The Texture Ball Challenge

Remember the texture ball I showed you a few weeks ago?  That was one of my first college projects for Interior Design.  We were learning about visual and tactile texture.  It happens to be one my favorite projects, so much so that I got together with some of my school friends to recreate it.

I have named this baby "Flight."

Originally I was going to use feathers, sequins, and split peas for the varying textures but found that the split peas where the wrong color of green and just wasn't going to fit the bill.  I already had everything else attached yesterday and started going through the supplies I had in my home with Tim Gunn's voice in my head saying, "Make It Work."  While I looked at several different options the hemp was the one that kept coming to mind.

It really wasn't too hard to make.

Here are the supplies I used:

- 6" Styrofoam ball
- glue gun and glue sticks
- straight pins
- feathers
- sequins of various colors and sizes
- hemp rope

1.)  I glued the feathers on first and they in no way need to be in a circle but placed thoughtfully around the ball.

2.)  Next came the sequins.  This part is probably the most time consuming.  I pinned the sequins around my feathers in various thicknesses.  The green and teal were on one side and the silver on the other.  I used different sizes to keep the visual texture interesting and varying.

3.)  Finally I glued the hemp in the remaining areas starting on the outside and working my way in.

I think the reason I liked this project so much is because there are endless possibilities and they can be interesting art pieces for the home at minimal cost.  See the solutions my friends came up with and make sure and check out their tutorials.

(I highly recommend following their blogs, they have some great ideas for home decor, home design, party planning, and other great design tips)

Caley at Design By Caley

Amber at Numbered Street Designs

Andrea at Strawberry Chic

The Texture Ball - (DIY Home Decor)

Another favorite school project of mine was the texture ball and was done at the very beginning of my freshman year at college.

The Project:  Take a Styrofoam ball and cover it in whatever material you want that would show tactile texture but also be visually pleasing and interesting.

It was really cool to see what some people came up with.  For mine I used small Christmas Bulbs and took the the tops off (the part where the hook goes).  I glued them on with hot glue and filled the negative space with colored saran wrap.  I didn't have to glue the saran wrap.  I just took a small amount and with a sewing pin just shoved it into the space.  It was so simple to make but made such a statement.

With Valentines Day just around the corner I'm thinking this would have made an excellent topiary piece or one that just stands alone on a mantle.  What do you think?

I also had the thought that this would be a fun "Challenge Project."  The idea would be that bunch of us bloggers would all try to come up with our own texture ball and then in the end have a parade of all the different designs.  If you're interested in participating email me at info@sarahdawndesigns.com .  

The Cardboard Chair

It's been a Monday if there ever was one.  Remember all of the big changes that I'm working on for 2012? Let's just say that January has been quite the month and today I was feeling a little overwhelmed.  I haven't gotten nearly as much done as I had hoped.  Being away from home and my husband for a few weeks tends to throw you for a loop but... it's for a good cause.

To help remedy my Monday blues I started looking through photos of years past and came across some of my school projects.  One in particular was this cardboard chair.

The project:  To build a chair completely out of cardboard and glue that could sustain at least around 200 lbs.  We were also focusing on green design, sustainability, ergonomics, and functionality.

We were split into groups of three.  My group and I found our inspiration from a couple of cardboard tubes that were laying in one of the offices left over from our floorplan printer.  From there we gathered up as many of those cardboard tubes from around campus and headed to a carpet store for the larger tubes.  Cutting the carpet tubes was quite the chore.

This chair was surprisingly comfortable and rather durable.  Most of all, I loved the unique design, it really is a piece of art.  It's amazing what we can make out of recycled materials.  It might be time to challenge myself with some sort of project like this.  Anyone else interested in joining me?

Have you made anythings out of cardboard?  How about out of recycled materials?