Janet of All Trades

I purchased this hamper about two years ago after a long search for something sturdy and attractive. It was exactly what I wanted and came with a removable cotton laundry bag. The only problem with the bag is that over the last two years it has started to rip in the corners. I had numerous ideas on how to solve this problem from making a new bag with better grommets to replacing the bag with a tall basket. But the frugal part of me found a different way to solve it. First I removed all the grommets and saved them to be used later on another project. And then gathered my materials.. Four elastic cut in to 3 3/4" Pieces And a length of recycled off white woven cotton ribbon. I then pinned the ribbon around the perimeter of the bag along with the elastic pieces. I sewed four times around to secure the ribbon,backstitching when I came to the elastic. Once I was done, stitched a re-enforcing box over the elastic pieces. Very hard to see, but it will help to keep the elastic in place an...

The summer begins this weekend and I have a few summer project on the list for the long weekend. So let's get started since I can't wait for the long weekend to start! (1) Starbucks Coffee Sleeve.  I feel the need to recycle this some how. It is the perfect color and weight of cardboard for some sort of craft..Just don't know what that is yet! (2) New pillows for our Patio. So easy to make and change out pillows since there are numerous patterns to choose from. I went with two Waverly Fabrics (on sale) in two modern designs. (3) Plantings. Still working on the garden and planters. I have planters to fill and a garden that needs thinning and weeding to badly. (4) Laundry Basket. I need to figure out how to repair or replace the liner in our hamper. It has ripped and need to sew something to it that will not rip when it is full. (5) Lastly, Enjoy the Weekend with just a little relaxing time and a bit of the French Open! Enjoy!

I have a few obsessions that run my life and they happen to be Nailpolish and Crafts. Now these two don't really like each other since crafting sometimes ruins nicely polished nails. So it is a constant battle to keep both these obsessions happy. So I decided to create something for both,well kind of.. I started with a set of plastic baskets from the Dollar Store... And some scrap fabric.. Covered the basket and fabric with Mod Podge and let it dry. Then when it was dry, I added a piece of felt to the back. Then lastly I added a little bit of ribbon. Now I have a really pretty storage basket for my Nailpolish. Just an attempt to keep my other obsession happy. Enjoy!

Our from Garden in coming along nicely with some further work this past weekend, it went from this stump filled and old plant filled beds.... To sculpted garden beds.. Larger and more graceful edges. More area to fill with plants and shrubs. And now for the design work and selecting of plants. Check back in few weeks and watch the progress. Enjoy!

Now that the weather has changed from pouring rain to just showers, it's time to get all the patio furniture out and really get ready for summer. All the magazines and store ads are full of great deals on patio furniture and beach accessories. I came across these chairs in Elle Decor June 2011 for the beach and immediately fell in love with them.. I love the stripe seat in Sunbrella fabric and the simple design. They then showed up again in Martha Stewart Living June 2011. Same chair,but different fabric and use as seating around a fire pit. They are lovely but at $160 each there has to be a less expensive option. And there is.. The Christmas Tree Store has them for less than $30 each! Maybe not as many choices of fabric but who sees it once your are sitting in it? And you can get a whole set for the price of the pricer chair! Enjoy! PS: The winner of the Freschetta Winner is Sourkrat! Please email me your info and I will get your coupon and cutting board out to you right away. ...

I like to look at an object and change it into something else, so that is what I did this weekend with a few odd jewelry pieces. I started with a large bead from this bracelet.... And a pair of earrings.. Now I first thought about using them together but decided that they really need to be separate pieces. I started with the large bead and attached some large rings and some chain (my new favorite!). I think it turned out lovely and can't wait to wear it. For the earrings, I took them apart and added three large rings and some chain. This will look great with a summer tan! A simple and easy metamorphosis to wearable jewelry for the summer! Enjoy!

The weekend is quickly approaching and I have so much garden work do to since it has been raining for 3 weeks. It is a jungle out in my yard so I have a few outdoor and indoor (well maybe completed on the patio) projects on my list. Here are a few to get me started. (1) I won this bracelet and I love the bead but don't like how it looks on my wrist,So I am thinking about transforming it into another piece of jewelry.  (2) I will be visiting the Nursery later today to fill my planters with all sorts of lovely flowers. I thinking about doing something a little different this year and maybe incorporating some decorative grasses with my flowers. (3) Pipe cleaners. I have this idea that might work and might not. It happens to use scrap fabric,flip flops and a little imagination. (4) Designing a plan for this now empty front yard. All our shrubs have now been pulled out (except for the stumps) and now we are left with an empty slate. A little sculpting of the gardens needs to be done and...

Well I'm not really in chains, but my neck is draped with them ever since I found this spool of chain and some other interesting links few weeks back. It was all under $5 for both and I made some very pretty statement jewelry. I had planned to make one necklace but the spool was 7 yards long and I knew that was more than enough for one. So I made several and here are my creations. One Super long Necklace with some large circle links added and a semi long with some oval shaped links. You basically cut a length of chain, open a link and attach and close link to the other end. Very Easy. You can get more creative and add other types of links. As in this necklace I used the leftover ovals links from this necklace that I made and blogged about last month. It also used the coil of change as well. Now I thought it would also be interesting to combined a few of my creations together. Now this is my Estate Sale find belt buckle necklace with a medium length chain necklace.All these are easy...

I lovely the Olympics and with Lake Placid only a few hours away, it would seem like I would have visited numerous times in my life. But there where always other places to visit, until this past weekend. Now some Thirty years later, I got to relive the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid,NY. Doors to the Herb Brooks Arena The Miracle On Ice (with no ice) The Olympic Center and the 1932 Arena The last outdoor Speed Skating Oval used in an Olympics. The Ski Jumps. Luge and Bobsled tracks. The Flame Cauldron. It was a trip back thru time and a lovely getaway. All the venues brought back memories of a time when the worlds eyes where on this small town in New York and athletic competition was the only thing important. Enjoy!