Dryer Balls, yes this post is about DRYER BALLS

I'm so going to make these:



When I worked at the American Lung Association, one of our brainwashing techniques we used at health fairs revolved around this package of 2 blue spiky balls. Dryer balls. People loved the dryer balls. We repeated over and over again our story of why dryer balls were on our display table.

See, dryer balls are an alternative to fabric softener sheets, which are Evil. I'm sorry to tell you this, because I know you're going to be as heartbroken as I was when I found out, but even the unscented ones are Evil. They are filled with chemicals such as phthalates, which are known endocrine disruptors. That means that they mess with a kid's development. With anything hormonal, actually. Big time. Phthalates are also a really stubborn chemical that can be found in breast milk of women who haven't ever even used a fabric softener sheet. In summary: yuck.

The way that dryer sheets work is that they are covered in plastics, which are activated in the heat (your dryer) and melted, then spread all over your nice warm clothes. The plastic smells great, thanks to more chemicals, and the plastic layer on your clothes makes your clothes resist static. Hooray. Problem is, you have this great chemical against your skin all day, and you also are breathing it in all day. This could give you allergy symptoms that you can never quite nail down (why am I always stuffy in the morning after I get dressed) but they it could be deadly to you if you have any kind of respiratory disease, like asthma. No, they also don't tell you about how that so-called natural smell of happy flowers (yeah, natural, right) actually contains the same chemicals found in paint strippers, antifreeze, and gasoline.

You can tell that this is one of the things I really embraced when I worked at the Lung Association, and it's stuck with me. I probably could have made millions selling those dryer balls. I was a dryer ball poster child.

Then, one of my coworkers got a phone call from a seriously concerned individual, who wanted to know if the platics used in these dryer balls actually contained phthalates too, or worse yet- lead. We thought she was a bit odd, of course, since obviously the lesser of two evils would be the dryer ball. At least it's sustainable, where dryer sheets are not, right? But coworker, in her awesomeness, wouldn't let it go, and started to try to contact the dryer ball people.

Needless to say, they were not upfront about the contents of their wonderful dryer balls.

And so we decided to stop recommending dryer balls.

I discovered that a little white vinegar in the wash/rinse cycle, or even sprayed into the dryer, does help some with static. But folks are reluctant to smell like vinegar. (Phthalates vs. vinegar, the phthalates always win in the smelling test.) So we tossed away those evil dryer balls from our display, and continued on in our static filled existances.

Until today, when I found this link. Make Your Own Wool Dryer Balls | How to Make and Do.

I'm so going to make these phthalate free all natural wool dryer balls. For everyone I know. Let me know if you need some. I want to keep your lungs and horomones healthy.

I'm a treehugger, it's true. I'll recycle to a fault (my husband screams, can't we PLEASE get rid of some of these plastic bags??!). So, I get a lot of joy out of reclaiming materials to use in my art.

Slabs of wood are one of those found treasures.

I love working on wood. It doesn't buckle, it takes tons of abuse, and it feels nice and hefty.

Waiting for My Imaginary Friend is a mixed media collage on wood. It's just under 12 x 12 inches. The piece of wood isn't exactly square. Its siamese twins became a bookshelf, I think... I got this wood from the scrap bin at Ballard Bookcase. I started with gesso, although I've also worked on wood as is, bare and ready for collage, paint, pencil and ink. This piece needed some gesso though, mostly because I like the way that the way I paint looks over gesso. I've also done carving on wood, pounded in textures and objects, sanded, scraped, and drilled. Really, it does take most any kind of treatment.

But, then, what to you do with it once it's finished? Originally I thought that my collages on wood could stand on end on a table , but gravity took over. (And, sorry for the bad poetry there.) So I've pounded a couple of nails in the back, strung wire or ribbon or twine across, and now they can hang on the wall.

Why am I posting this? To remind myself and maybe you that you don't need amazing equipment or frames or hanging materials to create a display for your art. Sometimes just a nail or two will do.

By the way, I am planning some art out of those plastic bags.