Brainstorming...

So I've got a lot of ideas swimming around in my head right now on what I'd like to focus on for my project/s. I really like to fold origami animals, either out of wrapping paper (so they're huge) or out small pieces of paper (I made some penguin earings for an ex gfriend that were awesome). The yarn bombing thing was cool (i've done some origami "bombing" in Denver) hanging giant crabs off of apartment complex roofs and businesses. The problem w/ that is after it rained or if it was windy the paper falls apart (ephemeral...) I want to make something that has some sort of use other than physical beauty or weirdness. I've got some old science lab beakers that i've been contemplating turning into french-press coffee makers. For this I'd have to come up w/ some sort of wire mesh(for the filter) along w/ making a lid to specifically fit each beaker, and maybe some sort of liner for the glass (b/c it'll be hot w/ boiling water). So there's that idea and also I'm thinking about trying to make my own umbrellas. I thought about this when I was helping a friend sell pizza slices to people in the pouring rain last Wednesday. I'd seen several broken umbrellas that had been thrown away on campus and thought, hey I could fix em, or could use them as a blue print to try and make my own. For this I'd probably carve a tree branch to fit like a walking cane for the arm of the umbrella. I go to Salvation Army thrift store about once a week looking for stuff (cassettes, records, clothes, etc.) and have found some pretty cool waterproof jackets that I could try and use as the material for the umbrella. Sounds like a challenging project but it would be fun and there's definitely a market for umbrellas (it's almost spring) Also, i've got an acquaintance who just bought an old printing press that she uses for odd projects (she's printing her first book on it as i type this) I don't know anything about how a printing press works, but she's offered to show me how to use it and let me print stuff on it. So...that being said, I still don't know exactly where I'm headed but I do know that I want a project that's challenging but not extremely time consuming. Also, I want a craft to have some sort of practicality or usefulness besides its aesthetic value. I know I'm going to go back to making my own hacky sacks when I get some spare time. Is Guatemala still the biggest seller of hacky sacks out there? Maybe B-towns next.

-Pete