day twelve: 13

'use tea leaves or tea bags (used or unused) or even just liquid tea (in a cup or not) to create something today.'

i soaked some tea bags in hot water and then threw them down on a piece of paper to create a splatter effect...i first tried to splatter them in a snail shape but my aim wasn't that great. i used a berry tea, earl grey & gingersnap tea. after i splattered the bags they began to rip oven so i air dried the paper & then poured the contents of each bag onto the paper. i pushed the leaves around to make the shape of the snail and then used one of the bags to twist & roll into eyes. i have done this to paper before and the end results make great birthday cards or notes! also, my hands smell great!

day eleven: 34

'work with wire. thin-gauge wire can easily be bent by hand, so no special tools are required. you don't even have to buy wire if you have some paper clips handy.'

a few years ago i took a class called intro to sculpture & one assignment was making an insect from wire so i made a praying mantis. i actually work with this wire quite often and make letters or other small objects that i sell on etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/mushaboome). after i was finished i put him on top of a wire basket i have hanging on my wall for a shelf and he filled in the empty space perfectly. i was getting discouraged a few days ago but i think i'm past the giving up stage. excited for the days to come!

comments.

you'd think i would be smarter. but i accidentally deleted all comments made on all my posts. i thought they were just notifications. sorry everyone...i'm so sad.

day ten: 61

'use only things you find around the bathroom to create something. extra credit: make it in the bathroom.'

i really thought that all the hair products, toothpaste, sprays, deodorants, and other products in the bathroom would be more colorful! the only thing i could find that wasn't white was some pomegranate hand sanitizer with little blue dots in it. since my sink is black i had to layer some toothpaste on it, but i used deodorant for the snails trail (which is super hard to see) and so the toothpaste didn't stick. had to wipe that all off and start over. then some sparkled lotion to hold in the pink hand sanitizer. the foam for the body started to bubble which was cool and then i used a qtips to finish it off. i left him in there for my husband to find later.

day nine: 95

'ask a stranger for a suggestion of what to do today. explaining what you're up to is part of the experience! bonus: get them involved in the actual thing you make.'

honestly i'm posting this at 1:32am on the 29th...but i changed the date & approximate time because i just got home from babysitting. technically, the little girl (i say little, but she was 10 and very intelligent) i babysat was a stranger so i told her about what i was doing & asked her to come up with a medium that we could create a snail. she immediately got origami papers and books from her room and we looked up how to make a snail online. there was a much more detailed (and cuter) snail but we decided to start off simple. i chose metallic orange and she chose the green. after we were done i asked where we should put them and she picked the fruit bowl. i might attempt the more difficult snail and fit it in tomorrows project somehow. we'll see.

day eight: 350

'have someone else start something and then complete it yourself today.'

since i had my mom finish my connect the dots, i called her to see if she was up to reverse roles! i gave her a day to think about it and she called me earlier today and told me her part was ready. HOW CUTE! my mom is so creative! she painted the yellow & green part of the snail and then i finished it up. it's currently sitting on top of my bookcase but i think i might put him in a moss garden.

day seven: 354

'work with only candy or chocolate today, wrapped or unwrapped.'

recently my brother had a birthday and my mom & i wanted to make him a duck hunting cake. i got an awesome idea to crush up jolly ranchers and melt them to make a pond. i had a bag of jolly ranchers left over and they weren't being eaten so i thought i would try to make a snail. i placed them on a pan and made the snail shape and i put it in the oven. when it started to melt it looked pretty good still but as it melted more, it looked less & less like a snail! i just let it go...it ended up looking like some kind of snail goo monster, haha!

*on a side note...i was playing a game on my phone tonight called alchemy and i made a snail. how awesome is that? ha.

day six: 121

'do something with only tinfoil today. how many different ways can it be used?'

one week down. i knew i wanted to sculpt or build a snail today and when i saw number 121, i figured i would try it out. i'm not quite sure i utilized it as best i could, but i tried 3 different techniques. it's hard to tell in the picture...but the first snail i just simply smashed the foil. i crunched it up without thinking too much about it. the second snail i tried to fold it, although it ended up more circular than i wanted. and for the third snail, i twisted the foil. as i said in my last post...i'm getting kind of bored with the snail. maybe i picked an object that was too simple? we'll see what happens tomorrow.

day five: 261

'start something, then have someone else complete it today.'

when i read this i instantly thought of connect the dots! i drew a snail, then added the dots & erased my lines. i called my mom at work to see if she was willing to take a quick break and help me out...and of course, being such an awesome mom, she did. it was super simple and easy. while i was doing this snail i was kind of thinking i'm already getting bored with my theme. AAAH! this isn't good. so, tomorrow i am babysitting my almost 4 year old niece and i'm hoping i can do something super fun.

day four: 6

'look in the kitchen and work with the first fruit or vegetable you spot. it could be in the form of juice, jam or even canned.'

tonight i was at my parents house (watching the jets vs steelers game, go steelers!) and the first thing i spotted in her kitchen was an apple...i thought, how boring! but i guess it turned out fine. when i was done i took it outside and took some pictures...i liked all 3 so i posted them all! there were little baby slugs everywhere and when i ran outside to get my shoes & came back, one had sucked onto my apple snail! i went back inside my brothers girlfriends dog, titan, ate the head off and chewed up the rest, haha.

day three: 18

'work with things you find in your car (or a friend's car if you don't have one).'

it was a beautiful non-foggy day today so i went out and ran some errands. i brought along my book and stopped at a park to find my next snail project. i recently had cleaned out my car but thought i could still find enough things to make something from and did. i had a box in my car with some halloween decorations i needed to put away...so i grabbed the black crepe paper, a cd, a gum container, lotion, cut a straw in half (from my iced nonfat green tea latte), and used 2 pieces of the gum. i played with them a little bit and finally made a snail i liked.

day two: 62

'make something with your dinner before you eat it.'

my husband and i took my brother & his girlfriend out to dinner tonight (since my brother watched our dog while we were out of town for the holidays). we went to one of our favorite restaurants. while we were sitting there i pulled my camera out and got weird looks, so i told them all about what i was going. my brother decided he wanted to help so he donated everything for the first snail...shrimp, a sun dried tomato & carrots. i had the gnocchi pesto & made mine with that. i think they both turned out equally cute!

day one: 21

'write a ten-word love story. bonus: illustrate it!'

i decided to start off with my favorite number, 21. but it is obviously not my lucky number since this was my 4th attempt at my first snail. first try, i misspelled trail. second try, i forgot to write the word swirly. third try, i wrote tail instead of shell. fourth try, finally! maybe this is a sign to do #4 tomorrow? i made this by painting a piece of paper with silver spray paint and drew the snail with pen & ink.

make something 365: snails

when i saw this book, i couldn't resist. i was bummed that i discovered it after the 1st of the year since i have this weird habit of starting things on a significant date...but i decided to start it anyway! i posted a few suggestions on my facebook page and had friends and family vote. the choices were lips, snails or feathers and the vote was almost unanimous...SNAILS! i ordered the book and i just got it in the mail yesterday. i had an old blog i never used so i converted it to my snail blog. i really hope i can create something every day. the book has 365 suggestions and ideas that i will be working my way through (in no particular order). click here to check out the book & other people making something 365!