Sunday 6 March 2011

ThriftWitch: Magical Transformations

As I confessed in my original ThrftWitch post, I am an inveterate hoarder. This stems from my desire to find ways of re-using, repairing, re-making things. This woman's treasure is often someone else's trash! The downside of this is of course that more often than not I have more ideas than time to put them into practice - which can make for an untidy house. The upside is the sense of achievement gained when something is transformed from useless waste into something that is either useful or beautiful - or both.

Here are a few of my favourite transformations:


This first piece is a mirror I made from some driftwood I found whilst beach combing. The weathered wood was joined together in a criss-cross pattern by nails that had a wonderful patina from their time in the sea. I saw its potential immediately and used it as a frame for a mirror, finished off with a scattering of seashells and some twisted wire to hang it. It was one of the first things I made and it's still one of my favourites.


These are tea-light holders I made from old jars and they are used to denote the five elements (Earth, Air, Fire Water and Spirit) whenever our local Pagan group gets together for a ritual. They are particularly useful when we're working outdoors as they keep the candle flames from being extinguished by the wind! In this case I knew what I wanted and looked around to find suitable candidates for the job. They are simple, but I'm surprised how good they look as a group, and they have certainly had a lot of use. In fact they have been such a success I'm thinking about making some for my Etsy shop soon.


This final item is where the real 'Witchery' comes in. It's a sun catcher that throws beautiful rainbows around my bedroom, and it was made with magical intent. Just after T and I had split up, I took some bottles and jars to the local recycling centre. As I went to tip them into the skip, I saw the broken stem of a lead-crystal wineglass already in there - and of course my magpie instincts kicked in and I 'rescued' it. I was feeling pretty much thrown on the scrap heap myself at the time, and I loved the idea of taking this fragile, discarded piece of broken crystal and giving it a new start. With the magical intention of forging a new start for myself and making something beautiful to symbolise hope, I transformed it into a sun catcher. First I encased the jagged ends in thick foil to neaten them and avoid cut fingers. Then I wrapped jewellery wire around the crystal so it could be hung, and added some extra dangly bits using beads and findings from my 'broken jewellery' stash, and a smaller crystal from a broken chandelier that was waiting around to be re-used.

Now every time the sun catcher scatters rainbows on my bedroom wall it makes me smile. The crystal and I have both had a fresh start, a second chance at life. And we are determined to enjoy it.





5 comments:

aims said...

Have you looked back and read the comments from way back when? We told you it would get better but back then it sure didn't feel like it - did it!

Now look at you! A fresh start not only to every day - but to your life.

Enjoy!

faeryfay said...

I love your elements candle jars! Beautiful!

laoi gaul~williams said...

the sun catcher is gorgeous and just perfect!
i am a hoarder too~i always look and think 'i can use that for something else' unfortunately our little house is not really big enough to hold it all!

Anonymous said...

Wow, such beautiful things !! I love the glasswork and the mirror is great !!!
Have a magical day !!

Breezy said...

The mirror frame was a real find but then again you have to be able to "see" something to find it, and your suncatcher so poignant so right