Recycling artist Emily Kircher creates fabulous rugs and more from salvaged fabric. Take this adorable crocheted cupcake rug ($38), available at her Etsy store: The “cake” was made from brown corduroy dress, the frosting from a thrift store remnant and the sprinkles from a red T-shirt. Could it be any cuter?
Like many crafters, Emily’s interest in crafting was greatly influenced by her mother. But as she grew up, Emily had her sights set on things far removed from crafting. She studied biology in school and environmental toxicology in graduate school because she was interested in helping understand how pollutants affected the environment.
“As I was nearing the end of my Ph.D. work, I realized that what I was doing in school was training me for something that I didn’t want to do, namely, working for a pharmaceutical company,” Emily says. “I left school with a M.S. and opened my craft business, much to the surprise of my adviser, science friends and parents. During grad school I was crocheting rugs from old clothes and everyone really liked them, and I liked how I was able to use castoffs to create a new item that was functional again.”
Emily creates lots of things, but rugs have always been her favorite. She especially likes that she’s taking a traditional craft and putting a new twist on it by adding new designs such as skulls, kitties, squids, fruit and — in this case — baked goods.
Visit both her blog and Etsy store.
