I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned beer can cutting. I’ve seen cans assembled into bi-planes, and my favorite, Barbie Furniture.
Tabithina, I liked this claim especially:
heirloom quality?!?!? You mean like crystal and china and jewelry and furniture passed down from generation to generation? <snerk>
Wow the beer cans brought back memories!!!
For a time the fad in my mom’s circle of friends was bottle cap wreaths. I can’t find a link that isn’t crocheted wreaths… these were different.
You took an inordinate amount of beer bottle caps and sewed red and green fabric over them then when you had enough (I mean at least 100) you would sew them together in a big ring of red and green. Glue a bow on and there ya go!
My mom also had friends who outfitted their christmas tree in beer cans with a funky cut can for the top.
I just remembered another craft that was big when I was a kid - at least in my area. You took plastic margerine tubs, punched holes around the top edge, and crocheted thru them to make little drawstring purses. Gah!
Which jarred another memory for me…Crocheted Hats with beer can panels. Couldn’t possibly be comfortable. Who would ever wear one?
A neighbor of ours used to make wreaths out of the plastic six-pack rings. Horrifying.
MagicEyes,
I know exactly what you’re talking about regarding rag clothes.
Here’s a few links:
http://www.seamsndreams.com/ragpatch.html
http://www.sloanfarmstudio.com/wearable.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2821920992&category=11570
Be sure to rinse your abused eyeballs when done looking.
I’ve been doing craft shows for more than fifteen years, and vendors who make these items tend to come in waves. Some years, I think the trend has mercifully abated, then the next year it rears its ragged head once again.
These jackets don’t look flattering on anyone (Talk about a way to add inches to your waist and butt…). Once I saw a woman wearing one of her creations at her booth. It was made of several earthtone colors of dotted swiss in a solid swathe of rag strips from shoulder to hem. At the time, my husband and I kept a large flock of pearled guinea fowl in our paddock for tick control. So, I had to supress a giggle when I thought, “She looks like an angry Guinea hen in that getup!”
ugh gwendee… my mom had that pattern too! Except we didn’t drink cokes in six packs… so my dad took us to the park to troll for rings. Who wants those? shiver
Then again my dad had a hobby of bringing home other people’s trash… He’d take my brother and I on “dumpster runs” when he knew companies were tossing “good” stuff. So much was wrong with my childhood!
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
Oh and thinking of the hideousness that is plastic canvas…
We had a no smoking sign in our house… a huge red ghostbuster ring with a big smoking cigarette in the center. Garish at best.
And we had a brick with a square kitty plastic canvassed over the top as a door stop.
There was more but everything that entered that house was destroyed pretty quickly… the sign lasted because it was hung above a doorway.
You must defy your husband like it will be a first time,eh? and do this. It is absolutely hysterical.
Too bad I …uhh…:::cough::::threw out::::cough the gnomes that my MIL gave me. I could have put them in a squad formation with a sign on my lawn " Iraq or Bust."
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Thanks Jeep’s Phoenix. That is one of the funniest and may I add most vivid things I have read in a long time.
Here’s a nifty plastic bag wreath to make! Go to Walmart, buy some tacky florals and ribbon. The clerk will often put only one or two items in each bag, so you will have plenty to work with. Carry home your crafty crap; take it out of the translucent blue bag. Snip bag into little bits, fashion a wreath. Now reunite crafty crap with the bag it came home in. 
But, wait! There’s more—if you shop at a variety of stores, you can make this thing of beauty in time for Easter!
Holy Martha Stewart! It just gets tackier and tackier.
ROFL! Hey, I HAVE a plastic bag wreath! Don’t you get it? It’s a profound statement about the mass-consumerism and wastfulness of the Christmas machine. (Yeah, that’s the ticket!) Besides, it’s on the OUTSIDE of the door – only the neighbors have to look at it. HA!
Oh, I should mention mine is just white bags. No assorted colors and gee-gaws. It’s actually sorta spooky-cool looking. Plus, sometimes it blows off the door in the wind and lands in the mud, but who cares? It’s just bags! I rinse it off, give it a shake and hang it back up!
A white wreath would be kind of cool. I’ve seen them made from clear dry cleaning bags. They have a silvery sheen to them. Is that what yours looks like, voguevixen?
What amused me about the site I linked to was the obvious Walmart origin of the bags.
The plastic bags reminded me of yet another craft I read about. You could take the bags, cut them into strips about 2" wide, and crochet them into a doormat with a giant crochet hook. Considering how those bags tend to deteriorate in the sun, I didn’t think it was a very smart idea. Plus when I thought about how much time I’d spend cutting the bags in to strips, then twisting them together so I could crochet them, I decided it was much more sensible to just buy a mat.
Besides, how ugly would a mat like that be?!? :eek:
Yes, they aren’t bad comfortwise, and I know a couple who used to where them to picnics. These people do not usually indulge in tasteless crafts.
Only slightly less ugly than this plastic bag bedspread.
swampbear: Glad you enjoyed that! 