Today's DIY inspiration: flower accessories

This project came up as I was trying to do something completely different and getting frustrated with machine-sewing stretchy fabrics.

I am not the most patient person, and sometimes I like to take a break from a frustrating job to do something quick, fun, and experimental.



This project ended up being awesome! I think I will start making these to put eveerywhere... You can attach the flower directly on your shirt/jacket/bag, or on a hair pin/choker/necklace. You can also just sew a reclaimed old pin on the back and use it as a brooch - you get the idea...

Materials - all of which are super-easy to find in thrift stores/antique stores/in your attic):

- 2 different stretchy fabrics, old tee's, swimsuits, tights, socks...
(This project is great for tiny scraps! If the fabrics do not stretch a fair amount you will not get the ruffle-effect. I suggest you choose either complementary colors or colors that are similar but not the same.)
- sewing thread (any color that looks good with your fabrics, doesn't have to match)
- 2 buttons that look good together and with the fabrics. One larger than the other.
- sewing needle
- sewing machine (sorry this project actually does require one...)

So how do you do this?

Step 1. find materials. Dig for all your buttons, find your sewing threads, bring the sewing machine on the table, and take out those tiny fabric scraps you can never use for anything but save anyways for their pretty colors... Here is my pile.



Step 2. Cut 2 circles from the fabric you would like to have on the top of each layer. You can make them any size you want. My dimensions were 3.5" across, and 2" across. You can make them smaller or bigger depending on your final product and the size of your scraps.

Step 3. Machine-sew the cut circle onto the still not cut fabric. I zig-zagged to keep the fabrics from fraying. Do NOT use pins, but instead, while sewing keep on stretching the top fabric as large as you can make it. Be patient this might need a few tries.



Step 4. Repeat with the smaller circle.

Step 5. Knot the ends of the sewing thread well, and cut them off.

Step 5. Cut the sewn circles off the larger piece of fabric. Be careful not to cut on the stitching, but right by it.



Step 6. Choose Buttons.

This was harder than one would think... I knew I wanted the orange button because it mached the bottom fabric perfectly.



I tried all of these buttons for the top botton before settling for the tiny one.



Step 7. Sew the buttons and the fabric circles together.

And it is done! YAY! So quick, so fun, and so rewarding. I think anytime I will feel blue this is how to make everything bloom again in my heart!

I love wood, and nature inside a house, I often want to bring things like logs inside, but they just do not fit with my modern eclectic dream design.

Wait, except...



I spied this on apartment therapy. Apartment Therapy found it on the blog Happy Mundane. Happy Mundane got it from Loft Life Magazine. Being re-blogged so many times means the design must be absolutely gorgeous. And this idea is Absolutely Amazing. The Stumps' natural texture is perfectly balanced by the metal casters, and the casters remove all the impracticalities of bringing heavy and difficult to move tree stumps inside.

So now, take those metal casters from under an old wheel chair or electric heater (and don't ask me why I have an electric heater that does not work that I brought home from the curb where someone had left it all alone. It just made me too sad.) Attach them on the bottom of FRESH and DRY stumps that have not been laying around since the tree fell in a storm three years ago and viola - you have 100% reclaimed extra seating.

or then - much easier, though possibly less reclaimed... track down where to buy them.

Is there any other way of bringing tree stumps/logs inside with style? You tell me...

Packaging for items on my Etsy

I am excited. This is packaging from my etsy shop. I want to have cute AND reclaimed gift wrapping options in the shop, so here I am testing it out.






Materials:
- 1/4 of a vintage sewing pattern
- vintage button
- 30" of left over yarn scrap
- one day of a vintage calendar
- 2 (small) pieces of tape

I wish I didn't have to use those 2 pieces of tape. Otherwise it is all 100% reclaimed.

All materials are often seen in reclamation supply shops/thrift stores/attics. Which makes me like them.

Cool Upcycling Project of the Day

I try to post once a day, but it seems like some days you find everything, and other days you find nothing. I guess it is like that with everything in life. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don't.

Anyways. These are curtains. They are also packing peanuts. This project is ingenious!!!



Design Bunnie just totally found the treasure! She is a window dresser in California, and made this curtain for a display out of packing peanuts.

Absolutely gorgeous! There are so many packing peanuts in this world, and they for sure do not ever decompose - so why not make then into window treatments? WOW!

Click on the link (above) to see more photos!

Any other ideas for cool projects with packing peanuts?

I really wonder when we'll ban the production of new styrofoam...

My Favorite Reclamation Craft Books - Part 1

Junk Beautiful - Room by Room Makeovers with Junkmarket Style
by Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer
2008, The Taunton Press

I love everything about this book.

If you would have asked me a year ago if I was to write blog book reviews, I probably would not have doubted twice before answering a strict NO. I do love books very much, but most of the time there are people who have smarter things to say about them than I do. However, when I opened this book I just knew I had to share the glory...


First and foremost I love the layout and design of the book. The title's are placed on scanned masking tape, There are little tags ((one of which starts by: 'Junk is like ice cream' - seriously this book is a must read!)) and folded pieces of paper through out the book with small anecdotes and interesting information on the projects) The only thing that could make it better is if the titles were actually handwritten. (and maybe if I would be a member of the amazing design team at The Taunton Press, Inc.)

Second, I love the fact that these ladies have no fear of a project, and that if they cannot do something they want to they'll 'call their welder'. I am so bad at that. I keep on planning and piling things I cannot do anything with 'until I take that TIG welding class' or 'until I learn upholstery'. I am now inspired to try to find people to collaborate with... though that has to wait until I have moved to Finland, and collected some new junk there. :)

Third, I really enjoy the fact that this is the makeover of an entire house and that it is 100% reclaimed. The DIY instructions are clear and the photos gorgeous.

I wish I could go explore this project in 3D form and touch everything. :)

Find another review and the book at:
Taunton Press Online

(oh and did I mention that I love the fact that the title of the 'breakfast nook redo' is "Caffeination Station" I wonder if one has to be a little on caffeine to take on reclamation...)

Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer also host a really neat blog/online community for junkers. It is worth checking out for anyone who likes making things from trash or wants to find repurposed treasures.

Today's How-To: 100% Reclaimed Brooch

This is a design I created last week, and it's pretty simple to make so i thought I should share it. The original is still available through my etsy site.

Materials:
left-over piece of cool thick wool yarn, approx. 8-10 feet long depending on thickness
circular vintage pin
a felting needle (optional, however using one will improve the quality of the brooch)



As this is my first DIY of my own that I am posting, I hope that the hand-written directions are clear enough... I try not to be a total computer-person but still do some things on paper. Also that way I get to draw, which I like. If it doesn't work, I'll start typing the directions next time.





I really like the result. I think my favorite thing about this is that almost everyone who has ever knitted or crocheted has some cool wool yarn somewhere that is just too short for anything knitted. I also like the fact that old ugly metal pins are plenty in any thrift store (or in your mom's jewelry box. Please, do ask for permission if this is your source of material.)

What do you guys think?

Compostable Planters from EcoForms

As it is spring, it's time to get garden planters and plant all kinds of yummy edibles! I do generally avoid buying anything new, and try to stay with re-purposing and re-using already existing material... However, sometimes something so genius and so beautiful comes my way that I cannot resist.

That's what happened with these beautiful planters, called Ecoforms.



These pots are made from renewable grain fibers. The material is a by-product. And guess what. When you no longer want your eco pot you can just toss it in your compost pile - they are 100% biodegradable! I really like the fact that the Ecoforms company was not satisfied with merely an ecological product and production line, but they also paid due attention to the shape, design, and color of their product.



find out more and get your own ecoforms at
their online store

Today's amazing idea is totally borrowed!

Tiny Terrariums in Lightbulbs! WOW! This creation is By Juliette Melton, and I found it at
The Hipster Home blog

where you can also find the instructions for making these! Thank you Julie and the THH blog!

The cool thing about these is that I have for a long time been holding on to my old non-fluorescent bulbs. I replaced all my bulbs before the old one's were totally out to save energy and money - so don't buy new bulbs, but use old ones - and if you don't have any, ask your neighbors.

There must be other people who hold on to their old light bulbs, right? Oh wait, please do not answer that question... I do not want to know if I am the only one...

These Might Be Old News for Some People, but WOW.

"AMONG the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, ---. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash."

excerpt from 'One Man's Trash...' by Kate Murphy, New York Times, 9/2/2009

I read this New York Times article last fall when it was first published. It has haunted me ever since... If we can make such beautiful houses from some 90% reclaimed materials, AND save on cost, why are we not doing more of it? I cannot wait to be ready to settle down and design a house!

and, check out the slide show - these houses are as far from what most people envision when they think of low-income housing as possible!

Rusty Cookie Sheet Can Become Beautiful Wall Art

This is a piece I made last Fall. I absolutely love the texture the rust makes of the cookie sheet. I carried it with me for quite a while (and across the country) until my welding class at The Crucible in Oakland thought me the necessary skills to make it into a unique wall art piece with a bird silhouette.

Cute garden markers for this season

I came across this when thinking about making some garden markers for this spring season... Hand-hammered and stamped antique spoons for your garden. I think Hammermann's idea is just absolutely gorgeous, and I do not think I could top that. These rustic old spoons are just so cute. What more appropriate for your vegetable/herb garden than utensils?

I want a garden plot just so I can get some of these...

Find these spoons on Hammermann's etsy

today is the end of putting off projects.

The fact that I am once again moving across the Atlantic really helps me get my act together.

During the last few years I have collected so many materials for projects small and large, and thought that 'One day I can make something from these things you call Junk'. Well... Now is that day. Today is the beginning of my two-month plan to make all my material into artwork and/or functional items. It is also the day that I am really stepping up to say unemployment is not my game.

I have started my etsy account, and about to sign up for a paypal account. I am hoping that all the things I have collected and carried with me from one house to another will actually do what I thought they might - help me make a living, and help make the world a pretty and green place.

Tell me, what is your inspiration for getting all those projects going that you have put off for the last years?