Janet of All Trades

Every year I decide that I will make my Christmas cards and hope to start them in the summer so I have them done ahead of time. This never happens and I wait until the creative juices start flowing about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. This year I wanted to some how use a recycled material. So I started out with Magazines and a corner punch from Martha Stewart Crafts. I found the photo corner punch and thought it might work for the idea I had in mind. I punched out the corners from magazine pages and cut the folded corner off since I really wanted a Chevron sort of shape. Then proceed to lay them out in a circle to see if they would work for my idea. Then with glue dot runner applied to each piece, I was left with a wreath. I added a little ribbon for the bow and my card was done. Now I just have about 49 more to make! Enjoy!

I have so many ideas for Holiday decorating and I am sure that I won't be able to use them all. So here is just a sampling of what will be inspiring this coming weekend and what I might be making. (1) Jute Covered Candles. Seen in Costal Living October and can be purchased here (2) Large Stylized Modern Trees A bit of Space Age meets recycled wire? Can be found here is CB2. (3) Metal Woven Ornaments. I feel a repurpose project coming on or the can be bought at here at Crate & Barrel. (4) Bayleaf Tree. More traditional and less modern, but a like the texture it might add to my decor. It can be found here at Pottery Barn. Just a few inspirations and some may make the list and some may become a DIY project for the Holidays! Enjoy! 

I found a large stash of Neck ties at an Estate Sale this past weekend and I had to buy them since I had the perfect idea for an upcycle project. They were mostly from a long since closed store here in Buffalo,NY and I felt the need to preserve them as well as the tags. I started by washing them on gentle and removing them immediately and laying flat to dry. They came out a little disfigured but nothing that a little ironing wouldn't fix. Next I took a seam ripper and opened up the back to take out the interfacing. I did this for two reasons, it was discolored and had a little odor and it would be easier to sew without this bulk.  I next cut the tie into a piece 10" long and hemmed the edge. Then I sewed two pieces of velcro to each side to make my cuff. The last step was to sew on a few antique buttons and beads and my cuff was done. Wow! Looking at this I can't believe how it turned out!.But wait... I made a few more! Love this one.. Antique Maple leave button and golden...

I have been visiting numerous Estate sales over the Summer and Fall looking for old Jewelry and other items that I can use to make interesting pendants. Here are just a few of the items that I have created over the last few weeks with the treasures I have found. Antique button with flowerets from a vintage bracelet with coral beads. Antique Button, bottle cap and old zipper reclaimed from old clip earrings. Two Antique buttons and a new necklace connector piece. Antique button and vintage Knot clip earring. Vintage Buttons on Encyclopedia paged cover washer. So much fun to create no only because am I recycling and but reusing the items that others collected and saved and creating something beautiful.. Well at least I think they are beautiful! Enjoy! Linking up to these Parties:

I love Modern Design with it's clean lines and simple patterns but part of me has a soft spot for Rustic Americana. I think it comes from the early days of decorating my first apartment with a country motif. I had quilts hanging on my walls that were family heirlooms and some that I found at garage sales. I recently came across one in my laundry room that had been storage (in plastic) for many years. I decided it was time for it to have a new life and become a little more modern. It has some serious age and deterioration issues and I knew it could never been used as a quilt top again. I decided to cut it up and before I am admonished for doing this, it has been a very good quilt for me. It has decorated may home for many years and I had even used it to keep me warm when I had a terrible flu many years ago. The first step in i's new life was to remove the batting that was very dusty and disintigrating. Then I cut a rough rectangle and the same from a piece of blue ticking. Then ...