This tiny living space in a shoe box with cover has a used toothpaste cap for a lamp, bread tabs for electric outlets and shelves, a bottle cap toilet, a soy milk sealer for a trash can cover, bent wire eyeglasses, and more recycled items.  Don't worry, everything is cleaned!  There's a pre-digital museum collection slide glued to a hole in the box for a TV.  It's labeled A View of Herengracht 1637-17-12 by Dutch artist Jan Van der Heyden. There's also discarded and unused items from retailers like the snow cone shower.  The fan in the bathroom is made from a piece of styrofoam and can be turned by hand from outside the box through the cardboard.  The artwork on the walls are from art flyers.  There's also posters from a flyer explaining how long different types of trash last.  

It started out as a sample to inspire my students, and teach them about the impact our trash has, but I got really into it and added more and more details, spending hours thinking of what to use, cutting it and hot gluing it together.  My students were not overwhelmed though.  We went into the museum galleries to see famous modern upcycled works.  They looked at my piece, and they were inspired to dig into some recycled materials of their own to make beautiful, simpler creations for themselves.  Hopefully they will also be inspired to think twice about what they are throwing away and to create more art of their own.

Maybe you or someone you love will be inspired too.  

This could be a great for a college student, art history lover or nature lover.  It could be for a housewarming, birthday or holiday gift, but is not for young children or pets.