Taking my Life Back

Been a while since I posted. Has been a busy couple of years. I have my hands in many different things. I think that it is time that I start posting so that you can see what I have been doing...or are doing.

A quick catch up. I am getting into rag rugs again. Many years ago I used to crochet rag rugs to sell. A couple of weeks ago I had my husband help me make a twinging loom.

Pretty cool! Love how it turned out. I have made my first rug on it. The purple and Teal were from sheets that I found at the thrift. The other colors were from my fabric stash. I can see that my stash is going to go fast...LOL!!!

This rug was a little learning and a lot of fun. I will try to post again tomorrow. I will show you the Amish Knot rug that I made.

Don't Throw Out The Old Pillow Case

Get this ebook, you will like it!!

I just checked out the new e-book on favecrafts.com. I is "8 Free Apron Sewing Patterns" eBook. All of the project just scream....UPCYCLE....!! There are so many pieces of clothing that I have bought just for this reason that I will be making several of these apron to give as gifts this year at Christmas. After all aprons are making a come back. My daughters used to think I was weird for warring them, but now they want me to make them some, because they get splattered when they cook. Go and check out this ebook and see what you think of it. 8 Free Apron Sewing Patterns

My New Flowerbed!!!

Okay I am very excited. I have been planning a flower bed along the back of my house for over a year. My hubby was off of work all last week and it became a reality. I know it is allot of pictures to load but I just have to show it off.

This is a before picture of where i want the flower bad to be.

Here is my hubby tilling the new garden bed so I can plant my flowers.

Here is what it looks like after we finished. It was a long day but I am so glad to have the new flower bed. In a couple of years it will look awesome!!

We worked so hard. now the recycle part…..

1. the ornamental grass came from a lady that was moving, I got it for a song.


2. The scumetia (bush with berries) I got from the same lady for just as cheap

3. got the trellis from a friend that was going to take it to the dump.


4. two clematis flowers from a friend (she didn’t want them and they were really root bound in their pots).

5. Bleeding heart I moved from another flower bed were it was getting too much sun.


6. Lucifer tails I got from a girlfriend that thinned hers out last fall


7. the border bricks I got at my local dump thrift shop for 50 cents each..cost 7 bucks.


the only thing I bought at the store was two packs of creeping myrtle for a ground cover and it was 7 bucks for both pots of it.


I love sitting out back now and looking at my very cheap but labor intensive flower bed. My hubby has been fighting me about putting it in, now that it is done he told me that I planned it very well and he likes it….Happy Dance!!!!

Another Plarn (plastic yarn) Bag Finished

I have finished another plarn bag today. That means that I have kept somewhere between 60 and 70 bags out of the landfill with just this one bag. I really like the colors, they remind me of spring because it is so bright. Orange is a rare color to come by. I got these from some one who got their newspapers in them. Now most newspapers come in clear bags. I am always on the look out for bags of color.

Plarn Clothes Pin Bag

I have made a clothes pin bag out of plarn (plastic yarn). I really like the way it turned out. I made this one out of light grey bags. I didn't use the color bags because this is a new pattern and didn't know how it would turn out and color bags are too hard to come by. I did use a big orange button were you button it over the clothes line. What do you think of it??? I think I used some were around 25 bags to make this. I love recycling!!!

I got a steal on a spinning wheel

I am very excited. I just picked up a spinning wheel from craigslist. I need to get a new belt for it but I can't wait to start playing with it. I have a DVD on hold at the library to show me how to use it. I paid $50, this is very cheap!!! Once I get the new belt for it I will have to see what I can dig up to spin.....Maybe dog hair??? I have three and one is half husky with allot of hair about to be shed. LOL!!

The Tote I Sent To Sheila in Nashville

I made a plarn tote bag for Sheila in Nashville.
This tote turned out so well. I love the colors, I am going to have to make me one out of these colors. I used dollar tree bags and some green bags I have been saving up. This was fun to make. It sounds like she is happy with it.

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!!