Upcycled Bamboo Placemat Crafts

Hey, it's time for another "Do Over" project - the first for the new year! For this craft, I'm almost too embarrassed to show you how quick and easy it is to update a plain clear glass cylinder vase! It only takes a few minutes to add an adorable bamboo covering from - you guessed it - an old bamboo placemat I've had for years! Plus, as a bonus craft - a lovely DIY frame made with the leftover bamboo slats!

Welcome to our first "Do It Over Designers" projects for the new year! In case you didn't know, the Do It Over Designers is a group of talented bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY, hosted by Anne @The Apple Street Cottage. It happens the 4th Saturday of every other month and it's all about taking something old and/or unused and 'doing it over' into something new. Anything from fabric, old dishes, and decor to dressers and hutches. Items found in closets, cabinets, barns, garages, yard sales, thrift stores, you name it! I hope you'll visit all the super creative bloggers to see their amazing "do over" projects.  The list of participants are at the end of this post.            

 

Woven Heart Shaped Box

 This adorable woven heart shaped box is a very versatile container for Valentine treats! And when that special day is long gone, use it to store your what-nots and what-evers! And the best part about creating this lovely heart shaped box, you probably have everything in your craft supplies to make it, like I did! Plus it's a great project to do during those dark and chilly days of winter!

Welcome to our very first Creative Craft Hop of the new year, hosted by Sara @ Birdz of a Feather!  

DIY Assorted Valentine Crafts

     

It's always fun making your very own handmade Valentine's Day crafts! It's a great way to show off your creativity to the ones you love!  So gather up your craft supplies and be inspired to get crafting by checking out some of my Valentine projects I've made throughout the years. From an assortment of treats - jewelry and decor - you will surely be energized to create!

Recycled NoSew Pillow Teapot Cozy

 

Welcome to the first ever Sustainable Craft Challenge of 2023 hosted by Julie @ Sum of Their Stories

For this challenge, it's all about sustainable crafting! Each month is themed and all projects must have some sort of a sustainable element to them. This could be an upcycling or recycling element, or something that reduces waste, uses leftovers etc. Our fearless leader, Julie was giving us themes for the entire year and I became amused at some of them, so I started teasing her about what she meant! I don't know if she really thought it was funny or just going along with me but she gave me my idea for this month's theme of "WARM." Actually, her first theme was "COSY!" And for some silly reason, I had a bit of fun with it! I knew it was a UK word meaning warm and snuggly, but I didn't let on. Julie was truly a good sport about my teasing!

Anyway, cosy is also a term for a teapot cover. And it just so happen that my hubby had given me a teapot set for Christmas! Yes, I drink hot tea every morning! So my project for this months' challenge was to make a cover for my gifted teapot to help keep my tea warm!

Materials:

• Fabric from a decorative pillow
• Batting
• Printer paper/poster board
• Teapot Cozy template 
• Fabr-Tac Fabric Glue
• Seam Ripper/Ruler/pencil/scissors
• Fat quarter fabric for lining
• Clamps

This is truly an upcycle project, using the fabric from a decorative pillow I no longer use.

I opened one end pf the decorative pillow using a seam ripper and removed the stuffing from the pillow and turned the pillow inside out.

The inside fabric was covered with a thin lining which I kept on the fabric. 

Next, I measured the teapot and drew an outline of the teapot using printer paper and then .  .  .

cut out and drew a template on posterboard.

I cut out the posterboard template and drew the pattern onto the pillow fabric to cut out. I pinned the lining onto the fabric to keep it all together before cutting.

Then laid it on top of the batting to cut out. The batting helps to keep the teapot insulated and warm.

Cutting out two pieces of batting to line each side of the cozy cover.

Next, laid out the fat quarter fabric for the lining .  .  .

Cutting out two pieces of fat quarter fabric for the lining.

Next, cut off about a 1/4" from the edge of the batting to be able to glue the edges of the pillow cover and lining together.

Assembled the lining, batting and cozy cover to begin gluing them together .  .  .

a little bit at a time.

gluing together one side for the back and .  .  .

one side for the front.

Once the two sides were glued together separately, it was time to glue the front and back of the cozy together. Putting right sides together, slowly adding glue to the edges and then clamping the edges together to dry.

I left an opening at the top to add a loop made from the pillow cording.

Once the glue was thoroughly dry, turned the teapot cozy inside out to the right side.

After smoothing the cozy cover out, made a loop and dipped the ends in fabric glue. Then inserted the ends into the opening at the top and clamped the loop until dry. A loop at the top make the cozy easier to remove from the teapot.

And finally, hemmed the covers and lining and glue the two edges together for a finished look!

And this is how the cozy cover looks on the teapot. It's a snug fit as it hugs the teapot closely! Perhaps I should have added a inch or two more.

But I love how it looks. Now, for a cup of tea!

Be sure to stop by all the participants listed below for this month's "Warm" crafts:

Julie | Sum of Their Stories | Swiss Darn Sained Sweater Makeover

Terri | A Good Life | Lets Get Warm with Homemade Swiss Mocha 

T'onna | Sew Crafty Crochet | The Wednesday Inspired Snood

Vicky | Vicky Myers Creations | Super Cozy Fleece Hot Water Bottle Carrier

Mel | Decor Craft Design | DIY Warm Spices Gift Jar

Julie | Treasures Made From Yarn | Cozy Neck Cowl

Gail | Purple Hues and Me | Recycled NoSew Pillow Teapot Cozy 

Niki | Life As a Leo Wife | Winter Door Hanger Without a Cricut

Marianne | Songbird Blog | How to Make a Cozy Winter Blanket (The Easy Way)

DIY Soda Can Crafts Roundup

Now that Christmas is over, have I got a diy collection to share with you! Something to get you started in the new year! Did you know you can make extraordinary craft items out of the most unusual items like soda cans! Thank goodness for projects that recycle aluminum soda and or beer cans! We all seem to have lots of them at one time or another! And it's really exciting what you can make with soda cans. Just check out the following projects:

Soda Can Hydrangeas Wall Art

Soda Can Flowers Wall Art

Tin Can Flowers Copycat Wreath

DIY Soda Can Dogwood Stem

Recycled SodaBeer Cans Candle Holder

Soda Can Wall Knockoff Art

Updating Thriftstore Find with Soda Can Flowers

Update Chair Pot Holder with Soda Can Flowers

Upcycle Frypan with Soda Can Flowers

It really is amazing what can be made out of soda cans! I hope you enjoyed this round-up! Be sure to save your empty soda cans!

DT Ornament Candle Holders DIY

I love shopping at the Dollar Tree as most of us do! You can find some amazing things there for a $1.25, especially during the holidays! I like to pick up a variety of Christmas ornaments from the Dollar Tree! There are so many projects you can do with ornaments besides hanging them on a tree. One project is making candle holders out of ornaments! And who doesn't love candleholders! They're not just for the holidays, either! They can easily transition into winter decor! Imagine a warm, inviting glow - chasing the chill in the air away!  A project perfect for this month's Winter Crafts, Projects Blog Hop Challenge!

Natural Woven Tree with Berries

 

It's been there all along! Yes, this natural woven tree has been tucked away in my garage for at least seven years. Oh my! I was drawn to it in a thrift store and couldn't resist the price of  six dollars for a handmade woven grapevines and limbs to weave an intricate pattern into a cone tree over four feet tall! Amazing! But, as the Christmas seasons rolled around year after year, I would look at it and just wonder how could I possibly decorate it? It was so rustic! So, I would cover it up or push it aside and move on .  .  . until this year! 

Now, I belong to a monthly Sustainable Pinterest Challenge Group hosted by Julie @Sum of Their Stories. The theme for December is Winter - which can include quite a bit of ideas! The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all of us to create a project that a) is inspired by a pin on one of our Pinterest boards and b) have some sort of a sustainable element to it. This could be an upcycling or recycling element, or something that reduces waste, uses leftovers, etc. The problem I had was most handmade grapevine trees on Pinterest were quite small with the grapevines wrapped around a wire frame in a circular pattern like this pin. But then this pin mimics natural elements in a whopping size of eight feet, and even mentions sustainability and organic charm, I guess because it was handmade out of iron.

And this pin came very close to actually handcrafting a naturally woven tree but the link went nowhere. Nevertheless, I was inspired to do something with my woven tree for the holidays based on the pins I found!

Julie | Sum of their Stories
Gail | Purple Hues and Me
Julie | Treasures Made From Yarn
T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet
Niki | Life as a LEO Wife
Mel | Decor Craft Design
Allyson | Southern Sunflowers

So, I'm finally hauling this awesome handmade woven cone tree out of hiding, oh I mean, storage and sharing how I decorated it using natural elements I found in my backyard!

After doing a bit of research on types of grapevines, I believe this tree is woven using muscadine grapevines. They are known to get quite chunky and thick with woody, stalky vines. And they are one of the strongest vines grown in the wild. Just take a look up close to see how thick these vines are.

In my neighborhood, those of us living on the north side of my street have an open hilly berm surrounding our backyards and it's filled with lots of pine trees with pinecones, ornamental grasses, and pretty plants like this Nanina bush which has  lovely but poisonous red heavenly bamboo berries. Since I have no young children in my life or any visiting me, I decided to pick a few of these berries to decorate my woven tree.

                  

After wrapping the tree with brown wired LED lights, I randomly tucked groups of berries .  .  .

around the tree, starting at the top.

Adding a natural touch to a holiday decorative piece.

It really looks cool sparkling with lights!

This looks great but then it needed a star on the top! I've made recycled newspaper woven stars before, but time was not on my side, so I had to come up with a simple to make star. One made out of paper stem wire folded into the shape of a star with stem wire wrapped around it.

How to Make a Star:

Glue together the ends of two paper stem wires (18") using a quick grab all purpose adhesive (RapidFuse) and let dry. Once dry, measure the extended stem  4.5 inches and fold into a upside down "V."

Then measure another four and a half inches and fold another "V" shape.

Continue folding the stem wire at four and a half inches to form five "V" shapes -

shaping the stem wire .  .  .

into a star - cutting off excess wire and gluing the ends together. Place a drop of glue underneath where the stem wires cross to seal together.

Then wrap plain stem wire around  the star .  .  .

varying the direction .  .  .

until satisfied with the look.

Then attach star to the top of the woven tree .  .  .

to complete the lovely look!

Now, it's time to meet the other Sustainable Pinterest Challenge participants and their awesome Winter projects:

DIY Punched Tin Lantern Upcycle
Free Printable Thank you & DIY Snack Basket for Christmas Delivery Drivers
Cardboard Ornament Craft Idea
Upcycled Christmas Vase
Upcycled Plaid Scarf Wreath
Snowman
Natural Woven Tree with Berries

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