Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Before DIY There Were Grandpas

Last week at work I found a stack of cheap National Guard mouse pads in box stuck with a hastily written Post-it note, free. Free a benign four-lettered word that has coaxed me on numerous occasions to drag all sorts of oddities home. Lots of broken things, almost great things, old things, things that were evidence of a hasty retreat, things/artifacts of a life gone, things that were replaced—I bring them home like strays. I find a lot of satisfaction in rehabilitating/repurposing inanimate things. Strange? Perhaps. Here's what I made:


Separated the civilian soldiers from the foam bottom and cut out a bull template. Affixed the cut-out bull to a cardboard block.



Cut out and carved "TACOS" from a foam meat tray (the kind your chicken breasts come in) and hot glued them to a cardboard block.





Rolled ink onto the blocks and printed invitations on scraped manilla folders.

My scavenging compulsion makes me think of my grandpas. Two fellows born of another generation where everyday engineers were common and people made things out of necessity rather than novelty. My Pop's pop, Yea-yea as we called him was a wonder. His house was littered with the fruits of his practical repurposing. A 5-gallon oil tin cut at an acute angle, attached to a sanded stick, Voila a dustpan. Frayed electrical wire? No problem. Patch the area with a sliced bit of rubber tubing and hold in place with tightly wound string. He apparently had no use for electrical tape. My Mum's pop, was equally resourceful. A man with a racing mind and active hands he was always hatching new projects. Varied projects included sewing custom tailored sofa slip-covers, tweaking recipes for homemade noodles, and constructing a deck. A man nearing eightly, helped to design and construct a split-level deck wielding a circular saw as if it were an extension of his arm. T
he belief was that it was better to build it yourself and cheaper. Frugality was central to my grandpas' philosophies. Labor was free. Material never wasted. Scraps and bits were squirreled away saved like potential pagent queens waiting to be crowned favorable for re/purpose. I like to think that my grandpoppas' resourceful philiosphies live on in my curious peeks and that they''d approve of my mouse pad rescue; or at least have a good laugh.

2 comments:

  1. Your photos are also great. Have you sewn any mousepads?

    ReplyDelete
  2. all the talk about our gramps made me kinda sad. They were awesome men and made some awesome kids. I guess that's how we both ended up so baddass

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