Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
July 3, 2013
Summer Style Report~ Eco Chic!
Just in time for the 4th of July~ a look at some of the 2013 Upcyclers' Summer Fashions! Colorful, fun, very unique...and ECO CHIC!
March 11, 2011
Love 2 DIY on the Weekend: Upcycled Children's Book into Photo Album
I have three kids at home. They are super big and all grown up and don't want any of their baby board books anymore. So when I was surfing the net (as I do on occasion) I found a fun site where the blogger would buy things from the $1 store and make something crafty! One of her projects was to make a photo album/journal from 2 for $1 board books!Guess what I have 327 of??? BOARD BOOKS! And most of them are so yucky they aren't even donatable! For some reason my children liked to eat their books.
It's difficult to believe, looking at the picture but the one I used for this project is the least yucky of the bunch!
You will find my tutorials are very general. Mostly because this isn't like a cake baking tutorial where you should duplicate my steps exactly! I mean, the likelihood of you having the same size old chewed on board book in your home is probably pretty low.
So use this as a guide; An inspiration if you prefer. Hopefully I can spark those creative juices to make your own wildly creative crafty whats-a-whose-it. But for today - read about ours!
Once again, my 8 year old daughter and I did this project together. (I told you she was all big and grown-up)
We started by cutting the pages out of the book. Our book is relatively small - about 4 1/2 inches tall so we chose to only use 6 of the pages. Meaning we can get 3 photo albums from one book!
Next my very helpful 15 year old son sanded the edges just a tiny bit so the flappy paper edges weren't in our way. He used a little hand held sander but there is no reason you couldn't hand sand them or trim them very closely with an Exacto knife.
To spread the glue and help the paper lay flat to the edge, we layed the paper on the board and then pressed with the handle of a butter knife from the center of the paper to the edge all the way around.
Next my handy dandy son drilled 3 holes through the boards. I'm not exactly sure how you could do this step without a power tool? Maybe nail through the boards one at a time? If you don't have a small drill, maybe now is the time to get one.(I know Habitat for Humanity has a small store in my town where they sell supplies and surplus!) Back to the drilling....
The next part was so fun. First we went through all of my scraps and goodies. I get tons of freebies when I order from Etsy. I try to pass them on to my customers but I tend to order a lot more than I sell. So I have lots of leftovers. We tried to find items that looked Rock-n-Roll to us.
Mostly we did not take pictures of the next couple of hours. There was a lot of pasting and cutting. I altered pictures at picnik.com and printed them off. There is a lot of crafting going on at my house. Do you know we didn't turn the TV on once? My kids are 6, 8 and 15 and no one even mentioned it. I know this isn't a post on TV and how it can disconnect families, but I think it's worth mentioning. ;-)
Here are a few pictures from our Rock-N-Roll photo album:
I must say, I think it turned out super cute! Please let me know if you agree and don't be shy about commenting with suggestions or ideas for future tutorials! I'm all ears!
February 25, 2011
Love 2 DIY on the Weekend: Everything has a Place
I would post a picture of my craft desk, but we would all just be embarrassed of the mess. So you can imagine I'm always on the look out for cute, cheap, upcycled storage solutions. This little tote is perfect because you can carry it room to room or even take it with you to craft night at someone else's house.
Honestly there is no reason you can't just use a little 6-pack tote as is. But I decided to decorate it so you wouldn't necessarily recognize it on my craft table.
Any six pack cardboard container will do. I found this one in a neighbor's trash. Not really.
I used some craft paint I had left over from another project and my 8 year old daughter helped me put on a coat.
Sammi
Honestly there is no reason you can't just use a little 6-pack tote as is. But I decided to decorate it so you wouldn't necessarily recognize it on my craft table.
Any six pack cardboard container will do. I found this one in a neighbor's trash. Not really.
I used some craft paint I had left over from another project and my 8 year old daughter helped me put on a coat.
It didn't seem quite enough coverage so we decided two coats would be better.
Much better! Next, we chose 3 fabric samples from my huge supply a friend of mine sent me. My daughter loved the floral and green, and i decided the orange and yellow were a perfect compliment.
I cut out some of the flowers and glued the other pieces of fabric directly onto the tote. If you don't have fabric, you can paint directly onto the tote, or use paper to decorate. Make it your own!
I can't wait to show you what other easy, fun DIY upcycle projects I have to share with you, but feel free to leave a comment if there is something in particular you would love to see a step-by-step tutorial on.
Sammi
February 11, 2011
Love 2 DIY on the Weekend: Originally Posted on 'katiebyrd'
Oh, What CAN You Do With An Old Tin CAN?
Ok, so I am always looking for new ways to turn trash into treasure. It seems like we have so many things that we encounter on a daily basis that get discarded or downcycled because of one major thing: lack of imagination. So I went in search of some inspiration for crafty-crafts to make out of all the products we used today. Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “You can’t possibly a) remember everything you used today and b) make something super-cool out of everything you used today!!!” Ok, so you’re probably right, but here’s the inspirational collection of items I did manage to find. Maybe try your hand at these or maybe order them from a creative crafty person on Etsy or somewhere:
1. Instead of sitting in our recycle bin, that can of ginger ale P drank (because his tummy hurt) could be…a pair of EARRINGS! Wow – so did not see that one coming:
2. Instead of throwing away that old seed corn sack (ok, I am slightly embellishing the truth regarding the products I used today), it could be…a cool market tote!
3. Instead of tossing that old bike tire into the dumpster it could be…a neat-o clock!
4. Instead of putting that old wine bottle out for collection, it could be…an awesomely engraved sign! I do like my glass of red wine at night…
5. Instead of littering the world with old Scrabble tiles, they could be a…cool pendant! This one is really cute, I think. But, for the record, I will NEVER be rid of my Scrabble game–NEVER.
Ok, I’m thinking you get the drift by now. Crafty creative power –> less trash and waste in the world, and cool new things that we can feel good about.
My big contribution to the vision is the simple tin can. What can you do with it? Let me count the possibilities:
1. Poke holes in them (after freezing some water in them) and string them up as mini lanterns. Mine came out horribly ugly, but I’m sure yours will be beautiful…
2. Remove the tops and bottoms and make them into pretty little ornaments like Yours Truly did last Christmas and gave away to everyone. Isn’t that clever? Hmmm
3. Make the tops and bottoms into nifty button pins to go on your market tote – this I have not yet tried, but am still contemplating.
4. Use the ones that have pretty gold coloring on the inside, like mini green chili and olive cans, as fun tea-light holders. OK, pretty idea, but these also get really HOT. Just beware. But they did sparkle oh so nicely on top of the stove at P’s birthday party.
5. ???
Your turn, what else can you do with an old tin can? Actually, are they aluminum now? Got a neat idea? Turn it into a DIY for the weekend!!
katiebyrd is a member of Upcyclers,
an Etsy team whose members Love 2 Upcycle!
See what she Upcycles in her shops on Etsy:
Ok, so I am always looking for new ways to turn trash into treasure. It seems like we have so many things that we encounter on a daily basis that get discarded or downcycled because of one major thing: lack of imagination. So I went in search of some inspiration for crafty-crafts to make out of all the products we used today. Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: “You can’t possibly a) remember everything you used today and b) make something super-cool out of everything you used today!!!” Ok, so you’re probably right, but here’s the inspirational collection of items I did manage to find. Maybe try your hand at these or maybe order them from a creative crafty person on Etsy or somewhere:
1. Instead of sitting in our recycle bin, that can of ginger ale P drank (because his tummy hurt) could be…a pair of EARRINGS! Wow – so did not see that one coming:
2. Instead of throwing away that old seed corn sack (ok, I am slightly embellishing the truth regarding the products I used today), it could be…a cool market tote!
3. Instead of tossing that old bike tire into the dumpster it could be…a neat-o clock!
4. Instead of putting that old wine bottle out for collection, it could be…an awesomely engraved sign! I do like my glass of red wine at night…
5. Instead of littering the world with old Scrabble tiles, they could be a…cool pendant! This one is really cute, I think. But, for the record, I will NEVER be rid of my Scrabble game–NEVER.
Ok, I’m thinking you get the drift by now. Crafty creative power –> less trash and waste in the world, and cool new things that we can feel good about.
My big contribution to the vision is the simple tin can. What can you do with it? Let me count the possibilities:
1. Poke holes in them (after freezing some water in them) and string them up as mini lanterns. Mine came out horribly ugly, but I’m sure yours will be beautiful…
2. Remove the tops and bottoms and make them into pretty little ornaments like Yours Truly did last Christmas and gave away to everyone. Isn’t that clever? Hmmm
3. Make the tops and bottoms into nifty button pins to go on your market tote – this I have not yet tried, but am still contemplating.
4. Use the ones that have pretty gold coloring on the inside, like mini green chili and olive cans, as fun tea-light holders. OK, pretty idea, but these also get really HOT. Just beware. But they did sparkle oh so nicely on top of the stove at P’s birthday party.
5. ???
Your turn, what else can you do with an old tin can? Actually, are they aluminum now? Got a neat idea? Turn it into a DIY for the weekend!!
katiebyrd is a member of Upcyclers,
an Etsy team whose members Love 2 Upcycle!
See what she Upcycles in her shops on Etsy:
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