Repurposed Rustics

Rethinking flea market and yard sale finds. (With a new add-on of making things with bits of foraged nature.) It’s not what it is, it’s what it can become.

[alsofay]

I had an idea to use a clock mechanism for a forest diorama. The bear is on the hour hand and the deer is on a modified minute hand that bends up and over the bear. So once per hour the deer leaps over the bear. The tree in the center has a protruding branch that counts the seconds.

[alsofay]

I couldn’t resist getting a jump start on Halloween when I found all these odds and ends that fit together so well. The light comes from a small USB powered spotlight embedded in the wooden base. The dome and cage are from heavy duty utility lights. Vintage doll from the flea market.

[alsofay]

Found a way to use this old globe holder. An alternate possibility would be spools of string or ribbon.

[alsofay]

Another vintage fuel lamp refitted with electric wiring and a flickering bulb. This Heinrich Gillet Edenkoben railway lantern has side panels with red glass that can be revealed by opening the doors. The original tank and wick mechanism were missing, but the rest, including the glass, was intact.

[alsofay]

Mushroom ornaments made from twigs and acorn caps with added lichen and pine needles.

[alsofay]

Amethyst hanging trinkets.

[alsofay]

Some dragonflies scrutinized Quercus as he crossed the forest stream on his way to the bell ceremony.

[alsofay]

Another refurbished troll doll whose hair has been substituted with an air plant. I think a red or pink shaded plant would look even better.

[alsofay]

Some gnarly trees on a hike through the Avery Preserve in Ledyard, CT. A mountain laurel with a twisted trunk and a birch full of lumpy growths all up one side. How did it get that way?

[alsofay]

I added wiring to this vintage kerosene lantern to accept a flickering flame bulb.

[alsofay]

Fun evening at the Willimantic Third Thursday Street Festival. I’ll be back in September.

[alsofay]

Tiny mushroom dioramas from tiny acorns and 2” jars.

[alsofay]

Some hanging pockets salvaged from a worn out pair of jeans 👖. Handy for phone charging or loop over a door knob, drawer pull, or hook to hold little odds and ends.

[alsofay]

Birdhouse made from an old oil can I found at the junkyard. The perch is a drawer pull and there’s a dribble of “oil” from the spout.

Cleaning this was a long process. The entire inside was coated with sticky black sludge.

[alsofay]

Hanging globe lamp depicting the Pacific Ring of Fire, a string of active volcanoes encircling the Pacific Ocean. The globe is probably from the 70s (USSR is still present). The fourth picture is the interior of the globe.

[alsofay]

The family is growing.

[alsofay]

This nightlight is made from a vintage block sorting toy “The House That Jack Built.” It has a low wattage LED bulb and inline switch.