CRAFT: Earrings from Recycled Plastic

Can you guess what these were in their "first life"??

So, I was tossing the inspiration for these into the trash one day (before they had a recycling program here where I live), and I thought "what a neat pattern".  I decided to experiment a little and this is what I came up with.  I took the plastic and cut out the interesting portion.  I kept trimming it until I ended with this design. It was clear, so I grabbed the pointed end Sharpie (permanent) and started to "color" from behind.  Shortly, I had a nice black and red "snake skin-like" dangle.  I searched through a box of broken jewelry and found a pair of sterling screw-backs that were incomplete--so I removed the old pieces and attached the dangles to the backs with a couple of jump rings.  Voila!  Earrings from a--did you guess where the plastic came from?--a bottle of Wish-bone® dressing!  I don't even eat salad dressing...but my husband does.  
I'm not even sure the bottles are made the same way now.  The point of this exercise is to remember to take a look at what you are throwing away or tossing into the recycle bin.  Can you see some other use for it...can you give it a second life?  If you love to craft, you can certainly turn your trash into treasures!

CRAFT: "Lady in Hat" Pin

Bits and Scraps become a lovely pin

The thing I love about this home crafted pin is that it took very little time to make and cost next to nothing...I could have used a little more "expensive" technique, but this was just an experiment.   
I am always looking at things around the house to see if they can be repurposed to something else.  If you break this piece down to it's parts, this is what you need:

• A plastic base...by using the side of a pink plastic bottle, I cut out the shape and made good use of the curve already in the plastic.  Why pay for plastic blanks when you can use plastic bottles to make the base for bracelets, pins, hair ornaments, magnets, etc.?

• decorative netting...I had found an old hat at the thrift store that was pretty far gone, but it had this netting, and some great feathers, that I rescued for art projects.

• feathers...again, these were rescued from the old hat, and there were quite a few.

• image of lady in hat...this was the most fun part of the pin.  I had gone to a swap meet and found an old catalog...it wasn't even complete!  It had many interesting (mostly) black and white images; very few in color.  I already knew how to easily "colorize" the images the way I wanted them...all I had to do was to photocopy them on some heavy paper and use watercolor pencils to color them.  I added the circular highlights on my own.  If you are a talented artist, you could draw your own image.  You can also take advantage of the many copyright free image books and discs available, like those from DOVER BOOKS. (check out the free samples subscription on the left hand side of the page!) I buy those from thrift stores and used bookstores as well.  [IMPORTANT COPYRIGHT NOTE:  I did have to pay to do a search at the copyright office to make sure they were copyright free, which they now were. The copyright had expired.  That wasn't exactly cheap...but since they were no longer under copyright protection, I was free to use them as I wished--and there were quite a few.]  After I had colored the lady in the hat with the water color pencils, and used water to enhance the color, I let it dry.  

• paper backing...if I were doing this over, I would use some type of cloth and sew the pin back to the cloth first, before gluing.

• pin back...since I prefer stick pins, I probably would have used a stick pin instead, but as I said, this was just an experiment.  I attached it with a bit of hot glue)

• Elmer's or Aleen's Glue...there are many really nice glues to try...this was just several coats of plain old white glue. 

Using the plastic blank I had cut from the pink plastic bottle, I took the netting and cut a piece that would fit over the blank, and used glue overall.  After that dried, I applied the feathers.  Apply several coats of glue to the colorized image.  Affix the image (after it is dried and trimmed of any excess dried glue) over the feathers.  Glue the paper (or cloth backing) to the back, and hot glue (or sew) the pinback.  So, keep your eyes open...look at those plastic bottles before you toss them!  

CRAFT: Recycled Copper Wire

Sentimental Recycling Project

 Quite a few years ago, my husband took a job in Alaska which separated us for about six months. 
He was working in remote areas, and phone calls were often two weeks apart.  Our son and I really missed him.


At the time, I was home schooling our son.  My husband thought it might be fun to ship some of the plant and rock materials home for our science studies.  We had plenty of fun trying to determine what all the flora and rocks he sent home were.  
Fast forward to today.  I was clearing out some boxes and stumbled across the birch bark.  I couldn't make myself throw it out...but, I didn't want to just store it in a box.  In reading through one of the magazines I picked up at the thrift store, (I almost never buy "new" magazines), I noticed a picture of a leaf that someone had punched with holes to form letters--writing a short message.  Inspiration!!  I could use the bark to make a piece of wearable art!!  A few days later I was watching a segment on TV that mentioned recycling copper wire from old electric motors.  Since my husband was already recycling that sort of thing, I asked if he had any copper wire I could use.  He set up a little anvil and a hammer for me and told me to have a go.  Thus, was born my wearable recycled birch bark and copper wire "heart". 

This cuts very easily with scissors!

 The bark was originally rolled in a "scroll".  I had to soak it overnight in water; laying it flat, with a heavy object, to dry.

The curl of wire made by twisting on a pencil to form.

I used wire cutters to cut some strands of copper wire. Two to six strands worked best. (I actually used three strands in the heart.)  Twisting the ends together to get it started, I braced the started end under the anvil and used a pair of pliers to continue to twist all the way down.  

At this point, I began pounding the twist of wire with the hammer against the anvil; and in short order, I discovered that a lovely (almost Celtic) pattern appeared.  I went too far though, and the wire became thin and brittle, breaking off bits of the pattern.  Several tries later, shaping FIRST, pounding (a lot less) later, I had a heart shape that would work.  

Kind of fun to see how the wire will appear after pounding!

I traced the metal heart onto the bark, cut it, and trimmed to size.  Then I simply used wood glue to hold it together.  This is not a totally finished piece.  I am still trying to decide whether to make the heart into a pin or a pendant...but I am saving that knot in the bark for another project...maybe a barrette for my hair...The project took very little time and cost next to nothing, but the fun I had experimenting in making it and the sentimental value I derive from it are priceless!
Thursdays are the release days for my Craft projects and ideas...check back each Thursday!!  It is my intention to use recycled items,  thrift store purchases, and "dollar store" finds as often as possible.  Green Crafting!
Sundays are the release days for Kitchen and Cooking projects, ideas, and better food choices.  Please check back on Sundays for that.
Home projects and ideas are still "in progress", but tentatively will be slated for Tuesdays or Saturdays...please "stay tuned". 

CRAFT: Recycle Magnets!

Recycle Magnets from junk mail or your shower curtain!!

 How many of us have photos and business cards, and kids drawings, etc. on our fridges?  

In less than 5 minutes, you and your kids can craft some interesting magnets with stuff you are probably throwing away without thinking!

I use magnets from the bottom of shower curtain liners...and I have a cat who likes to shred the liner on occasion.  Instead of throwing away the magnets, I punch them out and save them for craft use.  While I already have plenty of buttons around the house, I happened across these "star" shaped buttons that I really liked at one of my oft-shopped thrift stores for only 75 cents!  

 While I did have to clip the shank off, that was easily done with a razor knife...would have been even easier with a flat clipper. (Save that for an adult...duh!)

 I used the white school glue just because it would be "kid friendly", but a glue gun or any other glue would have worked just as well.

 Left to dry...ready to go in about 5 minutes.

While you're at it...look around the house and you may find a few more sources for "free" magnets to craft with.  I pull off the flat magnets on the backs of the shopping lists, and from advertising magnets on telephone yellow pages...I pull them off and recycle the phone books.  
I keep them in my recycled craft supplies and have them to use when the mood strikes.  By the way...thrift stores are great places to look for things to stock your home craft center.   I find high quality needles (some from England) for pennies, lots of unopened needlecrafts, yarns, threads, ribbons, scissors, papers, fabrics, patterns...it's a section of the thrift store I make a habit of checking out!  If you think you might like to try a new craft...look at several thrift stores to see what's available...you may be able to try something new, for a lot less!