Thrift Store Wire Basket Update

It's that time again for our monthly Thrift Store Challenge! 

              

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There's no monthly theme.
• There's no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela 

 Beverly | Across the Blvd 

 Gail | Purple Hues and Me

Our Thrift Store Upcycle group of bloggers is always looking to expand -- and we need your help! Why not consider joining in our thrift store upcycle challenge on the last Thursday of each month? Make some friends while having fun and share your love of DIY with the world. It’s a win-win! Sound like something you’d be interested in? Just leave a comment at the end of this post with your contact info and a link to your blog. Someone will get back to you right away. We can’t wait to meet you!

This month I want to share with you the wire baskets I found at my local Goodwill store. There's always an abundance of baskets of different types and styles at the thrift store, but mostly woven rattan types. So I was quite surprised to find a couple of wire baskets perfect to use for just about anything - for $2 and $3! Oh my!

For this challenge, I'm just showing you how I updated just one wire basket - the smaller of the two. Not so sure what I'm going to do with the larger one. It took me awhile to decide how but I settled on just adding fringe for a decorative effect.

The fringe takes the basket to a whole new level of decor! It can turn a tiresome looking piece into a custom accessory. A trendy style that includes the boho look, vintage or shabby chic look, and even the farmhouse look in decor.

So let's get started!

This is all you need to make fringe on this wire basket - Yarn, Scissors, and Ruler (not shown)

I measured where I wanted the fringe to stop and doubled that amount, cutting 9" strips. I didn't know how many I would need to cover the entire top around, so I cut about thirty strips to start but needed a total of 60 to finish.

To add fringe to the wire basket top, make a simple lark's head knot by folding cord together to create a loop over the wire.

Pull ends through the loop around the wire, pulling tight, creating a lark's head knot and the beginning of the fringe. 

Continue making lark's head knots along the entire wire top of the basket to create fringe.

Half-way through .  .  .

Adding the fringe is complete! 

Next, I wanted to add a decorative macrame knot along the handle called a half hitch knot.

This is done by looping the cord around the handle wire, and taking the cord back over itself. Then thread the cord end under and through the loop .  .  .

pulling tight. 

Continue repeating steps to .  .  .

create a lovely design along the handle. 

First one side, tucking the end cord into the handle, and .  .  .

then the other side.

Complete the look by tying yarn bows on the base of the handle on each side.

Looks quite lovely and very trendy, too!

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Outdoor DIY Tic Tac Toe

 

Welcome to June's Pinterest Challenge hosted by Alexandra @ EyeLoveKnots. The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate us to actually make  something that we have pinned!  This month's challenge topic is Summer Fun. And I was inspired by this pin to create an Outdoor DIY Tic Tac Toe game.

For summer fun, why not take a classic game like Tic Tac Toe from inside the house to outdoors in the yard with this easy to make wood letters and rope version!  Perfect to keep both grownups and kids entertained - while upping the fun factor for outdoor family gatherings. 

And in case you need a refresher, the goal of tic tac toe is to get three Os or Xs in a row. - either horizontal, vertical or diagonal! It's a game of dexterity and skill - and who can outsmart their opponent! Fun Fun Fun!

Materials Needed:

Five 8" wooden Os

Five 8" wooden Xs

Four 40" L ropes

Fabri-Tac Fabric glue

Painter's tape

Acrylic paints

Sponge

Paint foam sponge dabbers

Stars stencil

Let's get started!   After looking all over for the best prices on wood letters - (they can get quite expensive buying a bunch) I found the best price at Walmart - 8" wood letters for $1.97! Woo, hoo! Not bad for an outdoor game! I got five of each, X and O.

Next, started painting the letters using a sponge and multi-purpose craft paint in patriotic colors - perfect for holidays and summer!

First, the Os in red .  .  . 

and the Xs in blue.

Then use painter's tape to add stripes on the Os .  .  .

painting the open areas in white .  .  .

for a cool patriotic look!

Next, use a paint dabber to stencil on stars to the Xs!

And finally, cut four strips of rope, 40 inches long to create the lines of the tic tac toe board. Seal the ends with fast drying fabric glue to prevent fraying.

Easy peasy to make for summertime fun!

Are you a blogger interested in joining the #pinterestchallenge blog hop? Join the Pinterest Challenge Group on Facebook for all the details.

Please VISIT All of THE HOSTS TO SEE WHAT awesome inspirations THEY created!

Sew Crafty Crochet | Treasures Made from Yarn 

 Purple Hues and Me

Sum of their Stories | Southern Sunflowers  

My Slices of Life

Pandora's Box | EyeLoveKnots

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

DIY Garden Accents

 

Creating DIY garden accents is a fun way to add interest to your outdoor flowers and plants. It's also a great upcycle activity to do with kids during the summer! It's so easy to gather all sizes of leftover plastic utensils from a get-together and fashion them into decorative garden accents like a lady bug or butterfly!

 

Welcome to our monthly Blog Hop Challenge hosted by Beverly @ Across the Blvd. The theme for the month of June is Summer Crafts

Creating DIY garden accents for the summer is an easy way to add a whimsical look to outdoor spaces - adding the perfect touch to flowering plants and gardens. You'd probably prefer to have adorable handcrafted bugs on your flowers instead of the real ones which can become quite a nuisance. So let's begin.

Materials: 

• Assorted sizes of plastic spoons 
• Cutting snips or utility scissors/hot knife
• RapidFuse All Purpose Adhesive
• Outdoor Acrylic Craft Paint/sponge brush/paint brush wood tip end
• 18/14 Gauge Stem Wire
• Wire cutters/nose pliers
• Button
• Googly eyes

Let's begin by cutting the bowls from the handles of plastic spoons using utility or heavy duty scissors. Be careful and try not to split the plastic.

You will need to cut two different sizes of spoons - two larger ones for the upper wings and two smaller ones for the lower wings. I had several plastic spoons in my stash, but most were basically the same size.  One set for the top is rounder than the bottom set.

And I had lots of plastic handles leftover from earlier spoon projects, so I found an handle that was wider on one end for the butterfly head.  

Next, applied multi purpose glue to the handle (body) to attach the wings for a permanent hold. Hot glue would not hold up outside.

First, glue on the top wings .  .  .

and then the bottom wings .  .  .

and let dry.

Once the wings are dry, cut and fold stem wire into a "V" shape, curling the ends to mimic antennae. Glue onto center of top (head)

Begin painting the butterfly. First the wings .  .  .

and then the body. Let dry between areas.

Add decorative pattern to wings. I'm not very good at painting - something I've always struggled with.

To make the ladybug, I used serving spoons from the DollarTree for the body.

And used a hot knife to cut the handles off. I tried using snips on the bottom of the handle to see if the plastic would crack and it did. So I used a hot knife instead.

Lining up three of the bowls of the serving spoons together .  .  .

and then painting two red .  .  .

and one black.

and then gluing the three together.

Painting on black dots using the wooden tip of a paint brush .  .  .

And gluing on a button with googly eyes on the top center for the head!

They certainly enhances the garden scene - don't they!

Each month, a group of craft, home decor, and recipe bloggers co-host a themed blog hop. This month, we’re all sharing Summer Craft Ideas.

 Meet this month’s hosts:
 Be sure visit their links to see how they met this month’s   challenge!

Beverly | Across the Blvd shared her Market Totes for the Summer with Cricut

Gail | Purple Hues and Me shared some DIY Garden Accents

T'onna | Sew Crafty Crochet shared her Crochet Coastline Cushion

Allyson | Southern Sunflowers shared Free Lemon Printables for Summer

Julie | Sum of Their Stories Showed us How to Make a Felt Cactus Bookmark

Click on the links below to see how the co-hosts met this month’s challenge!