Beach Petals

Recycle a Canvas Painting!

2011-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

You need:

1. Scissors.

2. Paper.

3. Mod Podge Glue, Gloss Finish.

4. Paintbrush.

5. Glitter (if needed)

1. Spread the Mod Podge over the whole Canvas.

2. Start putting down the paper, to create a new picture.

3. After you finish with your picture, turn it over.

4. Glue the sides to the back to give it a nice look to the edge.

5. Turn the picture around and Mod Podge the whole front.

I like to use my fingers, so I can give it an interesting look.

6. Let it dry and you have yourself a new masterpiece.

By BEACH PETALS 2011

Milk Jug Curtain

2011-02-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

We started by collecting a whole lot of milk jugs! We ended up using seven jugs for a 3'x4' window. Make sure they are washed well!

We decided on a design that we liked - alternating small and large rectangles. Then we made two patterns and traced them on the smooth parts of the milk jugs. You don't want the textured parts, like on the handle and the bottom. You can trace your patterns around the corners. They flatten out well once they are cut.

We cut the pieces out using scissors. Then we sanded each piece with medium grit sand paper in a circular motion until they were textured and no longer shiny.

Next we laid the curtain out. We made holes in each piece using a nail that we heated with a candle. A tiny hole punch would work well.

We connected each piece with two silver jump rings.

Then we used some key chain rings (we had a whole bag of them for some reason) to hang our curtain.

Then it was ready to hang.

BABY FOOD JAR FRESHENER

2011-01-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Materials:

Potpourri
Clean Baby Food Jar (no top needed)
5" Paper Doily
Rubber Band
Lace
Ribbon Rose
Low Temp Glue Gun

Instructions:
Fill jar with potpourri.
Cover with a paper doily or tulle.
Secure with rubber band.
Tie a ribbon around the jar to hide the rubber band.
Optional: Hot glue ribbon rose to area.

Recycled Soda Bottles Are Great For Giving Treats!

2010-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

You'll Need:

Clear soda or other drink bottles
Patterned Paper (that you've hopefully printed yourself)
Ribbon
Cellophane
A strong hole punch, my old fashioned metal one works great

How To:

Using a sharp knife, cut off the top curved portion of your bottle, and even it out with scissors. The height of your bottle is up to you, I've always used the maximum height that I could, but you could certainly make them short and cute to hold something small.
Cut your paper to the exact height of the straight portion of the bottle. Depending on the shape of the bottom of your bottle, you will probably not want the paper to extend to the bottom of the bottle as it won't lie flat in that portion.
Insert paper into bottle and secure paper to itself with a piece of tape.
You may want to use a few clothespins or bulldog clips to hold paper in place so that top edge of paper lines up exactly with top edge of bottle.
Punch evenly spaced holes through both the paper and the bottle at the same time
Lace ribbon through the holes moccasin style — the nicest finish I came up with given the rough edge of the soda bottle.
Place cellophane in bottle and then the present or treat, tie with ribbon and trim cellophane to desired height.
Give to friends and family and get showered with a ton of compliments! Take credit if you like, but do tell them about my blog, would you?

Recycled Toilet-Paper-Roll Wall Decor!

2010-12-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

This is a great project for all ages.

You'll Need:

recycled toilet paper tubes, or paper towel tubes, lots of them!
white glue or a hot glue gun
lots of paper clips, if you're using white glue

How To:

Cut tubes into evenly sized rings. You do want the rings to be the same depth, so do take the extra time to measure! If you want to be a perfectionist, cut with a craft knife and a metal ruler.
Start gluing tubes together. I used hot glue since it's quicker, but I'd recommend using the white glue and paper clips method for kids. Use the paper clips to hold the pieces together as they dry flat on a table.
I really didn't have a plan so I decided to assemble flowers, and figure out what to do with them afterwards! You might want to actually design something first for more certain results. You could even plan your design on the computer!
Run to the neighbors to see if they have some extra tubes, when you run out!
Finish assembling your entire design and paint if desired. Hang and enjoy!

Recycled Magazines/newspaper Rose Tutorial

2010-11-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

Recycled Pony or Plastic Bead Lampshade.....

2010-11-04T13:11:00.000-07:00

All beaded & ready to bake!

15 mins in @ 350, things are gettin' mushy...

Half-hour or so in...

45 mins (?)... is that creamed corn?...
(I had to dremel the center hole out once it cooled, 'cause it closed a tad too much )

The old shade is good for something finally...a mold for the new shade...

Glittery beads rule my world...

Washer Jewelry Tutorial

2010-11-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

I saw this tutorial on DIY Creative Juices over a year ago and it has been one of my favorites. I used this craft in our last MOPS meeting. Here is what you need.

Some of my instructions have changed over the year. I also want to mention that you also need some craft glue of some sort that was not in this picture. I was trying this mod podge product "dimensional magic" instead of judkins diamond glaze. (my opinion: i like diamond glaze better but for availability and price the mod podge product worked fine for 4.99 at hobby lobby)

ON WITH THE TUTORIAL: You will need to trace your washer on your scrapbook paper of choice and cut it out. Use an exacto knife to cut the center circle.

Then you will use the craft glue which i used tacky glue but i have used regular mod podge before to adhere the paper to the washer.

You will need to let it dry. By the way the picture above is the washer with the glue and the paper was put on directly after. You don't need to put glue on top of the paper afterwards. Once this is dry I like to sand the edges. I am pretty rough with my sand paper because i like the scuffed look. You do this so there is no paper hanging over the edge of the washer which could cause your paper to eventually peel off.

Now you are ready to apply the dimensional magic or diamond glaze. You want to be somewhat generous with this especially if using the dimensional magic it is not quite as thick as the diamond glaze.

Use a brush to push the glaze to the edges. It looks blue but dries clear. It takes about 2-3 hours to dry. Then you can put it on a string. For this craft I found these snap clasps. I tied cording to the hoops on them.

Finally put your washer on the necklace. You can make these two sided too so you get two necklaces in one. I have also attached rhinestones to them to give another layer to the necklace. And if you play washers (the game) why not play in style;) I think that would be a great Fathers Day gift for my dad!!

How to Recycle halloween candy into a Xmas wreath!

2010-10-31T05:54:00.000-07:00

First you need curling ribbon, some pretty ribbon to make a bow, a small pair of scissors, an 8" or 9" embroidery hoop, spray paint or colored electricians tape and 3 lbs of hard candy.
You can also use the part of embroidery hoop with the metal closure-- just tape over the metal part to secure it together and make sure you place it at the bottom when hanging.

Did I mention loads of candy

First paint or cover your hoop with colored electricians tape (makes it a little prettier as the candy is removed). Begin by tying about a 2 yard piece of curling ribbon to the hoop and then covering the knot with tape.

Place a piece of candy on the hoop and tightly wrap the curling ribbon around the hoop catching the tail of the candy wrapper

Continue wrapping the candy to the hoop. If the curling ribbon runs short tie off the ribbon to the hoop and tie on another piece and begin again. Wrap the candy as close together as you can so you have a full wreath.

Create a Fun Cocktail Ring Out of Buttons!

2010-10-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

Materials:

• Button with a shank
• Metal file
• 1 mm elastic rubber banding
• Cutting tool
• 20-30 Seed beads
• 2 mm crimp bead
• Crimping tool

Step 1. Choose a button that has a shank.
A shank is a protruding ring on the back of the button. Sometimes the shank can be sharp. Be sure to file it with a metal file to smooth it down.

Step 2. Measure a length of elastic to fit the finger for the ring.
Choose 1 mm elastic banding. Anything smaller will be break easily and anything larger will be too big for the seed beads. Give yourself enough extra tail to be able to pull the elastic through the crimp bead later.

Step 3. Thread the seed beads through the elastic, the button shank, and the crimp bead.
Use 20 or so seed beads. (Seed beads are the small beads. The crimp bead is the small metal bead.)

Step 4. Thread the opposite end of the elastic through the crimp bead from the other end to form a circle.
Don’t let go of the tail as you thread the opposite end through the crimp bead.

Step 5. Pull tight and check the size one more time.
If you need to make adjustments by adding or removing seed beads, this is the time.

Step 6. Crimp the bead by squeezing it flat using the crimping tool. Then crimp the bead again in half. Trim the extra thread as close as possible to the crimp bead.

You are finished!

The Thankful Tree - Table Top Tree

2010-10-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Materials

Flower pot

Fine sand

Thin, bare tree branch

Sheets of craft foam (orange, yellow, red)

Safety scissors

Thin Sharpie marker

Hole punch

String or fishing line

Fill the flower pot with sand
Set the tree branch firmly in the sand.
Cut leaf shapes out of craft sheets.
Have your family write or draw a picture of what they are thankful for on each hand print or leaf.
Punch a small hole in each leaf.
Using string or fishing line, attach each leaf to the “tree”.
Place the Thankful Tree on your dinner table or buffet and use it to count your blessings on Thanksgiving Day.

Make a scrap-yarn-wrapped branch decoration!

2010-10-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

All you need for this project are some branches/twigs (the size and amount that you want for your vase or other arrangement plan), yarn leftover scraps, glue, and scissors.

To change colors, when you have about 3-4 inches of your first color left, hold the tip of the next color alongside the branch. Wrap the last 2-3 wraps of the first color around the end of the next color:

Hold the end of the first color against the branch, and start wrapping with the next color over the first color, wrapping over the tip to hold it down:

When you reach the end, cut the yarn when it’s wrapped all the way to the top, then unwrap a couple times around, dot some glue on the branch end, and wrap back over the glue.

By the way, I do recommend doing this project over newspapers – the little twig dust gets everywhere on your workspace, so newspaper makes for easy cleanup!

If you do snap an offshoot after wrapping, like you can see I did below, you can glue it back together, twisting it to get the wrapping back in place as much as possible.

So, just keep on wrapping until you’ve wrapped all the branches you want…

BRANCH STAR BURST MIRROR

2010-10-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Tools and Supplies needed...

Branches, branch cutters, wooden craft disk, craft mirror, hot glue, drill and small drill bit.

HOW TO:

1. Snip branches to desired length.

2. Measure circumference of wooden craft disk and mark how far to drill each hole apart. Ours was 22.5 inches around and we drilled a hole every 2.25 inches.

3. Paint wood the desired color. We used regular craft paint.

4. Hot glue branches into pre drilled holes.

5. Glue craft mirror on with glue for slick surfaces. We used GOOP.

6. If the mirror is small you can attach it to the wall without nails by using industrial velcro.

Jewelry Tree

2010-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Tools and supplies needed...
Branch that is sturdy enough to hold jewelry, branch snippers, vase, floral foam, hot glue, sand and or rocks.

1. Cut branch to desired length, paint if desired.

2. Cut floral foam to fit bottom of vase.

3. Hot glue foam into bottom of vase, push branch into vase and foam.

4. Cover foam inside vase with sand and or rocks.

5. Hang Jewelry!

Recycled Mardi Gras Bead Floor Lamp

2010-10-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Project by Mark Kirk from New Orleans, La.

Materials and Tools:

plastic (Mardi Gras) beads
baking tray
foil
mask
gloves
oven
pencil
scissors
old shade from lamp
floor lamp with a cover screw
40-60 watt bulb

Steps:

1. Cover the baking tray with foil. Lay beads on the tray as desired, leaving a hole in the middle.

2. Bake at 350 F degrees 10 to 15 minutes. Check the tray of beads in the oven, turn it around 180 degrees, and bake for 5 minutes more. Check again (some beads will melt quicker then others).

3. When the beads are melted together, remove the tray from the oven. Form the warm plastic over a bowl (or the old lamp shade) and shape as desired.

4. When cooled, remove the foil from the inside of the shade. Place the new shade over the socket and secure in place. Replace the bulb, plug it in, and enjoy your new light!

Web site: www.letsgetup.com

Display Dish Play

2010-08-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm in a constant search for affordable cake stands. I use them at craft fairs to display my cupcake pincushions. Recently, on a Goodwill Hunting trip I came up empty, yet again, in my quest for a cake stand. But hmmm... what about these cute little parfait cups and these nice glass dishes? Could they be brought together in a sturdy yet inconspicuous way?

I bought 4 plates and 4 parfaits, each under a dollar to give it a try. I consulted with my handy hubby who assured me that clear caulk or silicone would do the trick!
snip the tip and apply sparingly around the rim
wait, is this stuff clear? it looks like toothpaste...don't worry, it'll dry clear
invert and carefully center on bottom of plate
use a moistened swab to clean up excess
wait patiently forever, or until they are completely dry. Mine took a good 36 hours.

Empty food boxes + scissors = drawer organizers

2010-08-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

We all need drawer organizers right? I'm magnetically drawn to any sort of organizer but I usually balk at spending money on something that is permanently hidden in a drawer just to organize the miscellaneous junk that has gathered there. Plus, I never know if they will fit my drawer or what configuration I would need. For an easier, less expensive, and good-for-the-planet solution look in your pantry instead!

You can measure and draw a line around your box or you can just freehand it like me. You can adjust the height according to what you'll be storing inside. The boxes can be used from any end, just use clear packing tape to close up any open side.

I also use empty dry goods boxes to wrap presents in even though it can be a little embarrassing when the recipient doesn't realize it and starts thanking you for Cheerios or graham crackers ;)

Recycling Glass Jars.

2010-08-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Festive Fairy Light Votive

Supplies:
•small glass jar, drinking glass, etc. with smooth sides - try the thrift shop
for a nice selection
•Gloss Lustre Mod Podge (I love the
smell of Mod Podge!)
•different colors of tissue paper
•paint brush
•dish of water
•wax paper to cover work surface
•scissors

Step 1: tear the tissue paper into a variety of small pieces

Step 2: working one small area at a time, brush a thin coat of Mod Podge on your glass (you can thin the Mod Podge with water if you'd like or dip your paintbrush back and forth between the Mod Podge and the water)

Step 3: apply one layer of tissue at a time then cover with a thin layer of Mod Podge

Step 4: keep applying tissue then Mod Podge until your glass is covered - you will need a total of about 4 layers of tissue to cover well

Step 5: there is no need to cover the bottom of the votive; tissue can come up above the edge of the glass but don't glue it over the edge

Step 6: when the tissue is still very slightly tacky, trim the edges with scissors and press with your fingers to smooth it out

Step 7: when the votive is completely dry, place a tea light inside and enjoy!

Recycled Backyard Bird Feeder

2010-07-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

Rate this craft
Rated by 49 members

Total Time Needed:: 1 Hour

Spoon-feed your winged neighbors with this homemade birdseed dispenser.

Materials

Clean 1-liter soda bottle
Craft knife
2 wooden spoons

small eye screw
Length of twine for hanging

Instructions

Start by drawing a 1/2-inch asterisk on the side of a clean 1-liter soda bottle, about 4 inches from the bottom. Rotate the bottle 90 degrees and draw another asterisk
2 inches from the bottom. Draw a 1-inch-wide circle opposite each asterisk, as shown.
Use a craft knife to slit the asterisk lines and cut out the circles (a parent's job). Insert a wooden spoon handle first through each hole and then through the opposite asterisk, as shown.
Remove the bottle cap and twist a small eye screw into the top of it for hanging.
Finally, fill your feeder with birdseed, recap it, and use a length of twine to hang it from a tree.

Glass Jar Frames

2010-07-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

A clean, clear jar (free of labels)
Photos
Ruler
X-acto knife or scissors
Pencil (optional)

STEP 1:

Measure how tall your jar is. If needed, trim the height of your photo to fit the jar (i.e. a 4″x6″ photo will be too tall to fit in a 3″ inch jar).

STEP 2:

Roll up the photo slightly and slide it into the jar so that the photo will be right-side-up when the jar is upside-down. Poke it into place with your fingers or the eraser end of a pencil.

STEP 3:

Turn the jar upside down and display your simple thrifty genius in a place of honor!

Recycled Leg Warmers

2010-07-21T08:50:00.001-07:00

Don't freeze trying to pull off those spring looks too early. Make some easy DIY leg warmers from your old sweater pile, and throw them on with a cute sundress. Years ago in High School I would lock myself in my room on snow days tearing up my clothes and sewing them back together again in new ways. It was soo much fun to go back to school with new creations. This DIY was one of my favorite ones from those good old days.

1. You will need an old ugly sweater either from your grandpa, your give away pile, or your local thrift shop. The thicker the sweater the better. You will also need a pair of scissors, and a thick piece of ribbon or a scarf that you don't mind cutting up.

2. Cut off both arms of the sweater.

3. Cut a LONG thick strip of your patterned scarf, or your piece of ribbon. The length must be long enough to wrap around your ankle a few times.

4. Weave your fabric strip through the sweater holes near the end that you cut off. Weave the fabric all the way around and tie a cute bow.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the other leg warmer.

6. Put your new leg warmers on your leg (arm whole first). Tie the bow tighter around your ankle and position the bow near the front of your foot.

7. Cut off excess ribbon.

8. Slip on a cute pair of flats and you are ready to ROCK!

Message Center

2010-06-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

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Rate this craft
Rated by 10 members

Total Time Needed:: 2-3 Hours

Get the message across with a repurposed cookie sheet.

Materials

Non-aluminum cookie sheet
Ruler
Scissors
Self-adhesive shelf liner
Scrap of wood
Hammer
Large nail

Empty can
Glue (we used Crafter's Pick The Ultimate)
Supermagnets
Bottle caps
Card stock
Markers

Instructions

Measure the back of your cookie sheet and cut a piece of shelf liner that's an in
Materials
- Non-aluminum cookie sheet
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Self-adhesive shelf liner
- Scrap of wood
- Hammer
- Large nail
- Empty can
- Glue (we used Crafter's Pick The Ultimate)
- Supermagnets
- Bottle caps
- Card stock
- Markers
Measure the back of your cookie sheet and cut a piece of shelf liner that's an inch wider and an inch taller. Stick the shelf liner to the back of the cookie sheet by peeling off one corner of the liner and laying it down on a corner of the cookie sheet. Slowly pull the backing away as you smooth the liner onto the sheet. Cut off the excess shelf liner.

To make a hole for hanging, place the cookie sheet over a piece of scrap wood and use a hammer to punch a nail through the center of the rim.

For the pencil holder, cut a piece of shelf liner that's about an inch taller than the can. Wrap the liner around the can so that the ends overlap a bit, then cut off the excess liner. Glue two magnets to the side of the can.

For the bottle-cap magnets, glue a magnet inside of each cap. Cut a piece of card stock to fit the cap, write a name on it, and glue it on top of the magnet.

Denim Pocket Purse

2010-06-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Turn an old pair of blue jeans into a hip over-the-shoulder bag.

Materials

Pair of old jeans
Scissors
Needle and thread

Ribbon or braided rope
Iron-on transfers, paint or patches
Velcro strips or snaps

Instructions

Begin by cutting out a back pocket of an old (but not threadbare) pair of jeans, being careful to cut outside the seams so the pocket stays intact.
Sew a long piece of ribbon, an old belt, or braided rope to the sides of the pockets to make a shoulder strap.
Next, let the outside of the purse become a canvas for ornaments. Decorate with iron-on transfers, fabric paint, beads, patches, or appliques. More ambitious kids might embroider their initials or other designs on the denim for an authentic seventies look.
To hold the purse shut, sew strips of Velcro, buttons or snaps to the inside of the pocket.

Recycled Glass Jars into Dazzling Vases!

2010-03-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Measure and cut elastic thread to a length that will encircle glass, plus several inches to tie off. Thread first group of beads on elastic thread, test for fit and tie off. Now you can pre-cut a number of pieces of thread and continue threading until vase is completely covered.

Fill vase two-thirds full with water and floral preservative. Cut stems of flowers (here I used lisianthus) to correct length so that the flowers sit just at the top of the rim of the glass. Continue until the vase is full.

Recycled Frame Jewelry Holder

2010-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Rather than replacing the glass, I used it to make a jewelry holder.

You savvy bloggers have seen these before I am sure, put together with an old frame and some screen or chicken wire. I have seen them in boutiques for jewelry display, and also happened to notice the one below at the Antique Fair last month. I was inspired to make one of my own, but I wanted it to be backed by pretty fabric.

How to Make a Recycled Frame Jewelry Holder:

Supplies:

Recycled picture frame
Fabric of choice
Spray paint
Screen, chicken wire, or ‘hardware fabric’ from your local home improvement store
Wire cutters
Box cutters or craft knife
Foam board
Hot glue gun
Staple gun
Hooks (optional) for screwing into wood frame

Step One: Trim your wire mesh with wire cutters to fit inside your recycled frame.

Step Two: Trim your foam to the exact internal measurements of your frame. You can use the cardboard that often comes with a frame, but since I didn’t have any, I used foam board, available at any craft store.

Step Three: If you don’t like the color of your frame, then spray paint your frame in the color of your choice. I chose a Rosewood tint by Rustoleum. You can also spray paint your wire mesh for a cohesive look, if you don’t like the rustic quality of the metal. I also spray painted the little hooks I used to screw into my frame for additional jewelry display so it would all be the same color.

Step Four: While your spray paint dries, staple your fabric to your foam.

Step Five: Once your paint is dry, use your hot glue to secure your wire mesh to the inside of your frame. Then use more hot glue to secure your fabric covered foam to the backside of your picture frame.

Step Six (optional): If you’re using a wooden frame, you can screw your hooks into the frame for added display.

Display your jewelry holder anywhere you please. I made this particular one for my daughter’s room to hold all of her blingity bling.

Sidenote: Please don’t be fooled by the chandeliers hanging from my five year old’s jewelry frame. I am really not a pageant mom – I am just demonstrating how great this project works for grown up baubles. And I better take them down quick before she gets any ideas…

Doesn’t it look so lovely in her room ?

But now that I stand back and look at this creation, I am quite tempted to put it in to use for my own jewelry collection.

So now I’ll be hunting for yet another “broken” picture frame to transform . . .

Bottle Bracelet.

2010-03-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

You can use a utility knife or even a sharp kitchen knife to poke through the side of your bottle. (Be very careful with this! Make sure the bottle is on a stable surface, and anchor it so it want roll or jump.)
Using the slit you’ve just made as your starting point, cut all the way around the bottle, using one of those ridges as your guide. Scissors will work fine for this - use the big, tough ones you keep around for the heftier cutting jobs.

Now, make a perpendicular cut (see the blue arrow above). Then choose another ridge to cut along - based on how wide you want your finished cuff to be. Cut around the bottle again.

Great! You now have a rough bracelet. You’ll want to trim about 1/4″ to 1/2″ off of each end, so there’s a little gap in the middle. You’ll also want to round off the ends. I used a circle template and traced it with a Sharpie, but you can also trim the ends free-hand.

Now, cut two strips of felt. They should be a little longer than your plastic form, and about 1/4″ wider. Decide at this point how you want to decorate your bracelet. There are lots of possibilities here - you can do felt applique, or bead embroidery, or regular embroidery, or silkscreen, or stencils . . . .

Do all your embellishment on one of the felt pieces. I recommend keeping about 1/2″ of felt at each end of this strip unadorned, because you may want to trim it off later. (I didn’t do that here, and it came back to bite me . . . .)
Now, put your two pieces of felt together, right sides out. Begin joining them with a whipstitch along one of the long edges. Stop stitching when you reach the rounded end. (By the way, futuregirl has the best tutorial ever on how to stitch felt.)

Insert your plastic form into the felt, and adjust the felt as necessary so it lies smoothly against the plastic. Wiggle the plastic form a bit so that you have a roughly equal amount of felt at each of the rounded ends of the bracelet. Now, you might need to trim a little felt away from the ends, so that you have about 1/8″ sticking out beyond the plastic form.

After that, continue your whip-stitching until you’ve stitched the felt together completely.

Recycled Silk Flower Brooch!

2010-03-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Yet some upscale women will pay $60 for these things. Well, live and let live.

Or, in true Wise Bread fashion, do it yourself and save big.

Flower brooches are frighteningly easy to make. The basic instructions:

Get a silk flower of some kind.
Remove it from the stem.
Glue a pin to the back, either in the center or just above the center of the back.
Cover the spine of the pin backing by gluing something pretty, like a fake leaf or a piece of felt or velvet.
Pin to coat or give as gift.

Here are some tips for making flower brooches:

Get your hands on a hot glue gun, if you don't already have one. Using these things is kind of an art, and you will get burned a few times. Practice makes perfect and all that. The glue guns at my craft store cost between $2-15 dollars. Mine is a $9 model that's pretty bad-ass.

Don't buy ridiculously expensive pin backings. Sterling silver really doesn't do much for the backing, and costs too much and won't be seen anyway.

When making brooches, you want the back of the flower to be almost completely flat. Because of the way these fake flowers are put together, sometimes you have to cut off the plastic that holds it all together in order to get a good, flat back. In this case, you'll have to reconstruct the flower using hot glue. It's not too hard, though.

If you have some silk flowers that are less-than exciting, you can always take apart two flowers and combine them. Use the same kind of flower for additional petals, or two or three different kinds of flowers for a sort of hybrid flower.

The little leaves that you glue over the pin's spine can usually be found in the bridal supply section of a craft or fabric store, because they are often used in veils.

The center of the flower is a good place to glue something really cool. On the flower pictured below, I glued an antique button that I bought at a thrift store. It has rhinestones, and complements the subtle colors of the flower perfectly.

You don't have to put anything in the center because a lot of fake flowers look better with their fake centers. But other ideas include regular buttons, smiley faces, crystals, beads, pearls, or even those polished glass pebbles that you put into fish tanks. Below is a small white lapel pin that I made with a cheap mother-of-pearl button for a center.

How to Make a Wire from a Plastic Bottle!

2010-03-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Cut a soda bottle into a spiral. The width of the strip in the picture is about 4 mm. [1]

Sit and hold a hair dryer (or a heat gun) between both knees. Heat the plastic strip and wind it around while pulling it with both hands. (Polyethylene terephthalate [PETE] plastic becomes soft by 70 ℃.)

Remove the strip from the hot air occasionally to allow it to cool down and fix the shape.

Continue until as much of the plastic strip as you want has been twisted.

Recycle Metal Cans into Hanging Flower Basket!

2010-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

What you'll need:

Large, empty metal cans
Drill or hammer and nail to make holes (I used both)
20-gauge galvanized wire
Wire cutters and pliers
Beads or other embellishments (optional)
Pebbles and potting soil
Trailing plants (I used ivy geranium starts in three shades of pink, but petunias, begonias, spider plants, or others you like could be lovely)

1. Use a drill or hammer a nail to make several small holes in the bottom of each can.

Make holes spaced all around the bottom of the can.

2. Next, drill three holes near the upper rim of the can, spaced evenly around the perimeter, where you'll attach the wires to hang your planter.

The holes I drilled were about an inch below the rim.

3. Cut a generous length of wire (mine was about 2 feet long), slip it through the first hole you drilled in step 2, and form a wrapped loop, clipping off the end after you've coiled it three times. (If you'd like a wrapped loop 101, I have a short video showing how I make them here.) Repeat with the other two holes so that you have three wire tails to form a hanger later on.

Wrap your wire three times or so before cutting the tail off.

4. If you'd like, slip a few durable beads you like onto each wire strand. I alternated clear and pink on each one.

I used cheerful acrylic beads that won't mind rain or dirt at all.

5. Now add a thin layer of pebbles for good drainage at the bottom of the can.

The pebbles should just cover the bottom of the can but don't have to be thickly layered.

6. Add potting soil over the pebbles, leaving space at the top for your plants. Now that your hanging basket has some weight to it, hold the three wires tautly above the can so that they hang evenly. Choose about how long you'd like the wire section to be, and make a large loop with all three wires there.

Form a simple loop with all three strands of wire, large enough to slip easily over a hook or peg.

7. Using your fingers or a set of pliers, wrap the three wire tails around to form a coil below this large loop. Wrap them two or three times total, and clip the ends neatly once they're secured.

Wrapping the coil at least two or three times with all three strands makes a strong bond.

8. Add your plants in the configuration you like! I mixed three different colors of ivy geranium starts I got for 50¢ each so that they peeked through each space between the wires and the beads caught the light.

These ivy geraniums will continue trailing downward and to the sides to fill the hanging planter!

9. Make as many as you'd like, and hang your new planters on hooks or pegs along a fence or patio!

Tin Can Herb Pots!

2010-03-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

What you'll need:

Clean, empty recycled cans
Hammer and nail
Pebbles
Seedlings (or seeds and soil if you're starting from scratch)

1. Wash your chosen cans and make sure there are no sharp edges or rough spots. I used cans with the bright label printed right on the metal, but if yours are plain, you might want to paint or decorate them for fun!

Make several holes in the bottom of each can with a hammer and nail.

2. Use a hammer and nail to make several small holes in the bottom of each can. I did three or four on each of mine.

Fill the bottom of each one with pebbles.

3. Fill the bottom of each can with small pebbles, just one layer deep, to help the soil drain well.
4. Gently transplant your seedlings into the planters. (If starting from seed, fill the planters with soil and plant your seeds now.) Water and care for them as suggested, depending on what you're planting. I chose Red Russian kale and Sugar Star snap peas, both of which like full sun.

The kale and sugar snap pea seedlings like living on our porch so far!

5. Put them somewhere special so you'll see the cheerful plants every day! I put ours on our front porch all in a happy green row. Remember, with the holes in the bottom, they may leak when you water them, so if they're inside make sure they're on saucers or dish towels to catch any spills.

These plants will get plenty of sun to grow nicely here, but I can bring them in if it hails or gets too cold. Once they've gotten a bit bigger and hardier, they'll go right into our raised beds.

6. Transplant the seedlings to your garden when they're ready and the weather cooperates!

Plastic Bottle Flowers

2010-03-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

looking for a way to reuse plastic bottles? here's a easy, pretty way to give new life to something that may have ended up in the land fill.

Supplies

clear plastic bottle
circle hole punch (i used 7/8")
glossy spray paint
hot glue gun
scissors
rhinestone, bead, jewel, etc for the center

rinse out your bottle several times to make sure it's nice and clean.

remove the label and cut off the top and bottom. then cut a slit all the way to the top so you can unroll the cylinder (or what's left of the bottle). throw the top and bottom in the recycle bin :o)

use your hole punch to punch out circles. i used 5 circles for each flower.

one bottle yields a LOT of circles!

spray paint one side of each circle. make sure they completely dry.

next, using a small dot of hot glue, attach two circles together. the circles will have a slight curve to them. i glued them so that they curved upwards for a fun 3D effect.
*if you're using a hot temp glue gun, it will melt/warp your circles a little bit. i used hot temp glue gun and it turned out fine, but a low temp might have been better...*

attach a 3rd plastic circle. keep going around attaching circles until a flower is formed.

i used 5 circles total for each flower.

add a rhinestone to the center and you're done!

i then glued them to a cute little bag to make this fab little clutch.