Wednesday, December 30, 2015

A Crafting Year In Review - 2015 - It's All About Recycled & Repurposed



It's not surprising that my most viewed craft projects of 2015 were all recycled and repurposed items.
Who doesn't love re-using unwanted items when you can recycle or repurpose them into something beautiful and loved!

Enjoy re-visiting these projects and see how you can be inspired to recycle/repurpose and make your own!


1.   
Quick and Easy Hand-Sewn Upcycled Denim Storage Containers

2.    Wonky Foam Cup Vases - How To

3.   
Homemade Rose Petal Sachet Using Paper Towel Tubes

4.    
Newspaper Tubes Tray

5.   
Newspaper Woven Star Tree

6.   
Hot Glue Flowers

7.   
Stenciled Dimensional Leaf Mason Jars

8.   
Bow on a Pretzel Wreath

9.   
Reindeer Moss Topiary

10. 
Recycled Veggie Can

11. 
Recycled Juice Bottle Snowmen

12. 
Corrugated Cardboard & Jute Twine Vase DIY


And looking back to 2014, the majority of my most viewed and favorites were recycled projects, too -  you can see here!

 
As we say "Goodbye" to 2015 and "Hello" to 2016, I want to thank everyone, including this wonderful community of creative bloggers, for your support, encouragement and interest  in my crafting adventures! 
  Have a Great New Year!



                                                         

Monday, December 28, 2015

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Monday, December 14, 2015

Folded Ribbon Wreath Ornament





I had so many holiday crafts that I wanted to make this season but time has run out for me.  My hubby and I are leaving for Aruba tuesday morning - meeting up with friends to spend time together, celebrate a couple of birthdays and other life happenings.
We won't be back until just before Christmas so this is my last project I'll be posting before the big day.

Plaid ribbon is so pretty and is a huge part of this season's holiday décor.  I just had to make something using plaid and I wish I could have found a ribbon in a festive purple plaid but no such luck.  Folded ribbon crafts are popular too, usually done in lovely pine cones, eggs and cone trees.

Here's an easy way to use folded ribbon, applying the technique to a cardboard shaped wreath ornament.

First thing you need to do is cut out a cardboard circle in the shape of a wreath.  I traced the mouth of a plastic cup that was 3" in diameter and then drew another circle 1/2" in and cut out. 

Next, cut out two different ribbons in the same length as the width of the ribbon.  I'm using 2.5" wide ribbon, so I cut out 2.5" ribbon squares. I cut out more than needed, but only 14 red and 7 plaid for this size.

Fold the red ribbon square, matching points, dab a little glue on (I used Fabri-tac glue) and .  .  .


fold again, dabbing a little more glue between.  Don't worry about the uneven edges - at least I didn't.
Dab a bit of glue on the bottom edges of the ribbon and begin gluing on the folded triangles at the outer edge of the circle, with bottom side points meeting until .  .  .



the outer edge is covered.



Next, glue on the plaid triangles between, and slightly lower than two red ones until .  .  .


you're completely covered on that row.




For the last row, begin gluing the red triangle directly below the first red row and between and below the plaid row. In other words, the red triangles should line up and if you had space for more of the plaid, they should line up too.  Since this is the last row, make sure placement is also on the edge of the cardboard.



Once all the ribbon triangles are attached, embellishments such as bows or berries can now be added.
A hanger can also be glued on the back.



 I love how this shows the ribbon folds at an angle and that it's not laying flat.


So pretty!




Have Fun  

and

Keep Crafting!



I'm wishing you Joy, Love and Peace this holiday season.  Be kind to one another and have a Very Merry Christmas!




Sunday, December 13, 2015

Making a Ribbon Lei Wreath




 We took a wonderful cruise the week before Thanksgiving that my sister-in-law graciously gave my hubby and me.  She wins exotic trips all the time on her job and offered us several to choose from.  We cruised with NCL's Pride of America around Hawaii and thoroughly enjoyed it even though we had been there a couple of times before!  You can never have too much of Hawaii!  It was so much fun, but for some reason we had a time getting use to the five hour time difference and was usually in bed by 9:30pm most nights.  I'm sure that has something to do with just getting older! LOL!!!  Anyway, we stopped in several ports including Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai, Kona and Maui and had a great time exploring the sights. 

During "down time" I managed to take part in a few craft classes that were offered on board.  There were some on origami, beading, folding towels into animals and making a real flower lei, but the highlight for me was learning to make a ribbon lei!

The class was held in the main theatre where a screen was set up to show every step.
 
 
We were given two strips of grosgrain ribbon about three yards long in red and gold - the colors for royal Hawaiians.
 
 
Most of the class zipped right through following the directions .  .  .
 

some quicker than others.


My braided lei was a little off in a couple of places  .  .  .  the instructor was going a bit fast for me and I felt rushed, so I tighten my ribbon too much, twisting it. Even so, the lei turned out great for my first time!
 


After getting home and looking at my lei again, I thought the design pattern on a smaller version would make great holiday wreaths.
 
So here is how I made them: 
 
I used red and green double-faced satin ribbon 5/8 inches wide and about 1 1/2 yards long. A neck lei uses about three to four yards.
Start about 6 inches down from the end and make a slip knot in the red ribbon.


 
Next, make a loop with the green ribbon about six inches down, too, and .  .  .

 
push the green loop through the red loop. Take the long hanging red ribbon and tighten the loop to the width of the green ribbon, making sure it's snug and the ribbon is straight   *Always have the longer ribbon pieces in the front as you are braiding.

 
Next, pick up the long red ribbon, fold into a loop and .  .  .


push through the green loop and tighten by pulling on the long green loop, keeping the ribbon snug and straight.


 
Continue alternating the red and green ribbon, making loops and pushing the opposite color ribbon through (braiding).

 
You will see a pretty check pattern emerge as you continue to braid .  .  .
 





 
Continue to loop, push and tighten ribbon until you have braided most of the ribbon and have only a few inches left.


 
Nearing the end, tighten the ribbon and pull the tail end of the last loop all the way through to finish off the braid.  

 
Make a circle of the braids, tying both ends together in a knot and then flatten the circle with your hand while it's on a table.


Tucked the ends back into the braids.

 
I made a small bow with my Bowdabra and glued it on over the closure.
A ribbon hanger can also be attached if needed.

 
I made another wreath using all green ribbon, tied the end pieces together into a bow and added red berries.


 I love the design pattern of these adorable wreaths.  It looks very intricate but is quite easy to do.

Imagine braiding one using much larger ribbon to make a door wreath.  Wow!
There are so many wonderful possibilities using this fabulous technique!


Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Holiday Crafting!
 

 


Saturday, December 12, 2015

Recycled Juice Bottle Snowmen

Looking for a cute winter recycled project?  Empty bottles of lemon juice make great snowmen!   Especially wonky ones!
And we all can use a little wonkiness in our lives from time to time. 
 
It was so much fun putting these cuties together using:
Lemon juice bottles
Hot knife
White duct tape
Snow-tex
Plastic knife
Scissors
Hot glue/quick drying fabric glue
Black stiff felt
Red Fleece
Cardboard
Styrofoam cups
Twigs
Orange foam sheet
Plaid ribbon
Beads/seed beads
Embellishments
 
 
To begin, remove the labels from the bottles and clean with soap and water
 
Remove the bottle top using a hot knife or craft knife.
 
 
And cover the opening with  white duct tape.

 
Next, spray on a white primer and let dry.

 
Then spread on Snow-tex using a plastic knife or palette and let dry for a few hours following directions.
 



Once the Snow-tex is dry, it's time for the fun to begin!  Let's start at the top!
 
There are several tutorials for top hats available and I'm sure most look better than what I came up with. But I wanted something a bit firmer than plain felt so I'm using Styrofoam cups for the body of the hat, and gluing the felt and fleece onto it..  I started by cutting off the bottom of a Styrofoam cup after measuring how high I wanted the hat. Then measured the height and length of the felt that I needed to cover the cup and cut out. Next, glue the felt on the cup. 

 
To close the top opening, cut out a cardboard circle the size of the cup mouth and glue it onto felt.  Cut off the excess felt and glue the circle to the top of the felt hat body.

 
For the brim,  add about two inches to the mouth of the cup as a pattern and cut it out in felt.  Cut out (crisscross) opening, as pictured, to glue brim onto inside of the felt hat body.
 

Cool hat!
 
 
Next, glue on beads for the eyes, twigs for the arms, and seed beads for the mouth.  Oops!

 
For the nose, follow the illustrations below and glue on the finished nose. 
 
 
Small branch slices were cut for the buttons and glued on.
 

Sprigs of faux white sprays, berries, and holly leaves,  - (cut out of glitter foam sheets) were also added!


My man!

 
The second bottle was decorated in a girlie fashion using red fleece with cardboard sandwiched between two layers for stiffness.
 
 
The brim was attached in the same manner as the first.
 

Had fun decorating and adding embellishments to both snowman and snow lady.
Love the tied on neck ribbons and the beaded buttons! Rubbed on rouge for the cheeks and added a few rhinestones to the hat!

 
Love the wonkiness!
 


What a fun snow couple!

 
Take a little time to enjoy
and
Happy Holiday Crafting!