Holiday DIY card craft ideas with old buttons

these buttons are older than me & I wanted to use them since my papaw found these in his shed

I repurposed the buttons to make holiday cards for family

using glue dots "zots" the buttons will stick to the card

decorate the buttons in all sorts of ways

I made the buttons as ornaments or as wreaths, and there are more ideas for button card ideas on pinterest. Go to my previous post to see other holiday craft ideas I have been doing. I will be making arts and crafts throughout the season, so I will keep you posted.

Wheel art decor garden ideas

I have a piece of metal that looks like the one in the photo below; and I've been wondering what kind of artistic use I could put it to. Below are a few additional photos of ways to re-purpose wheels and similar objects as decor in the garden. 

gettyimages.com

plantcaretoday.com

perennialpassion.blogspot.com

pinterest.com

amazinginteriordesign.com

bethevansramos.wordpress.com

popscreen.com

mudgeebusiness.com

thegardenglove.com

re-store.org

yourhouseandgarden.com

morethancurds.blogspot.com

Mark Francis' Time & Chance (Prison Art)

Mark Francis Time & Chance by Cassie Kinney

From the Mark Francis collection of pieces, each symbolized time and chance. Almost every artwork had a clock, or date and year that represented the time spent in prison. One of the pieces that was profound to me, was the self-portrait that showed himself in a bird cage like jail cell. The shape of the jail cell like a bird cage could symbolize feeling like a trapped bird or animal that wants to fly away to freedom. The key hole in this piece was large in proportion to the cell and it was open, unlike most of his other pieces where the keyhole was small and barred. This self-portrait showed him looking out of the cell which was also differentiated from his other works that featured other imprisoned men looking up in agony, usually with their mouths expressing pain. In this piece, the figure’s hands are tied with chains above his head, attached to the cage. Although it shows Francis as being chained and tied up, the figure is looking directly through the key hole as a way or a path to freedom. The figure in this self-portrait is not wearing striped clothing or orange jumpsuit that is characteristic of his other figures. This could represent the time of his life where he was at the intersection of time and chance. It represents that moment where he was shedding his past (clothing), and looking towards the future and new path (the open key hole.)

The second artwork that had a profound statement was the baby figure with the cast on its arm. The baby figure had many cigarette burns on his chest and stomach. This figure represented an inmate that Francis knew, whose parents burned him with cigarettes as a child. Francis found that most people in prison, were those that had a history of physical abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. The cast on the baby figure read: “MOMMIE IS SORRY BUT YOU MUST LEARN TO LISTEN!!” This statement written on the cast shows the common rhetoric of the abuser where they blame the victim. 

Overall, Francis’ work expressed his prison experience as a cruel environment, where people were raped, and other forms of torture. His artwork reflected the jail cell like a barred coffin where you go to die or spend the rest of your life in a cramped space. Some works showed piles of books in people’s cells on religious and spiritual texts, law, self-help guides, which reflects inmates’ needs to find hope in a desperate situation. Because much of Francis’ work had representations of time through the clocks, he may be using the books as symbols of chance that will transcend him onto a path of knowledge, wisdom, hope, and freedom.

Working on homemade gifts

My goal is to do four paintings to give to family as gifts for the holidays. The family portrait will go to my aunt, uncle, and cousin. And one painting will go to my grandma and grandpa, and one to my other grandma, and one to my dad and his wife. My mom, boyfriend, and siblings will not get paintings as gifts, because I never get them anything for the holidays anyway--and really, it's because these are the people that actually don't want to celebrate a capitalistic holiday affiliated with a fear-based-homophobic-misogynistic religion.
But like I said, I confess to making crafts for the holidays, such as potpourri, ceramic bowels, rock paintings, and canvas paintings. The potpourri was actually from found materials outside, like pine cones, sumac berries, pine needles, cedar wood shaving; and I found the glass jars in the woods too.
If you're interested, you can see the crafts I made last  year for the holidays in this post: 7 free last-minute holiday gifts.
Below are the paintings I have finished and will be giving away as gifts.

And here I have finished a painting of a flower garden and outhouse. This painting is of one of my grandmother's backyard, and so I am giving it to her for the holidays.

 

I bought these items for myself, but the yoga magazines, Dr. Bronner's hand sanitizing spray and lavender soap would also make great "stocking stuffers".

Plant necklaces art