All posts by chasenfratz

Gardening for the Birds

September 22, 2015Conservation, Gardeningbackyard birds, backyard wildlife, bird conservation, bird gardening, Bring Conservation Home, butterfly host plants, ecology, gardening, invertebrate conservation, native plants, Saint Louis Urban Farm & Sustainable Development Group, St. Louis Audubon Society, sustainabilitychasenfratz

In Feburary, I attended a lecture “Naturescaping: Gardening for the Birds and their Friends”, sponsored by the The Saint Louis Urban Farm & Sustainable Development Group. The speaker was Mitch Leachman, Executive Director of the St. Louis Audubon Society and coordinator of their Bring Conservation Home program.

I’ve been gardening partly to benefit birds for over 10 years now. I’m not allowed to have bird feeders where I live, but I can provide a water feature and plants that help provide food, shelter and nest materials. I also have permission from the Condo Association for a nest box, which was used by Carolina Wrens this past summer. I refrain from using pesticides to help ensure that the bugs in my garden are safe for birds to eat. Like a lot of people, I am also interested in invertebrate conservation, so I have planted several species of plants specifically to be used as host plants for butterflies and as habitat for beneficial insects.

Make a Soft Dia De Los Muertos Skull

September 17, 2015Art, Fabric and Fiber Arts, Mixed Media, Tutorialscut your own stencils, Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, discharge paste, embroidery, fabric art, fabric craft, fabric paint, Jacquard Products, sewing, skull pillow, skull wall hanging, softie, stencil cutting, stenciling, stenciling on fabric, stencilschasenfratz

Soft Dia De Los Muertos Skull made using discharge paste, embroidery, fabric paint, and embellishments

Do you want to have some fun with a mixed-media fabric project? This soft Dia De Los Muertos skull uses discharge paste, fabric paint, embroidery and embellishments – you can use a lot of your toys for this one! Enhance your decor with a small decorative throw pillow or attach a loop to the back and hang it on the wall.

This tutorial assumes you know the basics of cutting stencils and stenciling on fabric. If you need more of an introduction to those skills, see my tutorial “Fun With Stencils”. You’ll need a few very basic sewing and embroidery skills too.

Mark your calendars! Upcoming events

September 15, 2015Art, Events, Mixed Media, Route 66, Rubber Stampingcraft demo, Edwardsville Route 66 Conference, Green Power Challenge Winner, Maplewood, Miles of Possibility, MO, rubber stamp carving demo, Scrapbooking with Memorabilia, stencil cutting demo, Studio: art co-op, Sutton Loop Park, Zwanze Day Spilloverchasenfratz

I hope you can join us for one or both of these events!

September 19, 2015 – Two Parties in One Place: Zwanze Day Spillover – Green Power Challenge Winner in Sutton Loop Park, Maplewood, Missouri. More information at the event link. I’ll be demonstrating Rubber Stamp Carving and Hand Stencil Cutting at the Studio: art tent from 12:00-5:00 pm.

October 29-31, 2015 – Miles of Possibility: The Edwardsville Route 66 Conference in Edwardsville, IL. See the event web site for details. I will be vending some of my hand-crafted items and giving a presentation on the topic of “Scrapbooking with Memorabilia”.

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part III – Filling in the Tile “Murals”

September 15, 2015Ceramic Clay, Home Decor, Upcyclingceramic, DIY, handmade tiles, home decor, kitchen backsplash, mosaic tiles, salvaged tiles, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.com, tile backsplash, upcyclingchasenfratz

Frame of salvaged tiles filled with handmade tiles, salvaged tiles and purchased tiles.

It’s a good thing I make detailed notes as I work, because this kitchen backsplash project underwent a two and a half year hiatus! I didn’t really plan to neglect the project for that long, but in 2013 and 2014 I did a lot of art and craft shows and my studio space and time was necessarily diverted to that pursuit rather than home improvement projects. In 2015 I’m doing fewer shows and determined to finish some of what I started earlier!

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part II – Beginning Work on the Walls

September 14, 2015Ceramic Clay, Home Decor, Upcyclingceramic tile, handmade tiles, home decor, kitchen backsplash, kitchen makeover, mosaic tiles, salvaged tiles, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.com, tile backsplashchasenfratz

Tile strip in my kitchen made from handmade tiles, purchased tiles, and salvaged tiles.

After absorbing inspiration and stockpiling tiles for my kitchen for three years, how did I begin the process of actually getting some tiles on the wall?

Kitchen Backsplash Project Part I – Introduction

September 13, 2015Ceramic Clay, Home Decor, Upcyclingceramic tile, DIY, handmade tiles, home decor, kitchen backsplash, salvaged tiles, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.com, upcycling broken ceramicschasenfratz

When I wrote in my previous article Decor Idea Book that my home decor would take years to complete, I was not exaggerating. I’ve been interested in tiles and mosaics since I was a teenager.

Fall Garden Cleanup

September 12, 2015Conservation, Gardeningcover crops, fall garden cleanup, fall garden tasks, Larry Hodgson, organic fertilizer, organic gardening, permaculture gardening, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.comchasenfratz

In my previous article “Make a Garden Sign Out of a Recycled Produce Crate” I explained that I wanted signs to let the groundskeepers at my condo complex know that I did not want them to remove the fall leaves from my garden, especially with leaf blowers, or trim or spray the plants. The condo management has agreed to let me deal with the leaves myself this year as an experiment and has let the landscaping company know to leave my garden alone.

Lasagna Gardening

September 11, 2015Conservation, Gardeningcomposting, fall garden tasks, lasagna gardening, mulch, mulching, organic gardening, permaculture garden, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.com, shade gardening, sheet mulching, weed controlchasenfratz

What is Lasagna gardening? No, it’s not growing delicious tomatoes and herbs that you can put in your lasagna, though you may eventually be able to do just that depending on your conditions. Lasagna gardening, also known as sheet composting, is an organic gardening method that entails covering the ground with layers of materials of organic origin and allowing them to naturally break down over time. The benefits of this method are less time and labor spent weeding and tilling, creating healthy soil for healthier plants, and reaping the many benefits of compostable materials instead of wasting them.

Upcycled Butterfly Feeder

September 10, 2015Conservation, Gardening, Upcyclingbackyard wildlife, butterfly conservation, butterfly feeder, butterfly gardening, butterfly habitat, DIY, garden wildlife, insect conservation, invertebrate conservation, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, schnarrsblog.com, sustainability, wildlife gardeningchasenfratz

When I got a new dishwasher this spring, I decided to get rid of my broken garbage disposal rather than purchase a new one. When it was working, I rarely used it anyway since I composted almost anything that would normally go down it. In a way it’s kind of a bad habit because I already have more than enough stuff but I do enjoy saving odds and ends of things I might be able to re-use and seeing if I can make them into something useful. My Dad installed my new dishwasher for me and removed the old garbage disposal and he gave me several ringlike parts that he thought I might be able to use for something. One of them fits perfectly a glass part of a broken fountain/mister that someone else gave me.

Make a Garden Sign Out of a Recycled Produce Crate

September 9, 2015Conservation, Gardening, Graphic Design, Upcyclingfall leaf management, garden signs, organic gardening, permaculture garden, Schnarr's Blog, Schnarr's Hardware, shade gardening, stenciling, stenciling on wood, sustainability, upcyclingchasenfratz

In a previous article I described stenciling with paint on a wood garden sign. That works great if you don’t want a lot of small words but I found myself in need of some new garden signs that would require a lot of text on them. I decided to find a way to computer generate the text and put it on a weatherproof sign. In the past I had purchased produce from a co-op and had saved a couple of the thin wood crates thinking they would be useful for garden markers of some kind. I decided to make small signs from this wood and print out my text on clear acetate and attach that to the signs with brads.

Carolyn Hasenfratz Design

Creative connections for a meaningful life