tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90761794865683481922024-03-05T06:54:05.972-05:00BrigaBauble Goes GreenSTOP! Before you throw away that bottle cap or wine cork, old button, piece of junk jewelry, no-longer-played board game, etc., think of all the wonderful jewelry, cufflinks and other items you could use it to create. That's what I do at BrigaBauble -- both in my Etsy shop and here on my blog! So, stop on by for crafty, eco-friendly projects and gift ideas.BrigaBaublehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15174434069113847993noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9076179486568348192.post-21127112912352099512019-08-27T13:00:00.001-04:002019-08-27T13:00:04.831-04:00Pink Flamingos Stand on Two Legs Too!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPDxAinzrdrV8oXRMm-ZSsMjogpZC0MxE5NW2l_dgLVpvgiOD3pLwsWvTN0cMvce-CyIGw7wWBt7iAqkR30BfJLGz09wlRTiePp22sZ1zyoyKL3iCKexd_kQSyJYZRjVFDR8_79JvaBt9/s1600-h/LARGE+FLAMINGO+pic.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296127741670554834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPDxAinzrdrV8oXRMm-ZSsMjogpZC0MxE5NW2l_dgLVpvgiOD3pLwsWvTN0cMvce-CyIGw7wWBt7iAqkR30BfJLGz09wlRTiePp22sZ1zyoyKL3iCKexd_kQSyJYZRjVFDR8_79JvaBt9/s400/LARGE+FLAMINGO+pic.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 210px;" /></a><br />
<div>Years ago, the Violent Femmes blazed this fact into my brain: Pink flamingos stand on one leg. </div><br />
<div></div><b>something old, something new, nothing borrowed, something blue...</b><br />
<div>Well, I'm here to tell you, meine Damen und Herren, that pink flamingos stand on two legs too, as proven by the picture above of my former "pink flamingo table," which I created from:<br />
<ul><li> a secondhand glass side table</li>
<li>a secondhand lamp with a cream-colored conical lamp shade</li>
<li> two plastic flamingo lawn figurines I had lying around</li>
<li>a random mini-plastic flamingo statuette an old friend gave me at some point in my life</li>
<li>blue cellophane paper I'd gotten to gift wrap a basket</li>
<li>two floral foam cores in the shape of bricks</li>
<li>my ever-growing stash of acrylic paint that I stock up on every time a craft store has it for sale</li>
<li>a small wooden mirror painted with a pink flamingo and flamingo-like decor that I picked up in St. Augustine, Fla., for $7 from a store that was closing</li>
</ul><b>bringing it all together in pink flamingo glory</b> <br />
I created this "flamingo table" while living at my last apartment (before purchasing my teeny-tiny townhome that features a little patio where my lawn flamingos now peek out from the bushes). I was low on cash, but determined to make one tiny corner of the apartment scream "ME!!!" without doing unalterable damage.<br />
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</div><div></div>And, dear reader, as I'm sure you yourself have discovered, low on cash leads to some seriously creative re-uses of things you have lying around the house or can pick up for little-to-nothing at your local thrift store. The secondhand glass table and lamp had been gifted by old friends who were redecorating. The only items I specifically purchased for this project were the brick-shaped floral bases in which my flamingos stood--on two legs thank you very much!<br />
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<div></div>Here's my process, which can be easily used to transform a simple glass side table and pieces of whatever it is you collect into a wonderfully kitsch display:<br />
<ol><li>Painted the glass top of my secondhand table "flamingo pink" using the aforementioned acrylic paint collection. NOTE: It took a few coats to get the precise color and look I was going for. Spray paint would've been faster, but I'm hopeless with that stuff.</li>
<li>Coated the now-pink glass top in glow-in-the-dark veneer (that came in same bottle as my acrylic craft paints) because I was tired of running into the table in the dark. NOTE: Due to my alterations to the lampshade, the table rarely got enough light to glow like I wanted it to. My bad.</li>
<li>Painted the cream-colored conical lampshade from my secondhand lamp a luscious, fertile green, the stem of the lamp bronzish brown, and the base of the lamp a lagoon/baby blue. Yup, used that old handy paint collection.</li>
<li> Using E600 craft glue (yea, the noxious fumes and all), I mounted my gifted miniature pink flamingo on the lamp base (since the base of the mini statue was also a lagoon/baby blue).</li>
<li>Covered my two *purchased for this purpose* rectangular blocks of floral foam an iridescent blue using Modge Podge(R), which is one of my all-time fave crafting supplies. The effect was a sort of eery underwater quality to the blue.</li>
<li>Mounted one lawn-ornament pink flamingo on each block, and placed these on each side of the lamp. NOTE: I had to do a lot of reconfiguring to keep them standing upright because they were so top heavy.</li>
<li>Hung my clearance-sale pink flamingo mirror above the table with care, and VOILA! The pink flamingo table was born!</li>
</ol><ul></ul>BrigaBaublehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15174434069113847993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9076179486568348192.post-78258342278087150462010-12-06T15:08:00.000-05:002010-12-06T15:08:21.904-05:00Denise's Yadda Yadda on Soap Making & Life: STRUT YOUR STUFF: Brigabauble Esty Shop<a href="http://goplanetearth.blogspot.com/2010/12/strut-your-stuff-brigabauble-esty-shop.html">Denise's Yadda Yadda on Soap Making & Life: STRUT YOUR STUFF: Brigabauble Esty Shop</a>BrigaBaublehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15174434069113847993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9076179486568348192.post-78029026642640315472010-09-25T13:01:00.000-04:002010-09-25T13:01:03.860-04:00Say What CraftBits.com? Recycled X-mas Napkin Rings? Sign Me Up!If you love to craft/make art/whatever you feel most comfortable calling your creative process that results in the possession of some physical, tangible object, you, dear reader, need to get your little behind over to <a href="http://craftbits.com/">CraftBits.com</a> (and the blog <a href="http://www.craftgossip.com/">Craft Gossip</a>). Both sites will fill your head with more ideas and inspiration than you'll ever have the time to fully deal with and that, my friend, is an awesome thing.<br />
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Should you be a celebrator of Christmas, or perhaps, want to make <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/christmas-crafts">Christmas crafts</a> even though the holiday doesn't really exist in your world, then the Christmas Projects at <a href="http://craftbits.com/">CraftBits.com</a> are just what you need. Many of them are even simple enough for you to work on with your kids (you decide how old is old enough to start the mad crafting). [There's also a small collection of "<a href="http://www.craftbits.com/christmas-crafts#Christmas%20Crafts%20for%20Kids">Christmas crafts for Kids</a>."]<br />
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<b>oh yes, the <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/project/napkin-ring-upcycled-ornaments">napkin rings</a>!</b><br />
I don't normally do much Christmas crafting in particular--though I do craft most of my Christmas gifts to others so, perhaps that statement's not entirely true. But, I do so love anything I can make using upcycled, recycled or re-purposed materials. And, for that reason, I love the <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/project/napkin-ring-upcycled-ornaments">Upcycled Napkin Rings project</a> at <a href="http://craftbits.com/">CraftBits.com</a>. <br />
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Essentially, the tutorial provides you with all of the information (including a proposed materials list) that you would need to make some creative and cool <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/project/napkin-ring-upcycled-ornaments">Christmas-themed napkin rings</a> on the cheap by using recycled, upcycled, and repurposed materials that include toilet paper tubes, old ornaments and so much more.<br />
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Of course, you can also check out this project for inspiration to make just about any kind of recycled <a href="http://www.craftbits.com/project/napkin-ring-upcycled-ornaments">napkin rings</a>! Why limit yourself to ones that will be used, at most, for two days (the eve and the day) out of the year?BrigaBaublehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15174434069113847993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9076179486568348192.post-67687326879052330932010-09-25T12:40:00.000-04:002010-09-25T12:40:40.972-04:00All I Want For Christmas (from CraftGossip.com) is...Well my dearest readers, after having launched, run, killed, and rebirthed this here blog o' mine, I've once again become remiss in my posting. Oh, never fear, I have tons, eegads, mountains, volumes...mega excuses. But alas, while they may matter to me (as most of them are health-related), there's no need to trouble you with them. So, without further ado, here comes my desperate ploy to actually be a "winner" for once (of a contest I mean; I'm not THAT hard on myself).<br />
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<b>the dealy-o (or, how to enter to win what you want for x-mas)</b><br />
As a devoted reader of the daily crafty e-newsletter from the blog CraftGossip.com, and a faithful Facebook and Twitter follower as well, when I read a plea in today's e-newsletter for additional contestants to enter the giveaway, sponsored by CraftBits.com to the tune of $150 for your ultimate Christmas gift, I knew that it was fate...and that choosing would be nearly impossible.<br />
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That said, here's my current, half-selfish/half-altruisticish wish list:<br />
<ul><li><b>$75 of $150</b> prize for the purchase of beading supplies, including findings, accent beads, seed beads, and decent tools for the volunteer jewelry instruction that I provide to immigrant, refugee and low-income women in the Washington, DC area through the awesome organization <a href="http://www.ewint.org/">Empowered Women International</a> (EWI), which is a certified green business. I'm not just an EWI volunteer, I'm also a client. (And, yes, I totally ripped that off from a certain men's product commercial.) [More details about my personal debt to EWI below.]<br />
</li>
<li><b>$75 of the $150 </b>prize would go to me, me, me! All me! Mwa-ha-ha. I mean, um, yea, it would. After ripping up the allergy-attack-causing carpet in my office/craft room, I would DIY a decoupage floor with recycled brown grocery bags, leftover scrapbook paper, and anything else I could find. Then I'd put down a protective coating of resin, slap brightly colored paint on the walls (all paid for by my half of the prize) and call it a happy day!</li>
</ul><b>more love for <a href="http://www.ewint.org/">empowered women international</a></b><b><br />
</b><br />
As an EWI client, I am able to market and sell my products in the <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/empoweredwomenintl">organization's Etsy shop</a>, at local events, and home parties and, I happily donate a portion of my proceeds to EWI, as do all EWI artists. (And we're talking about some mind-blowingly talented female artists who, for the most part, came to the U.S. seeking a better life -- or women born here who have fallen on hard times.)<br />
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Next week, thanks to the generous scholarship provided by a female EWI supporter, I will begin the organization's <a href="http://ewint.org/2010/08/24/enroll-now-in-ewis-entrepreneur-training-for-success-class-of-2010/">Entrepreneur Training for Success</a> program, which will teach me what I need to know and guide me through the process of formally launching my new, all-natural and handmade bath & body product line: Briggy's Bath & Body. <br />
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I'll also be learning alongside incredibly talented women--mostly artists--from around the world. Perhaps you can tell why I try to give as much back to EWI as possible--the emotional support alone that I receive is what keeps me motivated as I struggle through the process of becoming an entrepeneur nine months after having been laid off from my career due to downsizing.BrigaBaublehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15174434069113847993noreply@blogger.com0