If Tracie Lampe had a motto, it would likely be something along the lines of, “Use it and never refuse it.”
The craft room in the basement of the Pinckney resident’s home is filled from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with the wide-ranging, vast and varied tools of her trade: bottle caps and burlap bags, empty gift cards and spent juice boxes, old vinyl banners and battered bowling pins.
Some people recycle to make the world a “greener” place. Lampe’s goal is to make the world a more beautiful place not just by recycling, but by upcycling.
“Apparently, I’m an extremist, according to my husband,” Lampe said. “It wasn’t good enough to just recycle. I had to make stuff out of all that garbage. I am always on the lookout. My husband’s scared that I’m going to go into people’s trash.
“But I always tell him that I would ask for permission first,” she added with a laugh.
For several years, the self-described “queen of trash” has been taking what others see as rubbish and revisioning it into refined treasure through her craft work. Old T-shirts become bracelets. The aforementioned gift cards are cut into necklaces, charms and earrings. Former Styrofoam meat trays were made into holiday garland for the Christmas season. Fast-food containers become sturdy wallets.
“So, going out to eat with me is not really a fun experience,” Lampe joked. “I just can’t look at something without seeing it being used as something else.”
Source: Livingston Daily.com
By Christopher Nagy