I am fortunate to have what I generously refer to as a craft room, but in reality this space can only be called a junk room. Things collect there. Occasionally an item gets removed to be either donated or in the case of this weird collection of fruit, re-made. The remaking or crafting generally happening elsewhere in the house and rarely in the craft room itself.

It is shameful really and I do on occasion clean it to the point where I can work in this designated space, but still, it is over crowded and unorganized. The carpet is old. The walls are not completely finished. Their is strange wall paper left by the previous owners some twenty years ago. It is the one room in our house that we have never gotten around to remodeling, probably because it is too full of stuff.

I have leafed through the pages of “Where Women Create” with a mix of disbelief and envy. How can their spaces be so tidy and color coordinated. Surely they have just shoved all the extra boxes and half finished projects into the hallway or their children’s bedroom for this photo shoot. What does it look like when they are in the middle of a project? Does it really look like they are shooting a Martha Stewart video, every tool in it’s place, every supply categorized and contained in colorful matching containers?

I would love to have a beautifully decorated and functional crafting space worthy of being published in some lengthy magazine spread. But I am far too messy and in the absence of a room to literally dump everything I can only imagine the horrific state of the rest of my house.

Anyway, in a recent and successful (successful being defined by the fact that something was permanently removed  from the space) expedition into the “craft room” I found this hodgepodge of plastic fruit. The upside of having a room full of junk , if there is one, is that sometimes you stumble onto things you forgot you had, and if you are lucky you are inspired to do something with this new treasure.

Two of the pieces actually turned out to be candles so I let them be.

Some of the pieces were just your typical plastic fruit, and then there were the strange pieces.

I kind of get the sparkly apple but for the life of me I don’t know why there is a star on this pear. It is just weird and wrong.

Now you can probably guess that my house has not been the recipient of any interior design awards, but in its current state, this fruit mix needed a face lift even for my home.

As it happened (because I don’t throw anything away.) I had some twine left over from covering the living room chairs. So I dyed it with some food coloring and then hot glued it to the fruit.

To finish, seal and add more color I used some vinegar glue with more food coloring and brushed it on with a paint brush. (Note I didn’t have any yellow food coloring but turmeric makes a great yellow color.)

This project was brought to you via my kitchen (aka: the real craft room)

Happy Upcycling,