Last week, I shared with you the fact that I am bringing Project Runway to Studio 109A. Since I started a week late on completing the challenges, I am running a week behind.

In Episode Two of Project Runway Season 9, the challenge was to create an outfit using pet store supplies. Tim warned the contestants that the judges frown upon using “fabric” for unconventional challenges. For example, you can’t take a dog bed made of fabric and reconstruct it. The idea behind the unconventional challenge is that you use unconventional materials (although you can use muslin as a base).

Keeping that in mind, I headed off to Pet Supermarket with a $25 budget (I didn’t have the lofty budget $300 the contestants did). I ended up purchasing all natural moss used in terranium bedding (pictured above), a bird perch (made of driftwood), and assorted bird toys strung on a wire. I wasn’t interested in the toys, but wanted the wire on which the toys were strung to attach the perch to the purse. After I got to the studio, I was disappointed I hadn’t purchased a leash. When I told my husband I was headed back to the pet store to get a leash, this Tim Gunn designer/mentor wannabe said that returning to the store was against the rules and told me to “make it work”.

The end result is a small purse resembling a bird’s nest. The handle is created from the bird perch (perfectly pre-drilled to attach to a cage). The centerpiece is made from one of the bird toys (a copper cow bell I hammered flat). After spending an entire Saturday afternoon gluing terranium bedding to muslin, I have a new appreciation for Project Runway Contestant Anthony Ryan Auld’s bird seed garment. Now, it’s off to make a “larger than life” purse. Until next week, auf wiedersehen.