Thrift Store Re-Use Idea: Plant Clipping Containers

If you're a plant person who takes small clippings from your thriving plants to turn into new plants, here's a little idea for you. 

I used to put my clippings in old jars and cups by a window, and they never really looked great.  But, lately I've been picking up pretty glass candle holders from the thrift store and using those instead, which makes the clippings look even prettier than potted plants while I wait for their roots to grow.

One of my favorite spots in our new house is this little window box right above the kitchen sink.  It's a perfect spot for plants and delicate things to keep them out of the kids' reach.  Plus, being in Minnesota in January, it's really nice to be able to look up while doing dishes and see green plants and colorful glass, rather than the usual brown and white.

A couple hanging candle holders from the thrift store, hung  with little screw-in hooks in the window box "ceiling"

I love this little blue one that hangs on it's own stand

Colorful glass bottles work great too, especially for this straight bamboo!

There are so many cool options for your clippings if you think outside of the box!  How about some pretty vases, or even wine glasses?  So next time you're in the thrift store or at a garage sale, if you're a plant person, be sure to peruse the glass and candle holder aisles...the possibilities are endless!

ID Mommy Project: Baby Food Jar Jack-o-Lanterns

So today I was reaching for my blaze orange spray paint in preparation for a different pumpkin craft for the boys to do after nap.  Staring back at me on the same shelf was my stash of empty baby food jars, which have been screaming for re-use.   Then it hit me...hey, I could mask off some jack-o-lantern faces, paint them orange, peel off the tape, and set them over a battery powered candle....and voila! (Yeah, I know, I'm weird...these are the things that pop into my head!!)  Turns out they actually came out kinda cool!  So here it is!

 You'll need orange spray paint, masking or painter's tape, baby food jars (or any glass jar, really), and scissors or an X-acto knife.  Optional: Something to make leaves and/or a stem with

 Thoroughly clean and dry the baby food jars.  Then turn them upside down and make faces on them with masking tape.  I cut these shapes with scissors, which was a bit clumsy but worked.  (You could also put the tape on the jar first and cut the shapes right on the jar with an X-acto knife.)

 I made three of them today. Make sure to burnish the tape...rub them down so the edges are really stuck so the paint doesn't get underneath.

 Next, spray paint them orange.  Make sure they're upside down.  I did the faces on the upside down jars so there wouldn't be overspray inside the jars and the faces would stay clear.

 It may take a couple coats.  Once it's all dry, carefully peel off the tape.  I like to use the sharp point of my X-acto knife to grab the edge of the tape so I don't scratch the part I want painted.

 You could stop there if you want.  I found some old fake flowers and snipped a few leaves off and glued them on top.  I'd still like to add a stem of some sort but I'm not sure what to use yet.  Maybe a real stick?

Now just set them on top of a little battery powered candle!  Cuteness!! You could do these right side up too...just keep the lid on or tape off the opening while spray painting so you don't get paint on the inside.  (If you get paint inside, the cut-out faces won't be clear)

DIY Spring Decoration

Since we've moved to a house that has a mantel above the fireplace, I've been having fun figuring out how to decorate it for holidays.  The Valentine's decor was taken down a while ago and I've just finished decorating it for spring!  Well, maybe.  I keep tweaking it.  But here's what I have so far.

I wanted to do something new for Easter, mainly because I didn't have a mantel before and didn't have anything that seemed to fit it well.  I also didn't want to spend a lot of money, if any at all.  So, I dug into what I had, repurposed a few things, made a couple small purchases, and ended up with this little hybrid of my "egg collection" and some real, live grass!

 Originally I wanted to get some fake grass, but dang, that stuff is expensive.  So, instead I looked around the house for some long, narrow containers to use as planters.  I landed on these two drawer organizer things I had gotten at a garage sale for $0.50 cents last summer.  I filled them with potting soil and grass seed from the garage, watered them, set them in the window sill, and a week later I had grass.  Once it sprouted, it really grew fast!

 I took some green construction paper from my studio and folded it to make these covers to hide the ugly manilla containers.

Then I rolled up some masking tape into loops and used it to stick some of this miniature white fence along the front. You can find this at craft stores or any store where they have little village decorations.  I had some on hand from my Department 56 stuff (and more from my mom, who freelances for Dept 56 painting buildings!).

 The only thing I purchased brand new was a box of these feather butterflies.  I had aspirations to make a garland of butterflies that didn't work out quite as well as planned...well, it's still in the works.  I got a package of them for 40% off with a Michael's coupon. I wrapped the wire around a wood skewer to get a "spring" shape, and shorten the wire without having to cut it, and stuck 'em in the grass.

 The letters I made out of foam core.  I found an image of grass using Google Images, masked out the letters in Photoshop, printed them on sticky-back label paper, slapped it on a piece of foam core, and cut them out with an X-acto knife.  Then I spray painted some bamboo skewers silver, stuck the pointy ends into the foam core, and trimmed them to the height I wanted.  Voila! Free but effective.  (Well, free because I already had this stuff around)

 I've never really found a great way to display my egg collection, until this year.  They looked so underwhelming, tiny and short, along the long, horizontal mantel. But, the wheels began spinning when my 3 year old broke apart one of my old Junk Mail Gems craft show display pieces. Good ideas can come from breaking stuff!  I noticed that the old brass candlesticks that I had painted silver, worked perfectly to hold an egg and give it height on a pedestal.  So, I went to work recycling my already recycled displays, giving the candlesticks a fresh coat of silver paint, and using them to hold my eggs.

I tend to get a little spray-happy with my silver paint.  I've used it to bring so many dated, brass decor items into this century.  I didn't stop at the candlesticks...I picked up 4 little ceramic rabbits at the thrift store for $0.39 cents each, and painted them as well.  I think my new bionic bunnies add a little extra Easter-y flare without being too cheesy and literal.

 Overall I'm pretty happy with it...not bad for about $7!  The candle sticks (and 1 bud vase) really helped the little eggs fill the space both vertically and horizontally, and I love having something "alive" as part of the decoration.  Spraying all of the pieces silver helped tie all of the different silhouettes together.

I'll probably re-position things a million times between now and Easter, but then that's half the fun.  I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I'm crazy when he sees me fiddling with my eggs AGAIN.  But, hey, that's the price you pay when you marry an artist and designer.  The wall sculpture above it I actually made 7 or 8 years ago for our living room (copying one that I saw for hundreds of dollars at a furniture store)...it's the color scheme of our carpet.  But, it matches well with the spring colors!

We still have over a month until Easter, but spring starts in just a few days!  It's not too late to get out an interesting container and plant your own green grass...see what you can come up with for a little "live" decor!

Creativity in Overdrive!

I have learned over time that when I find myself in a very stressful time in life, I tend to bury myself in my work and various creative endeavors.  It has become obvious that trying to get our house sold with two little kids, two dogs, and a traveling husband has unleashed the obsessive creative monster in me.  So, I have decided to channel this energy into something positive...making Christmas gifts!

 I just finished making this serving tray out of an old Scrabble game for my Scrabble-loving Grandma.  I think it turned out pretty cool. My favorite parts are the handles, replaced with pieces of the little trays you set the letters on.  You can check out the whole project step-by-step on my Junk Mail Gems blog, here!

I've also tried making some soldered glass pendants that I hope to attach to some sort of charm bracelet down the road...

...have been turning old records into bowls...

...and have recently taken up needle felting.  I've always wanted to try it, and when my husband gave me the opportunity to leave the house kid-free and go wherever I wanted, I went to a local yarn store.

I picked up some colorful wool roving (loose wool fibers...before they've been spun into yarn), and some felting needles.  (needles with little barbs on them)
 

I've been wanting to make some felt beads, which I did do (above), but once I got into it I realized how fun it is to make pretty much anything you can imagine. Just do a Google Image Search on "needle felted" to see what I mean!

....like this jack-o-lantern pin above, or this little robin below (the first thing I made!)...

There is just something so therapeutic about repeatedly stabbing the fibers into submission with a barbed needle until they become the shape you want! It's also the type of project that requires all of your focus to avoid turning your hands into a finger-ka-bob with those Medieval torture devices they call "felting needles."  So, it's a great way to take your mind and eyes off of everything else. I am already trying to figure out which yarn store to hit up next for some more colors.  I will try to post more about how to do this in the future if anyone is interested!

Of course I can only work on this stuff when the kids are sleeping or playing, my freelance work is caught up, and I'm not preparing the house for another showing, which leaves not a lot of time.  But, I have really enjoyed making stuff over these past couple weeks and hope to emerge on the other side of fall with a sold house and a pile of great Christmas gifts to give! In the meantime, if you don't hear from me much, I'm probably off brutally stabbing my aggressions out on a ball of wool until it turns into another cuddly wittle birdie...

ID Mommy Projects: Recycle Happy Meal Boxes into Toy Houses!

I must have paper crafts on the brain, because last week when I treated Sammy to a McDonald's Happy Meal for lunch, my warped mind saw a little toy house.  It wasn't long before I had created a pattern to color, cut, and glue on to his Happy Meal box to turn it into a little cardboard house.

Luckily for all of you, I've just uploaded the pdf patterns for you to download for free, at my design site!  Like the road construction playset, I have it available in black and white (for your little Picasso to color), or already in color if you just want to get straight to playing house.

Here's how we did it...

Supplies: Happy Meal box, scissors, glue, scrap cardboard, printed pattern
Optional and very nice to have: X-acto knife

Step 1: Print out all 4 pages of the pdf and cut them out.  I did the already colored one here...if you do the black and white version, let your kids color it in before cutting it out.  On the front and back pieces, fold the side flaps back, as they will wrap around the corners of the house.  It also makes the whole thing bend easier if you fold along the dotted lines once to make a crease before sticking it to the box.

Step 2: Apply glue to the back of the pieces.

Step 3: Glue the front and back pieces on, making sure those white side flaps fold around the corners and stick to the sides.

Step 4: Glue the left and right sides on.

Step 5: Let the glue dry. (or the pages will easily tear when you do this step) Flatten the box, slip a piece of scrap cardboard inside to protect from cutting through to the other side...

...and cut out the windows and around the three sides of the door.  This is where an X-acto knife comes in handy.  Scissors are tougher to use here but they work too.

...and, you're done!  

This is a great little toy to take on-the-go, being that it has built in handles.  It also folds flat for storage, which is a big plus for us grown-ups.  Sammy calls it his "cheeseburger house!"

This also would make a great project to bring with on that road trip to the cabin or Grandma's house.  Just print out the pdf and bring it with you. The kids can color it in the car, and when you have to stop for a drive-through meal during the trip, keep your box for a fun project ready to assemble upon your arrival!

Recycled Kids Project: Make a Collage from Old Magazines!

I don't think it was my mom's intention to be "green" when she used to give us magazine and newspaper pages to make collages as kids...she was just being her usual creative, resourceful self. You can do a lot of fun things with recycled stuff.  If it's rainy outside and you can't go do a nature collage, try a recycled magazine collage!

Our project started a little something like this,

Mom: "Hey Sammy, wanna do a project?"
Sam: "YEAH!"
Mom: "Okay, what color paper would you like to use?" (showing him a stack of construction paper)
Sam: "BLUE!"

From here we took some of my old magazines out, some scissors and glue.  I handed him some crayons to start with a little coloring while I flipped through them, cutting out any pages of things I want to keep, remember, try, check out, etc. (I put those pages into a ring binder.  Later I go back and flip through them when I want to find a new recipe to try, or a craft idea for the kids, etc.)  While flipping through I also cut out images of objects, people, animals, and letters and set them in front of Sammy.

He gets to choose whatever images he'd like for his collage, squeeze on the glue and place his images wherever he chooses...

It's fun to see which images he picks.  He immediately picked the car first, and then the pictures of cookies.  ;-)

Later I let him try a pair of scissors.  Being 2 yrs old, and having never used scissors, he couldn't quite cut shapes out yet. But, he had a blast cutting up paper.  If your kids are older, you can hand them the magazine and let them cut out the pictures.  For us, it afforded us the opportunity to have the conversation about how scissors are for cutting paper, not clothing or people.

He immediately had to hang his masterpiece on the frig! (with one of Mommy's magnets of course!)

Not bad for his first collage, eh?!

I saved all the left-over images in an envelope, which I intend to add to over time so he has a little stash of collage materials.  It was really an enjoyable time, sitting at the table together...Sammy working on his collage while I got to look through my magazines!  That's a win-win project if I've ever seen one!