07/01-07/18/2012

07/01/2012 -Rubber Band Headband
July 1st was a busy day for me. I worked all day then rushed home to get ready for my hubby to take me out for my wonderful birthday dinner. I didn't think I would want to work on anything after my hot date, so I did this project in the car ride to the restaurant. I cut 1/4" segments along the width of the tube. (If you are in a pinch and need rubber bands and have an inner tube, just cut the size you want by cutting through the width of the tube.) Then started pulling one band through the other to connect them together. I don't know how to describe the process, but when I got to the end I had to use a long strip to tie the ends together.

07/02-06/2012 - Really Big Inner Tube Basket
This is an offshoot from my 12 basket project for my sister-in-law. I love this giant size (2'x3') but the frame was too weak to support the rubber. This will be revisited with a stronger frame. Well, revisited four times since four baskets are needed.






07/07/2012 - Zoe's Lacey Skirt
This is another adult sized skirt that was stuck in with fabric at a fabric pricing party at SCRAP a few months prior. Zoe, of course, looks adorable wearing it. It reminds me of a girly steampunk skirt and I want to make a matching fitted vest and little top hat to go with it.

07/08/2012 - Practice Rubber Wrist Cuff
Wrist cuffs seem to be my "go to" craft. I think it was the first of my daily crafts. I made a practice cuff to lead a craft for Destination DIY's "Makin' It" Event on July 18th.


 

07/09-12/2012 - Camping Roll Slings
We have those wonderful self-inflating bed roll mattress thingies. The problem is containing them when not in use. I created a yoga mat-type sling to carry them and keep them together, out of, yes, you guessed it, rubber inner tubes. There are some kinks to be worked out, but I was happy with how they turned out. I got them done in time for out family camping trip.




07/13/2012 -Beer Can Lantern
Considering I freehand cut this lantern with a camping knife it didn't turn out too shabby. The ribbon I hung it from didn't seem like a good idea to combine with a citronella candle though.





07/14/2012 - Glow Bottle
I had read on Pinterest comment that you could make a glow bottle by opening a glow stick and pouring it in a water bottle filled with water. WRONG! I emptied about 6 glow sticks into a half filled water bottle before I finally gave up. All I could think of was those funny "nailed it" memes when people try to copy things from Pinterest. No photo of the lameness, but my sister-in-law did a hilarious thing where she taped glow sticks to herself to look like a stick figure lady. When it got really dark we walked around the campground cracking people up.

07/15/2012 - Rubber Wrist Cuffs
I was pretty pooped after getting home from our trip and made a simple rubber cuff to use as a sample for the Makin' It DIY event.







07/16/2012 - Wooden Bracelets
Another Pinterest attempt. I like how these turned out for the most part, but the white one didn't keep it's shape so it is too big to wear. I started the soaking process before the camping trip. Here are the instructions to give it a try: Wooden Bracelets.





07/17-18/2012 - More Wrist Cuffs 

I made a couple more examples of cuffs and led a quick tutorial at the Makin' It DIY event on the 18th. I didn't realize until a couple weeks later and had it pointed out by someone that this is not the peace symbol I intended. It was a big "duh" moment that I was showcasing an upcycled rubber cuff promoting the Mercedes Benz logo.

03/11/2012 - Game Board Storage Box

I was lucky enough to inherit a bunch of old games with missing pieces...most of which I had never heard of like "Little Genius Club".

Reclaimed Material: game board
Other/New Material: none
Tools: box cutter, ruler, black electrical tape

How I did it: I sliced the game board in half along the fold with the box cutter. I measured one half of the board and divided it into 3 parts with the center being cut larger than the two ends, which were cut equally. I cut the other half of the game board the same way. I taped the two large center pieces and two of the smaller ends together like a box. I then took one of the short end pieces and taped it to the bottom of the box I created. For the lid, I taped one side of the remaining short end for the lid. I used the tape to edge the lid.

What I would do differently: I would like to find some type of book binding tape, or I guess brown packing tape would work too. This is not completely done because I am going to cover the black tape. I saw instruction for making masking tape look like leather by rubbing it with brown shoe polish, which I would like to do because I think it would match this old game board. I also need to find a game piece that will match as a little handle for this.

01/08/2012 - Aluminum Ring Box

I was inspired to make this by an old (probably at least 40 year old) aluminum cookie tin my grandmother-in-law has.

Recycled Material: aluminum can
Other Material: none
Tools: long nose pliers, scissors and/or knife

How I did it: My aversion to patterns kicked in with this project and I just started cutting. First I made sure the can was rinsed out - nothing worse than a sticky soda can...well, there are worse things, but sticky cans are not any fun. I used a knife to saw the can as close to the top as I could. The first side you cut off is easy because it is still stiff, but once the top is cut off, the can gets flimsy and it is easier to just cut the rest with scissors. I used scissors to cut the aluminum straight down to the bottom the cut the bottom off as close to the edge as I could get. I then had a lovely sheet of aluminum to work with, but I trimmed the edges because they were kind of sharp. WARNING: in case you have not worked with cutting cans before, aluminum can get very sharp when cut and can splinter off and can be worse that wood splinters to get out of your fingers. I then started folding, cutting and tucking where the pieces seemed like they should go.

What I would do differently: Sometimes I can picture how I want something to turn out in my mind and it works out beautifully--this was not one of those times. I like the idea of this project much more than how it actually turned out so I will try it again somewhere along the line, except I will make and use a pattern. Also, I got too aggressive with the pliers when I was turning the edges down causing pieces of the aluminum to break off. While I am on the subject of aluminum and it's apparent daintiness, aluminum does not like hot glue. I have tried it on past projects and it just melts right through aluminum.