Entry 1 - Results

Thanks for the great ideas.  I was excited to read what everyone suggested and I look forward to your further inspirations.  Here is what I have come up with for the first three items.  I don’t think it was clear in the first post that they do not have to all be a part of one creation (that would be a bit too rigid for me) so feel free to have ideas about the items separately or together in whatever combination that sparks your creativity.  They also don’t necessarily have to be “useful” – they can be decorative too. 

The first item I created using the sponge part of the paint brush and the plastic tube was this heart shaped paint stamp.  (I tried it with regular stamping ink, but it wasn’t strong enough to collect the stamp pad ink well, but paint worked great.)  I removed the sponge from the brush base and cut it in half.  I secured the tube into one part of the sponge by cutting a circular slit in the back of the sponge and then using both white glue and hot glue affixing the tube to the sponge.  I then cut the heart shape and glued it to the other sponge and voila! – a stamp. 

Here are some hearts that I stamped with it.

 I was even able to clean it gently in water after making the paint designs.

 The little silver balls were a bit of a challenge.  Since they didn’t have holes in them, they couldn’t be strung.  I liked the ideas of making a game with them, but they are small and very hard to toss or control in any way.  I did two things with them though.  I put a few in a little tiny glass jar which I will later use in one of my three dimensional inspiration boxes.  (If you don't know what my inspiration boxes are, ask in the comments section and maybe I will be "inspired" to do a post about those.)  :)

I also decided to make a maraca or sound shaker with them.  My first attempt was with a clear plastic Christmas ornament.  Not only did they sound fun, they looked cool swirling around the edge of the ball.  But just as I was thinking that I would need to make a video to show you how they looked in motion, they popped through the thin plastic and started spraying everywhere.  I was able to limit the damage and retrieve the balls, but had to throw the ornament away.  I then found a clear round makeup container that someone had given me. This was made of much thicker plastic. I put the balls inside and they made a pretty good maraca-like sound.  I needed to cover the make-up logo and punched a colorful piece of art scrap.  I was going to glue it inside, but when I shook it before I glued it, the circle spun with the balls and made an interesting pattern so I decided to leave it the way it was – at least for now.

I could have decided that I was done since I had used every item at least once, but I still had the paint brush handle.  Again, I tried to figure out how to use it for a game, but was not successful.  I finally decided to make a stick puppet – a two faced puppet actually of my favorite Internet star Tardar Sauce aka Grumpy Cat.  Here is one side:

Here is the other.

Let me know what you think.

I will post the next items for the Creative Challenge in a separate post.  Soon.  I can't wait to see what we all come up with next.  :)