cut through the metal or plastic the best. I didn't want to go buy anything new. The purpose was to reuse these items and going and buying seemed contradictory to me. I wanted to try to use what I had available.

Through some trial and error, I found that it was a little harder than I thought it would be and that one pair of pliers compared to another would do something totally different. They have some ideas online, how others have made items with cans, but I didn't want my flowers to look like everyone else's.

Most of the flowers are made from the aluminum cans but I started to use the soda bottles to make them as well. The plastic bottles are easier to really be creative with. I had found that heat from a candle, lighter will curl, fold over, under and you can really achieve the shape you want more easily. I also started to paint the flowers to that they would have more character and be more vibrant.

Its super relaxing and almost meditative to sit down with just a can or bottle in front of you and have your imagination figure out what it wants to be. Many times will have an idea and before I'm done, that idea changes 2 or 3 times. Its not like I even have to think about what I am going to do. My hands just take over.

It definitely helps to relieve stress, anger, anxiety. It keeps my mind from useless thinking. I'm all in the moment. You can just pour all your creativity and emotions into this piece of trash and make it into something that you are proud of. I really am not sure how to explain that something that has been considered trash, that took up space where it shouldn't of took up any space, and making into something beautiful, what that does. Its almost like giving birth to something. It went from nothing to something.

Not only is that good for the planet, but also the soul.