Australia Day Challenge - 3

For the third week of my Australia Day challenge, I have three little repurposed ideas for you.

1.  Convert a wristband into a Cup Cosy - this is the ideal size to slip over a cup.  Enjoy a cup of Aussie tea with your own Aussie Green and Gold Cup.

 

 

2. Using a paper napkin, convert a empty tin into a flower container.  These beautiful gum blossoms are from my sister Sue's garden.  Using just the top layer of the paper napkin, modpodge it to the tin.  Once dry, place another layer of modpodge on top.

 

 

3.  Convert Australia Flag Luggage Tags into serviette place holders.  Take out the name and address card from the back of the tags and replace with a photo.  I removed the plastic ties and replaced them with red ribbon to wrap them around the serviettes.  I love the look of these.

The photo shows both the front and back of the luggage tags.

 

These would also make great gift tags.

 

 

 

Just as a little extra - I wrapped some mini Hershey Bar chocolates with Aussie themed graphics. 

 

 

My last challenge, a good friend Sonia, dropped of this piece of fabric this afternoon and asked what I could do with it?  Any suggestions?  It is not a cotton fabric, and measures approx. 48cm x 35cm.

 

 

All I can think of is to make a cushion cover or a placemat.  I do not want to cut into it, as I think you would lose the detail.

 

Close-up of gum blossoms to finish post

 

 

 

Still waiting for the cooler weather to get here, stay safe AND cool

 

Judy

Curtain Ring Wreaths

These little Christmas wreaths were made from curtain rings. 

 

I picked up a pack of curtain rings from the second hand store for only fifty cents

 

 

The size and colour were ideal to turn them into little wreaths.  I just wrapped some strips of fabric around them.  You can now decorate them any way you like, add ribbon, bells etc

 

 

These will look great on my Christmas tree.  Any suggestions of what I can do with the rest of the curtain rings?

 

Judy

 

Making a Start!

I have made a start on my handmade products for the upcoming Red Carpet Market in Leeton

I finished two little notepad holders .. yes that is all, however it is a start(!)

 

I especially love the colours of the blue and brown one.  Here is the inside, with a little pen already placed in the pocket

 

 

They are so quick and easy to make.  See original post here with link to instructions

 

I then made my sister Sue, a bag by recycling a pillowcase. 

 

 

There is no wastage in this bag, and it is quite strong as it is lined by doubling the fabric back inside.

The original post can be seen here

 

This is what I am working on now, can you guess what I am going to do with these?

 

 

A hint, it will be a great children's craft project.

 

Until tomorrow, when I have completed photos to show you

 

Judy

Rainy Day Craft

I found a lovely rainy day craft on Pinterest this morning ...  recycle drink coasters into Post-It Note Holders.

 

The above photo, certainly looks much better than the original coasters.

 

 

This is what I started with ... ordinary drink coasters that you can pick up in any hotel or restaurant

 

Cover each side with scrapbooking paper, punch two holes in the top, thread some ribbon through, add your post-it notes, and you are all finished.

 

 

 

I tried to match the paper with the colour of the post-it notes I had on hand

 

 

 

Six finished little gifts, all done in a couple of hours.  Great for teachers, co-workers etc

 

Judy

Rusty Barbed Fencing Wire

I visited a friend's farm a couple of weeks ago, and came home with a few rolls of old rusty barbed fencing wire as well as some farm bits and pieces.

This wire has been transformed into a heart and wreath for my garden, I must admit after many scratches later, however I am extremely pleased with the end results.

Heart:

Wreath:

On the wreath I have cut out a flower shape from rusty tin, and joined it together with a "look-alike" button in the centre.

I have also placed some "picks" around the outside - these picks were/are used to cultivate the soil.

This was a great recycling project and I have many more ideas on how to utilise this wire

Judy

Cutlery Holders

A family tradition of ours is to gather at my Mums house for Seafood lunch on Good Friday.  Even though her house is in upheaval as we wait to get repairs done after the recent flooding, she still wanted it to be held.  Most of the cupboards are empty, nearly all crockery and cutlery boxed away, so we decided on a "picnic" style luncheon.

I decided to make some cutlery holders using old Readers Digest book pages.

For strength and stability, I used six pages in total, 3 for each side.  I used scrap booking scissors to cut a decorative edge on the top, which was then folded down approx 1".  Front and back placed together and then sewn with a zigzag stitch down both sides and across the bottom.

I have placed a paper napkin and then the cutlery in each holder.  It looked a little bare, so for the Easter season, I placed a small chick sticker on the bottom corner.  Just enough!

Maybe next time, I may use coloured cotton?

For ease of access, all the new paper holders were placed in a pencil holder, which I tied with a Easter ribbon. 

I love how the ribbon picks up the colours in my garden in this photo.  A simple way to present your cutlery at a informal function.

Just another close-up photo

On another note, I have only just taken the plunge and converted to the new Blogger interface, so fingers crossed there will not be any mysterious changes to my blog.  It is very different in the back end, where I create these posts, but hopefully I will be able to sort my way through.

Tomorrow I am going into town to our Leeton SunRice Festival Parade.  I love parades.

Our Leeton SunRice Festival is held biennially at Easter in conjunction with the rice harvest and celebrates the importance of the rice industry to the Leeton community.

Have a great Easter with family and friends. 

Judy

Eye Pillows

The satin pillowcase and net curtain were recycled into refreshing, relaxing lavender eye pillows with a removable cover.

I used the rice bag instructions from Selina Quilts as the base for these eye pillows.

The inner bag (net curtain) was cut 4" x 16" and sewn into a bag.  The outer cover was cut 4.5" x 18".

The inner  bag was filled with a combination of lavender and buckwheat - ratio of 1 part lavender to 2 parts buckwheat.  I could not purchase any flax seed or linseed locally, so went with the buckwheat.

The net curtain allows the aroma to come through, but not the actual ingredients. The inner bag is then popped into the removable outer bag.  The first one, I used Selina's instructions and had the opening of the outer bag towards the top.

I then changed the opening to be more in the middle, this allowed the lavender bag to be inserted and removed more easily.

I folded one end in 5" and then folded the other end in 4", overlapping the 5" section slightly.  Pin and sew down the sides.  As simple as that!  There is not much difference, but is does make it easier.

Showing the back -

Now the front -

As these will be used on your eyes, I did not want to embellish the actual pillows, so I thought a little glamour could be in the packaging.

Using card stock, I made pillow boxes for the lavender eye pillows.  No real pattern used, just 8" in length, 4" wide and using a dessert bowl to create the ovals on the side to close the box. 

The lavender eye pillow slides easily into the box

Just push the ends in to close the box

Embellish as desired, with ribbons, lace, buttons etc

A pretty and practical gift using recycled materials.  Unfortunately I did not get started on the vintage doilies, as household chores (ironing, yuk) needed to be completed.

Until next time, happy crafting

Judy

Recycled purse

Are you a saver, collector or hoarder?  Because I dabble in all types of craft, I seem to "collect" a lot of different items.  I had a blue striped men's shirt - why I do not know, however it had a lot of fabric in it and I thought I could do something with it. 

I cut the cuffs off the shirt and used them to make a little purse ... just sew up the sides and use the buttons already on the cuffs for the closure. I used some Fray Stop on the cut edge.

I had seen this idea on the Internet a long time ago, and thought it was a great idea.

Two purses, with many uses.

Keep your earphones in them, clean and tidy

Keep your business card or drivers license in them

Use them as a coin purse

Many uses for when you do not want to take your wallet or handbag

I am thinking of other recycling gifts, this is what I am going to be working with next. 

 A satin pillowcase and a net curtain.  Any ideas?

Vintage doilies and napkins  - aren't they pretty?

Have a great weekend

Judy

Recycling - Grocery Bag Container

I seem to use a lot of these wipes lately, and the container is so strong, it seems a shame to just "throw" it away.

They have a large opening and are huge inside.

Enter the grocery bag dispenser ..  take your grocery shopping bags, fold in half lengthwise.  Ensure you push all the air out of the bags.  Then line each bag up end to end with the handles overlapping the bag before it.

Keeping the handle of the first bag in the line free (folded to one side) roll up the long line of bags tightly.  I used 20 bags in my container, and it could have used at least another 10-15, but that is all I had on hand.

Place inside the empty container.

Add the lid, and pull the first bag handles through the slit on top.

Cut a piece of fabric to fit around the container, and modpodge to the surface, overlapping a little at the back -- this acts as a glue and sealant.  If you then brush modpodge on the outer surface of the fabric as well, it is a mild water proofing sealant.

Keep this container in the boot of your car, for those occasions when you need a plastic bag.  Wet towels, general car rubbish etc.  Great recycling and looks a lot prettier than having those bags stuffed into a drawer.

Judy

Pillowcase Grocery Bag

What can you make with a pillow case?  Apparently a lot of things, however one item that caught my eye was the grocery bag.   

Take one very wrinkled (I should have ironed it first) pillow case.  This is a vintage pillowcase and I love the colours and pattern.

Then using the instructions from this site turn it into a grocery bag or everyday tote.

Very cute and practical.

Now anyone that knows me, will know that I will always think of another way of doing things ... Well, I am going to track down some Christmas Santa Sacks (in the sales) and make some cute gift bags using the same principle.  I will need to be careful with ones with designs as the pillowcase is turned into itself to make the lining.  I hope to be able to get some and show you the results very soon.

Judy

Finished Guessing?

Well it took me over three hours to get this Christmas ornament finished. 



Front view




Back view

 It was very time consuming, but the end result was worth it.  I think if I am going to make more of these, I will get all the components ready before hand.  Cut out all the 2" squares in one session, fold and glue them in another session, then glue to CD in the last session.  I cut, folded and glued as I went along for this one.  I also found the Premium Bond glue better than the Tacky glue.

This is not an original idea, or even my idea, I have seen it before, but not sure if it has been tried on a old CD before.   I have used fabric for this sample, but I imagine it would work just as well with paper.  Imagine it with glossy magazine pages, newspaper or the beautiful scrapbook papers that are available now.  I think I will give it a go, it may give quicker results and you can fold the paper while watching TV in the evening.

Till next time,
Judy