Making something by hand has multiple therapeutic benefits, especially for people who are neurodivergent.
At Mannequin Madness we advocate that people repurpose and reuse materials that have been recycled for their hand made projects. This benefits both the individual and community (from an environmental perspective).
For example, our company recycles mannequins for retail stores. Our efforts divert an average of 1 million pounds of mannequins from ending up in landfills every year. We then resell these mannequins at discount prices to people repurpose them into all kinds of DIY art projects.
Photo provided by Muck and Brass
A few of the most popular art projects are mannequins turned into dress form Christmas Trees, planters, lamps, decoupage and for Halloween Decorations. You can see other DIY projects here.
When we started recycling mannequin heads for cosmetology schools, we decided the heads could be used to make wearable art. The heads are the perfect canvas to make flower crown headdresses.
We are the only company in the SF Bay area that offers flower crown classes using faux flowers and other sustainable materials. This way people can make wearable art that lasts for years, versus using fresh flowers which would only last a few days.
Initially we hosted the flower crown classes just in our warehouse in Oakland. But as more entities such as libraries, museums and businesses started looking for creative self care activities for their community or staff, we created a mobile version to bring to their venues.
Now we are offering a new class, Mannequin Wall Art. We recycled a large quantity of two dimensional female mannequin torsos from a sporting goods store.
These were designed to hang on a wall to display clothing. Now they can hang on the wall to display art created from new and recycled materials.
Instead of following a fixed template, you create your own design using materials such as sequined ribbon, faux flowers and foliage, butterflies, fabric, feathers, beads and more.Instead of using a paint brush to make the wall art people use a glue gun
The themes are limitless: You can complement your room decor/palette, focus on a special theme (e.g. breast cancer awareness), make a political statement (e.g. my body, my choice) or design a torso look based on a fantasy or goal.
The classes are offered once a month and are $40 each which includes the torsos and all materials. Sign up here.
