Bird Feeder from Plastic Bottle

• Recycling Art and Crafts Series from Victoria B

  Bird Feeder from Plastic Bottle

  What you need :

  Any Large Plastic Bottle Washed and dry !Remove paper label!

  (Can be Milk Jug, water bottle, Soda bottle in gallon or half gallon size ! )

  Marking pen that works on plastic!

  Tape band to measure

  Ultilty Knive or box Knive With new blade!

  Sharp Scissor

  2 Sticks for perches

  (can be dry twigs off the local tree or dowels or found objects

  one needs to be about a foot long other maybe 6-8 inches!)

  Wire to hang with !

  (can be picture wire or other easy to bend with hands

  Old hanger? Or if not you need pliers)

  Non toxic Paint that works on plastic (optional)

  Directions:

  1. Take your bottle in your hands ,exam it for cracks and look at it's shape !

  Decide if it will stand up right or be on its side! I usually make mine in

  upright position

  2. Make your entrance Hole ! It can be square or round that is up to your design!

  I usually do square because thats easier to cut! You are going to make it 2 or 3

  inches above the floor of the bottle,to be sure there is room for seeds!

  (You can make more then one entrance, but you will need to make them

  smaller !) only do that in a bigger bottle! Draw a guideline with marker!

  3.You need to measure 4-5 inches up from your bottom line on each side don't

  make it to big or the bottle may break! Mark your lines with marker !

  4.Lay your bottle on a hard surface (Table or work bench) to cut it ! With

  theMarked side up!

  5. Open the knive and put out the shortest amount of blade it will allow !

  6. Take blade and cut down and along the lines up marked or just inside the lines !

  Don't worry about perfect you can trim later with the scissor ! Cut the plasic

  slowly to prevent rips! You should cut four sides on a square

  7. Below your opening (at least an inch from the bottom) you will need to mark

  a dot for your perch! You will also need to mark a dot on both sides for your

  other perches if desired! Make these ! inch or 2 inches above the bottom cut

  and 1-2 inches away from the sides cuts !

  8. Cut an X on each dot!

  9. Cut your one long perch so that you have 2-3 inches on each side of your

  containor cut another perch, 3-4 inches or as long as you desire for the one in

  front!

  11. push the sticks though your X cut dot though to the other side be careful not

  to rip plastic!

  12. Paint as desired!

  Need any helpwith this or want me to teach a class?

  You can email me at vbeasley@satx.rr.com

  See some of my other arts and crafts at http://VictoriaB2007.etsy.com

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Just did Makers Faire in Austin Texas this past weekend!

Not as an Artist selling but as part of My Etsy Texas Crafters Team! GO Team ! If was a lot of fun and hard Work ! I wanted to tell MY team Leader Thanks Milly! Milly of thistlecraft.etsy.com She worked so hard for this ! As did Many Others So here is a Great big Hipp hipp hurra To all of us who did come and take up this team challenge! We got a lot of folks to sign up for our Newsletter and passed out lots of Free gifts with our members Etsy store URLs and information! I enjoyed watching the folks doing the Make and takes and demos! I was able to watch, when I wasn't swamped with folks in front of our part of the booth telling them all about Our group, what Etsy http://etsy.com was, and getting them to sign up ! I couldn't Talk Sunday after noon or Monday much having wore out my voice! All the volunteers probably did!
Makers faire was the best thing I have seen in a long time for Artist and Crafters ! I really enjoyed the demo's and free make & takes ! So many things to see and do so well worth the entrance fee! I of course only saw a little bit as I cant walk sit or stand for great amounts of time but the little bit I did see was impressive! If you have not gone to one before You should the next time one comes to your area! check out this link for some cool video there about it http://makerfaire.com/austin/2007/
I did a demo on Sat Making a Bird feeder from a bottle recycling was one of the themes of the Makers faire ! When i told folks I was doing the demo I had all kinds of request to see the Bird feeder and to give them One So I will post the directions! I also will do a video on how to do that soon!

Wow Summer is over Fall has begun!

We Both have been Busy I had a couple of shows to do other then the one in July both
in Aug! Mom has been painting, keeping up with her garden(watering they have a drought) she says too hot for much else! I have Been taking a lot of photos of my work getting ready to list more on my etsy shop http://VictoriaB2007.etsy.com and I will be adding New Works on MY Mom's shop as well http://MermaidGallery.etsy.com! I add a few photos here for you to enjoy!
Mom and I have both gotten a bit Garden Crazy ! Hers went well this spring, and summer ! You will never guess where she made one in? Her Above Ground Pool, she didn't want to use it as a pool couldn't sell it so she made a garden there! shes really had a good time planting and reaping especially the Japanese eggplants,Peppers,yellow pear shaped tomatoes, green pole beans,herbs, even some potatoes! She is happy and says she gets more exercise out of it then when she swam in the pool ! The Biggest Plus the deer can't get to it! She as well as I like to have fresh veggies! We joined a yahoo group for organ homesteading that has been very helpful this fall! Here is their link
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organichomesteadinggardening/ if you like to garden or want to learn more! Thanks to the folks there , and Mom I was inspired to get dirty again and started a Fall Patio Garden! I will take a few photos later to share! I put in cabbage, lettuce, chives,parsley, bay leave, celery,and of course when I went to the nursery the bargain bin of plants called and I saved some that just needed dead heading and transplanting ! Oh let me not forget my Organic Garlic I had shipped fro KY! I cant wait to have some of that come march! I rescued my old cat wind chimes and decide to do a face lift on it! I will wire wrap some beads onto it and paint it some! I take a photo to share and post here when i am done First i had to scrub a lot of rust off it it was hand crafted from copper and steel originally! Well my fingers hurt so I will write more later ! Life is Art Whereever ,what ever you do ! Enjoy and come back and see what else we are up too! Victoria

what do you think?

I wanted to show some recent work and hopefully get a few comments! I like to take photos Some of them I digitally enhance! Feel free to tell me which is your favorite and read more of our Blog for up coming Shows

Show Time For this MOm and Daughter Team !

We have a show the 4th of July in Copperas Cove Texas At the Frames and Things ! Its so cool because they do this every Month for the Local Artist there! Our Work will be displayed for the full Month, with the 4th of July being the First Friday of the Month Opening , Where they Host a Reception For US the Artist and You the Art Patron! They will be serving Wine and other refreshments!
I think its great that they support the local Art Community and I hope that the local Artists and Art admirers will support them as well! I know where I will be getting my Art Framed from now on! Mom has already brought frames from there since they are so kind to us! It is so hard to find a place to show one's Art So I wanted to be sure to write about them!
Mom will be showing her most recent Art both in oils and 3 Dimensional !I will Bring My Hand crafted Jewelry, Wine charms and My Paper Art ( Prints of both our Works, I do Photos of my own and of moms works of Art! I will also have beautiful hand crafted stationary and post cards as well to sell) I am so Excited Doing a Mother and Daughter Show is so much fun!
Ok where is this you say ?:
Frames and Things
216 Cove Terrace,
Copperas Cove Texas 75622
phone 214 547 8448
http:// www.framessandthings.com
When Friday 4th of July2008 6-9 pm
Come help US Celebrate America's Independence and American Art

Traveling I 10

The World of an Artist is always an interesting Place ! Traveling from place to place just enhances that place so I will begin my Tale of our recent Vacation Trip on I 10 from San Antonio Texas to Daytona Beach Florida!
We, My Husband and I take off by 9 am, to be after the morning rush being that neither of us like.Since he is retired and I am Medically retired it doesn't make us to happy to be in traffic! Even at home we tend to avoid the rush of cars and hazard of traveling at those peak times! We travel as far as Sealy Texas stopping at our favorite food stop, of course we have stop for smaller pit stops along the way but not to enjoy a meal!

At Sealy you will find Tony's Family Restaurant one of I 10 best kept eateries secretes ! Open in 1979 its soon will be running for 30 straight years ! We have been hitting Tony's for over 12 years as a couple ! We will plan our trip to stop there, every time we are going to or though Houston for any reason! Hubby has been going many years longer then I! He first found it when he lived and worked in Houston! I even brought my Mom who is very hard to please to Tony's when vacationing in Galveston a few years back !

We hit at lunch time and had their lunch time buffet. My Favorite is the fried eggplant thin and crisp, they are always running out of the eggplant is my only complaint! Hubby loves the chicken friend steak, you know that breaded and deep fried beef ( nope it isn't chicken) covered in white gravy!As for me , I had the pork chop more like a pork steak it was so big smothered in onions peppers and tender ! You get more then enough and every thing is hot and fresh !
Dont Miss the Pie, if your not to stuffed, Let me tell you , we haven't for years the Mile high meringue on hand made pies is just too yummy and strawberry layer cake is to dream of! If you come in at Breakfast do their 3 egg special you wont regret I Promise!
You can hit them any time ,you will get fast service, Great food and a clean place ! Yes Smokers they do have a smoking sections just for you too! They are open 5 am to 10 Thursdays though Sundays, and till 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays! Where 1629 Meyers, Sealy Texas 77474 Phone 979 8854140 Call and ask for the exit off I 10 before you get to Houston going East or after when you really need a break from that traffic Mess that is Houston when going West!
We kept going till we got to Lafayette La, before we hit the sack the first Night just ate from what I had packed in the cooler, ham and cheese sandwiches, and raw veggies didn't need a lot after Tony's meal! I sure I dreamed of strawberry cake that night!
We got up early and took off to continue our trip east ward And like any Artist I had my eyes peeled for interesting sights and things to get for my arts and crafts or Photos ! What I noticed was a lot of Fema Trailers and New growth in LA and Miss! We do hope that their Economy is getting better, Time seems to fly when your not the folks suffering I am sure Katerine left a lot of folks off worse then they were but sometimes the worst shows us new doors to open as well! I notice a lot more Crawfish ponds then ever before so I guess that is a new farm that we are having more of it is a popular critter to eat! Any way we Stopped alot along the road and I was searching for things to use and found a lot of Pine cones but only the small ones and i was looking for big one I tell you later what i need them for! Did get any Photos yet my artist eye didnt see any thing i wanted to take at this point May be the next day ! I think I stop my story at this point and write more tommorrow!

A Mini view for Moms Newly added items

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade MermaidGallery.etsy.com

My Thoughts today

I am so tickled to be able to write here ! We worked so hard to make our Art, Mom and I and even harder still to find away to talk about our experiences! Mom and I have done a lot of shows together over the years some good, some bad! I am looking forward to our next one together In Copperas Cove Texas on the 4 of July!
Mom read about a place that helps artist get seen, The Frames and Things in Copperas Cove has First Fridays, where they display and toast an Artist once a month! We went there the last time I was there to visit to find out about it and show some of our items and were promptly asked to do a Mother, Daughter Show! We were thrilled ! I am working on some brochures for that and so much more! If your in the Killeen Fort Hood area of Texas feel free to ask by email to be put on a remind email list ! We also will be doing a show in the fall down on the coast, in Corpus Christi not sure of that date but its still in the plans!
Mom's Doing a Lot of Gardening right now !She turned her above ground pool into a garden, isn't that a neat idea! I thought So ! I going to take photos of it next time I go visit mean while I on the hunt for statues to put in it for her! You have a great Day and I will be writing again soon!P.S. the photo is part of a 3 dimensional mom did a few years back a bit of the garden to show here!

Introduction to our Blog and the Mother Daughter Team of Artists!

I am the Daughter Artist of this Blog, the writer who will be doing any thing computer related ! My name Is Victoria ! My Mother' s name Is Maria who is the Painter! Mom is 73 and isn't a computer person, but very active in her Art and also in life ! Why have a Blog for us both you ask? Well primarily to promote our Art,but also to express what else is going on in our life's and to allow me the writer to write, something my mother is always encouraging me to do!
My mothers art has feed mine, my desire to let others see hers better has inspired my Love of photography ! I started when my husband and I would take trips across the country and mom who couldn't go because of her extended animal family, would beg me to take photos for her art! I did tons of photos most of them useless, which she would peer at, take only a few, more to please me then to inspire her work in landscapes! My photos where not very good then, and frankly I believe they were a waste of film! I glad I use a digital camera now! We both have grown in our Art together She does use some of my photos to inspire her work and I take photos of her finish pieces to create our stationary and prints that I now am beginning to sell on line!

I found a wonderful place to do that where every thing is hand made its called Etsy I open my shop last year Victoria's Creations http://VictoriaB2007.etsy.com I do more then Photos My first love I have to say is jewelry, though I make many other things, hand stitched beaded book marks, hand stitched Barbie clothes , wine charms, magnets and the stationary with both Mom's art and mine on it! I just open Mothers Shop and will begin listing her paintings soon and also her prints and stationary sets that's are at Mermaid Gallery http://MermaidGallery.etsy.com She isn't painting to many landscapes any more, having gotten into mythical creatures and woman figures to include nudes now a days, but I will be listing some her older paintings as well as the new ones! I have to say she gets better with her piece and Wows me, she is a muse in her own right and I am glad she is healthy and so very active!
I will write more on my mother soon!

Our Other Love is animals, we both have just joined a group that working together as artist for animals http://etsyforanimals.com/ W e will be Donating something to their and our animal Charities each month! I will post here when we do. This month You can buy one of my Photo graphic prints called Spring Joy listed here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10464792 and all proceeds minus shipping and the etsy fee will go to World Society for the Protection of Animals our Charity this month! We feel very strongly about animals and hope to open more eyes to that effect!
So I hope you will take a look! I also hope you save this blog as well for further reading because Mom and I have some crazy adventures and I plan on writing about them! Do feel free to comment and email us! Thank you Victoria B