04/14/2012 - Starbucks Wallet

Part 2 of the Starbucks experiment...which required buying a bag of coffee, but the bag was perfect for the face of the wallet. The green fabric was something random I came across. It was a half-sewn choir robe (or at least that is what looked like the intention) that someone donated to SCRAP. They get lots of fabric and do not accept clothing, but some pieces sneak in with the fabric and get donated to thrift stores. That is how I happened upon this unique fabric...oh, and if you plan to donate stuff, to SCRAP, be nice and don't try to sneak in clothing...even if it is half-sewn.

Reclaimed Material: coffee bag, coffee sleeves, choir robe, plastic bag
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, ruler, sewing machine, thread, iron, parchment paper

How I did it: This was similar to the CD Cover Wallet with a few upgrades. I used the same measurements, but instead of using bias tape, I used the choir robe...the color matched perfectly. I didn't fuse the coffee bag since it essentially fused plastic and aluminum*. For the pockets, I gently peeled the corrugated side off of two coffee sleeves and cut them to size. I fused them with a few layers of plastic. I covered the outside coffee bag with the fabric so that there was a 1/4" overhang on the outside and stitched it into place, then repeated this for the smaller piece of coffee bag so that the fabric made a liner for the cash part of the wallet. Things got a little tricky with the cardboard pockets and putting the wallet together. I had to make my own bias tape to sew the two pockets together. I then stitched the pieces together similar to the CD Wallet, but then again, made strips of bias tape to cover the edges and did the final stitch work.

What I would do differently: I do love the contrast of the cardboard pockets from the coffee bag, but I would rather have used a coordinating color of bias tape because it would have been much easier. I have a bunch I bought from SCRAP...but none really matched.

*I was quite sure about coffee bags being made of fused plastic and aluminum, but did a quick search to double check. I came across some neat ideas for old coffee bags: Other uses for coffee bags.

04/13/2012 - Raised Bed

OK, this is a bit of a stretch as part of my resolution, but after a day of hauling a yard of dirt and building one of the beds, I was pooped. At least I set the resin for the Starbucks pin and prepared materials for the next day's craft.

Reclaimed Material: fill dirt with compost
Other Material: fir wood boards
Tools: cordless drill, screws


How I did it: Jason had all the wood measured and cut so "all" I had to do was put it together. The wood was quite heavy so I built them in place and put concrete pavers at each corner. Grandma BJ helped me steady the board in place while I screwed them. She is one impressive lady.

What I would do differently: I think I subconsciously counted this because I am excited about my big ol' raised beds! Thanks to my awesome hubby who did most of the work! The trick will be to keep the plants alive!

04/12/2012 - Starbucks Pin

This was part of an experiment for a college classmate who was looking for a Starbucks themed gift for someone. I haven't done a resin bottle cap in a while so I created this diorama-like pin.

Reclaimed Material: bottle cap, coffee sleeve, aluminum logo, lapel pin
Other Material: modeling clay, resin, clear nail polish
Tools: scissors, safety pin, jewelry pliers, glue, green paint pen

How I did it: The first step I did was to cut out the coffee sleeve to fit inside the bottle cap and cut the logo from an aluminum can. I glued the cardboard circle, corrugated side up inside the bottle cap, then glued the logo in place. I used the paint pen to paint over the outside of the bottle cap. While the paint dried, I modeled the coffee cup to fit (shhh...don't tell Zoe I used some of her modeling clay for this project) and glued it inside the cap. The tip of the paint pen was to fat, so I used the safety pin as a paint brush of sorts to paint on a semblance of the S-bucks logo. I didn't actually set the resin until the next day since it was too late to go to the store when I decided to do this. I mixed a small amount of resin in an old container and poured it into the bottle cap and let it set. After the resin set, I painted over it with a couple coats of clear nail polish. I glued the old lapel pin to the back of the bottle cap using an epoxy glue to make sure the metals would stick together.

What I would do differently: I poured the resin outside near the end of a beautifully sunny day and didn't pay attention to the quick shower that blew in...I should have known better since I have lived in Oregon close to a year now. A drop of  rain got in the resin before it was fully set, so that little bit didn't set right, which why I ended up covering it with a few coats of nail polish. This would be fun to make little scenes in the bottle caps.

04/11/2012 - Sparkly Z Necklace

SCRAP had gotten in a donation of sparkly charms and they had a lot of "Z"s. I though it would be cute to make a stretchy bracelet for Zoe to wear...but she did not approve and insisted she only wanted one "Z". She also asked me where the "O" and "E" were. Isn't she...wait for it...charming?

Reclaimed Material: rubber, sparkly "Z" charm, necklace clasp
Other Material: jewelry wire
Tools: scissors, safety pin, jewelry pliers

How I did it: For the necklace, I did a round braid to fit Zoe. I slid on the sparkly "Z" to the center of the necklace before I added the closures. I slid the jewelry clasp over the wire and made a loop and pulled it through an opening at one end of the braid (about 1/4" down) so the clasp came out the end and enough wire was left hanging out of the opening. I wound the extra wire up to the end, trimmed the excess and tucked in the end of the wire. I did the same thing on the other end, except I didn't add a clasp and I made a double loop a little bit bigger than the other side.

What I would do differently: I did try to incorporate the charm into the braid, but it didn't look quite right. I think a thinner braid would be much better, but this size works for my picky little diva.

04/10/2012 - Copper and Rubber Wristband

For Christmas I made various handbags as gifts for people, including one with rubber inner tubes. I thought I had measured the purse handle length incorrectly and trimmed off the excess...only to find out it was too short. To make my long story even longer, I had a leftover bit of rubber with fabric stitched to it. I need to make a longer purse handle, so I will have more pieces like this if I want to make more. I do like this wristband a lot and have been wearing it all day.

Reclaimed Material: scrap rubber/fabric piece, button, copper wire
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, needle, thread, pliers

How I did it: I threaded the copper wire through a large-eyed needle and used it to whip stitch the unfinished ends of the rubber on both ends. I flattened the wire by tamping it down with the pliers. I placed the button and sewed it onto the rubber then cut a slip for the button hole that corresponded with the button placement. I used black thread to cover the button hole.

What I would do differently: I could have done the button hole stitching with a sewing machine, but by the time I got the right tension, etc. it was just easier to stitch it by hand. Also, the copper whip stitches could have been a little bit neater, but it is an effect I want to keep practicing.

04/09/2010 - Birds Nests

This is a project I meant to start last fall and I started collecting some grass/straw stuff I found on a couple walks. This is part of a larger project I am working on, but it is for a present, so let's just focus on the nests in this post. I try to use as much recycled content as I can with my projects, but I am not sure where I would find recycled or discarded clay.

Reclaimed Material: dried straw, metal lid, plastic lid
Other Material: natural clay
Tools: scissors 

How I did it: I started with the metal lid and covered it with clay making the clay around the lip of the lid a little fatter using my hands to give the clay covered lid a nest like shape. I then took the straw and pressed it into the clay, not to firmly, just enough to make it stick. I repeated this with the plastic lid, but I had to trim the lid to the same size as the metal lid. I also had to build up the sides of the nest since there was no lip on the lid. I had to fiddle the shape of this nest a lot more. I let the nests sit to harden naturally.

What I would do differently: I still need to make a couple more of these nests so I would like to make sure I use the metal lids instead of the plastic. The metal one I used was the perfect size and the lip was perfect for the height that I wanted. I just need to collect a few more of those.

04/08/2012 - Button Hair Pin

Necessity is the mother of invention, so they say. My hair is getting awfully shaggy so making a cute hair pin came to mind. Thankfully, that quote refers to more important things than my hair.

Reclaimed Material: rubber, button, copper wire
Other Material: bobby pin
Tools: scissors, X-acto knife, needle nose pliers, wire stripper


How I did it: I cut a circle from the rubber about 1/4" bigger than the button. I cut marks around the circle to feather it. I cut a small slit in the rubber to pull the button notch (? not sure what the back of a decorative button is called) through. I slid the bobby pin through the button hole. The copper wire was from a broken electrical cord so I had to strip off the plastic using the wire strippers. I took one of the copper wires and wrapped it around the button and bobby pin to secure it.

What I would do differently: This needs something to differentiate the black rubber from my hair. I think I will make some type of doodad to mount behind the rubber. I used copper because it kind of matched the button that I got from a bag I got from SCRAP.

04/07/2012 - Chickadees

Easter chickadees! I made these little cuties for Easter baskets.

Reclaimed Material: scrap fabrics
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors, sewing machine, fabric marker, thread, needle 

How I did it: I put two right sides of the scraps and eyeballed the shape of a chickadee and cut it out. I repeated this three more times, making each subsequent one smaller. The scraps I used for the bodies were fleece and cashmere. I used satiny fabric and cut out the wings and beaks for each side of each bird. Using a zigzag stitch I top stitched the wings on the right side of each body. For the larger two chickadees I stitched on beaks because the little ones had black lines where the beaks were which worked nicely for me. I put the right sides together then stitched them all around, but left an opening at the bottoms to stuff them. I turned them right sides out and stuffed with other fabric scraps. With a needle and thread I whip stitched the bottoms closed. With the fabric marker I made little dots for the eyes.

What I would do differently: Although I don't enjoy using patterns I probably should have used a simple pattern. One of the smaller ones looks a bit deformed. Why is it the smaller the something is the cuter it is?

04/06/2012 - Paper Mache Eggs

I got the family involved in this craft...and we had a messy, fun time of it. I haven't done paper mache since grade school, but what a festive use of newspaper.

Reclaimed Material: newspaper 
Other Material: balloons
Tools: scissors, all-purpose glue, mixing bowl, little bowls 

How I did it: I squirted the glue in the mixing bowl, added water and mixed it up thoroughly. I cut the newspaper into strips (about 3/4" x 4") and put them in the glue mixture to soak. I lined the table with newspaper (which really didn't help). We blew up the balloons to different sizes to make our egg shapes. We used the little bowls as stands to hold the balloons in place and began placing the soaked strips over the balloon to cover the entire surface, turning the balloon as needed. We repeated the steps so there were three layers of newspaper on each balloon. We left the tied end of the balloon uncovered. After the balloons fully dried (about 18 hours) and popped the balloons and pulled them out through the uncovered hole.

What I would do differently: I should have used a little bit more glue in the mixture, but we still had a good time getting ready for Easter.

04/05/2012 - Easter Grass

Easter grass...what a scam! Yes, it is cheap, but you are just buying shredded up bits of colored plastic that have no use other than cushioning the basket.

Reclaimed Material: plastic flower paper, Mylar balloon
Other Material: none
Tools: scissors 

How I did it: I folded flower paper (left over from making flowers) and folded it in half lengthwise again and again. I cut vertical strips, about 1/8" wide until all the paper was cut. For the Mylar balloon, I trimmed off the edges that were glued/melted together, then cut it the same way. I mixed the pieces together and ended up with some colorful and shiny Easter grass for Zoe's basket!

What I would do differently: A paper shredded would have made this process go faster, but ours cross shreds so it wouldn't have worked. No biggie because I only have one child to worry about. Colorful paper would work just as well.