Friends, has your yarn stash gotten out of hand? It’s okay if it has–you’re in a safe space here! Instead of feeling guilty about wasted art supplies, or pulling the trigger and tossing everything into the waste stream, check out this list of my favorite yarn art projects, all of which can be made using that surplus yarn, or even yarn upcycled from other sources. Your next yarn art project is right here!...
Don’t buy new — reduce, reuse, redecorate! Today we’re sharing 30 repurposed, DIY side table ideas to inspire you! From the living room to the bedroom, side tables (or night stands) are super important! They hold all of our “stuff” like drinks, cell phones, alarm clocks, picture frames, and adorable DIY decor. Despite their ordinary purpose, side tables don’t have to be boring! Switch things up in your home by repurposing, recycling, and upcycling items into unique DIY side tables!...
Don’t you just love a fresh notebook? There’s something about a bundle of blank pages that really jumpstarts my creativity. Notebooks are handy, too. How many times have you had to rummage through your purse for a scrap of paper to write down an idea or an email address? The problem with many store-bought notebooks is that they’re often made from virgin paper, which means you’re cutting down new trees for that grocery list or to write down your latest craft project inspiration....
Have you ever had a piece of furniture that seems too far gone to fix? Think again! These unique upcycled furniture projects will inspire you to transform instead of trashing any pieces! 1. Chair Back Chalkboard by Knick of Time Interiors Angie at Knick of Time Interiors put together a fabulous round-up of upcycled chair ideas. One of my favorites was the chair back chalkboard pictured above. I come across tons of old and broken chairs at thrift stores and garage sales (like the chair I upcycled into a planter) so I love the idea of repurposing them into something useful again....
Bottle Art by Cindy Shepard uses every single inch of space in this thin book to give you full color photos and detailed instructions on how to make many beautiful bottle art projects. Cindy has many types of projects with numerous detailed tutorials within each category and type of project. She starts off with the basics of bottle art which includes tools, safety precautions and directions on how to cut glass....
I don’t want my daughter’s creativity to be thwarted like mine. Not being able to sew has limited my crafty creations. I design a lot of things, many which never come in being because I can’t sew. The book Sew with Sara: PJs, Pillows, Bags & More–Fun Stuff to Keep, Give, SELL! is a great way to get my daughter interested in sewing. Sew with Sara: PJs, Pillows, Bags & More–Fun Stuff to Keep, Give, SELL!...
This book even made me head out to the local antique mall and resale shops to see if I could find some amazing stuff to get my creativity flowing. Unfortunately my trip was a bust but the book is still a must. The Salvage Studio: Sustainable Home Comforts to Organize, Entertain, and Inspire has me wishing it was summer now so I could hit yard sales and flea markets with abandon....
American Lifestyle magazine (“Celebrating Life in America”) has announced its first ever DIY contest. The theme for this first year is “upholstery,” and the emphasis is eco-friendly, on the refurbishing of a piece of furniture instead of discarding it. Projects can be large or small, anything from a slipcover to a true reupholstered item. To enter, American Lifestyle requires the submission of a very high-quality photograph of the finished upholstery project....
Knit Picks is giving away three skeins of Full Circle yarn to TWO lucky winners! Are you one? Our first winning number is– –which means that our first lucky winner is: Our second winning number is– –which means that our second lucky winner is: If you weren’t one of our lucky winners (this time), Full Circle Yarn is still available from Knit Picks at a 10% discount throughout the month of April, with another 10% of the proceeds going to the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of Earth Day....
Grrr, why do board games suck so MUCH to store?!? Here are ten crafty ways to make your board game storage neat and tidy. They stick off of shelves, they don’t stack neatly, the boxes are always caving in–what is an avid tabletop gamer with a bunch of board games to do? Any of these things. 10 Board Game Storage Ideas board game box. Make your own super-sturdy box from scratch to replace any beaten-up board game box....
I got two shutters from a garage sale and was eager to see how I could incorporate them into my booth. Using shutters as a display is not a new idea, but nevertheless, I wanted to give you a few ideas of what you could do in your craft booth with old shutters. 1. Hang jewelry Do you make and sell your own jewelry? Hang the earrings on the slats of the shutters!...
Looking for a crafty way to support a great cause? Check out The Fighter Tee, by Handmade Boy. The Fighter Tee is a kid’s T-shirt pattern, available from the Handmade Boy etsy shop, Handmade Boy Creations. It’s a basic T-shirt pattern for children sizes 2-12, but it also has a special something: 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this T-shirt pattern go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital....
Sooo…. backyard lumberjacking is a thing. I don’t know why this surprises me. Pretty much everything is a thing, you know? Homemade from scratch dog food is a thing. Harry Potter/The Walking Dead crossover fanfiction is a thing. On a recent camping trip with some hippy mommy friends I learned about orgone boxes, which are also very much a thing. Look them up. J.D. Salinger LOVED his. Backyard lumberjacking also makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it....
Do you know that I live next door to a drive-in movie theater? I live next door to a drive-in movie theater. It’s basically the best thing ever. However, along with all of the great things about living next door to a drive-in movie theater, there’s also the thing where my kids walk over there every weekend night and spend all of their money on junk food. They have cotton candy at the drive-in....
You probably know by now that I LOVE to make things out of building blocks. We’ve got a huge stash that I’ve gathered over the years, and now that my older kids are starting to lose interest in building giant block worlds that take over the entire family room (sniff…), I’m starting to separate the heirlooms from the blocks that can be upcycled. These alphabet blocks are the latter. I can tell you exactly when I received them–on the occasion of my older daughter’s birth, from my husband’s boss–and they’ve definitely been well-loved and often played with, but they aren’t heirlooms....
A Crochet Lace Necklace. I’m sure you’ve seen these chic vintage-y crochet necklaces everywhere. It is the vintage-come-modern look and it goes with everything. You can dress it up or down. All you need to make this dainty necklace are a little bit of jewelry making skill, (using pliers with jump rings,) an old lace scrap, and a necklace chain, preferably from a thrifted necklace. Let’s get glammed! Supplies:...
For this project, I am using Halloween decorations for the wreath so I collected orange, black, and some leftover Halloween fabric scraps. I apologize in advance for the wonky picture quality as black and orange do not photograph well. You’ll need: Wreath frame of any kind. One long piece of fabric that you’ll wrap the wreath with. Measure the circumference of the wreath and the thickness of the wreath for the fabric’s dimension....
You don’t send enough greeting cards. And the greeting cards that you do send? I’m afraid that they may not always be awesome. I can help. If you’ve got any source of recycled cardboard that has a natural crease–think food packaging, USPS flat rate envelopes or other mailers, or the old record album covers that I’m using here–then you’ve got a natural greeting card just waiting for you to cut it to size, write in it, and mail it off!...
Well, tomorrow is June 1st and you know what that means–Father’s Day is right around the corner! Is your dad just too hard to shop for? Most of the time, we get my dad a gift card because we’re just not sure what to get him. I know that sounds boring, but gift cards don’t have to be boring! I saw this paper tool box pin on pinterest this week and thought, “I bet I could make one of those to hold a gift card!...
Don’t throw away that old TV tray! Revamp it into a functional DIY laptop stand with a little bit of crafty love. I saved an old TV tray from the trash can, but I wanted to redo it to make it more of my style. It will actually have multiple purposes: a DIY laptop stand, a table that I can move around for photographing small items, and a table for crafting!...
