Pop Tab Flowers

Okay, These are a blast to make!! I have made a bunch now. For the flower in the top picture, I found the picture on line here http://craftzine.com/03/fasten_pulltab/ and thought I could do that. First thing I had to do was find some pop tabs. We do not drink pop or beer in a can. So…I got on freecycle (almost every community has one, if not you can start one) and asked for pop tabs. Within two days I had a nice little box of them in my mitts. I got out my crochet thread and started figuring it out. This is a picture of the first one I did. I plan on doing a bunch more I am putting a table up at a Christmas bazaar in November and think these will sell good as tree ornaments. I also live in a Navy community so I am going to make some red, white and blue with a small yellow ribbon in the center with a pin back. I think those will sell very well. I am going to do some solid yellow and some solid pink with the ribbon and pin backs for cancer and waiting for out troops to come home. Very fun. My husband even told me when he saw them “Those are cute, but what are you going to do with them?”. For my husband that is a compliment. The second picture of the bigger flowers I found online. I haven’t tried them yet but will in the next day or two. They look fun also.

Freecycle in your community

As I was writing about my pop tab flowers, It hit me that not many people probably know about freecycle. Freecycle is a national thing. If you go to http://www.freecycle.org/ you can look and see if there one in your area. If there isn’t don’t despair, you can start one. It is a yahoo group and very easy to manage. I have a yahoo group called the sell-n-trade and so far have had no problems. Good luck and keep things out of the land fill by giving them a new home or re-purposing them.

Recycling Plastic Grocery Bags

When I was 7 or so my grandmother taught me how to crochet with plarn (plastic yarn). I didn’t do much with the knowledge until about 5 or 6 months ago. I was over run with plastic bags and decided to try and make a purse. I have sold 4 of them so far. And am having fun with the different varieties that I have been making. When I get some free time I am going to make some and sell them in my etsy store.

The first one I did I don’t have pictured, I use it to haul all of my plarn around in.

The tan and white one was second one that I made. it was made from Safeway bags and just the white part of Wal-Mart bags. This is the one that sold me 4 bags. People seen it and wanted one.

My third bag was the white and yellow bag. I made from Wal-Mart bags and Grocery Outlet bags (a local discount store). I loved how it turned out.

The forth bag I made is bigger. The lady that wanted it wanted one to take with her to the swimming pool. She wanted something she could put clothes and a towel in and not worry about the bag getting wet (these dry very well, just hang them up). By far my favorite. Probably because it is hard to come by blue bags. I have one more to make and it will be similar to this bag here. I have enough of the blue left to make one more. The striping will be different as I don’t want any of my bags to be the same.

Let me see what you can make out of recycled bags. This is are a very fun medium to play with.

Earrings From Old Corks

Yin Yang Recycled Cork Earrings:
All of the beads on these earrings are from recycled jewelry. These earrings are 2 ¾ inches long (from the top of the earring hoop) and just shy of 1 inch wide. A very nice size. These are very fun and playful yet very elegant. These would look good going to the beach or dressed up to pout on the town. Because the yin yang is a cut piece of cork these earrings are very light, not heavy to wear at all. The ear wires are silver color with silver tarnished beads and black (I think that they are glass, but not 100% positive) beads. These were alot of fun to make. I have tons of ideas for them.

Great shoulder bag from t-shirts

I Made this shoulder bag from 4 different t-shirts. I cut them into one long strip and crocheted them. I think that it turned out very well and these were t-shirts that were ready for the garbage. I will definitely make some of these as gifts. It did not take long to make at all. I think one of these would be really cool with some bright colored t-shirts.

Welcome to my new blog

My daughter and I were just talking about how we love to make treasures out of trash. I am one of those weirdos that can't pass by a trash can without looking inside. My husband used to think I was nuts but after seeing some of the stuff I have found and the awesome things I have done with them, he is not so sceptical anymore. I love to recycle BIG time. I am always looking for ways to make cool stuff from old items. I would love it if you would share with me some of the stuff you have made. So come on in, take your shoes off and lets talk!!