Next Weekend – Eeeeeek!!!

I’m getting ready for the craft show and my house is a mess. It’s a contained mess, really… I’ve kept my stuff to just one area – but it takes someone with my well honed skills to find the right thing when I need it (wink). I finally figured out an arrangement that lets me stay in the room and continue to get things done while my girls are happily playing. Let’s face it when they aren’t happily playing then not much gets done, we all wait anxiously for my husband’s return home everyday.

I’m really proud of my little dolly. She is made up of reclaimed fabrics, recycled sweaters and a really funky pink work jacket. I was so pleased when her arms and legs finally came together, this is the third version of arms, and they finally look right. Her legs were a bit of a challenge, she has a wire armeture so she can be posed. Her joints are also wire and her face is hand painted and drawn.

For those in the DC area, the craft show will take place at the Josephine Butler Parks Center next to Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park in NW.When: Sunday, February 3, 12 noon to 5 pmWhere: The yellow mansion at 2437 15th Street NW.

What: 40 crafters selling unusual handmade items and special gifts, including handknit and screenprinted apparel for men/women/kiddies, jewelry, cards, handmade books, valentines, soap and skincare products, handbags, handspun wool, pillows, pottery, and other items for walls/homes/wardrobes/bodies/brains/hearts.

What else: Music, treats to eat and drink, a kissing booth, goodie bags to the first 50 visitors, and more!

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Cute and Colorful Buttons

I came across these button bouquets last week while shopping through Etsy, aren’t they darling? I love all the colors, and am a big fan of the kind of bouquets that last a long time. They would be such a wonderful and cheery little gift. I’ll try to talk my husband into buying something a little more long lasting than a bouquet of roses for Valentines, maybe this year I’ll suggest a button bouquet.

I have a thing for buttons – check out my recycled fabric flowers.

Click on the image to go to Little Bit Funk’s Etsy store.

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Painting Recycled Shoes

This is a little project I did with a pair of Children’s Sunday Shoes. It’s simple and sweet way to add a little life to a pair of recycled shoes.

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New Life for Recycled Shoes

I don’t think I’m much different than the average woman. I like my shoes and on average we have about 50 pair right??? Then great, I’m just about average. To support this NEED I have for new shoes, something new and sexy for my feet I’ve also taken to buying some shoes from the thrift store.

I hasten to add that I purchase shoes that are in good shape, there are some very generous women out there who have donated some beautiful shoes. The first step is to have a look at the sole of the shoe to see if it’s been worn a lot, for a heel – how much has the heel been chewed up. The sole also doesn’t tell you everything, you’ve got to see if all of the cushioning on the inside has been squished as well. By looking in the shoe and feeling into the ball you can get an idea of how much a shoe has been worn and whether it has any wear left in it for you.

Try them on in the store, wear socks when you shop or little knee high nylons and try out the shoes as you walk and shop. If you can’t stand to wear them for 5 minutes, put them back and keep shopping. Also, notice where the shoe is going to wear on you, is the heel to tight, straps… make sure that you’ve put some thought into whether it’s a good buy – spending even $5 on a pair of shoes that are going to leave blisters or you aren’t going to wear is a waste even if it’s only $5.

I’ve found that most times it’s the fancy evening shoes for women and the cute Sunday shoes for children that still have some wear in them. Now comes the fun part.

Don’t pass by a pair of good shoes as you shop just because they are a weird color or not exactly your style. Find a shoe with some life in them and imagine a few crafty possibilities. Imagine whether a new ribbon or something sparkly would make you feel different about the shoe. If that doesn’t do it – could you paint some new life into them?

I’ve painted a few shoes and at the top of this entry is a pair of Naturalizers that were $6 at the local Goodwill – this is what I did with them.

Tips for Painting Recycled Shoes

• Don’t try to paint the whole shoe, they will naturally have some wrinkles and this is where the paint starts to chip and disintegrate first
• When you paint a good way of making a white canvas is using a little bit of Gesso, blob out the areas you are interested in and then apply acrylic paints over them
• Sometimes you can’t replicate a design – unless you are willing to use stencils, two shoes don’t have to look the same to go together
• Little or Simple designs can look great, don’t underestimate what a little painting will do to make something old into something special
• Don’t be afraid of mistakes, Acrylic will wipe off with water if you move quickly, when you make a mistake have a damp towel next to you to clean up

Please send in pics of your shoe projects, I’d love to see them. Mail me at thisrecycledlife@gmail.com

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Recycling T-shirts – New Hat

Did you know that you loose something like 80% of your body heat through the top of your head – ok that’s a factoid (I don’t know the fact I just know what I’ve been told by ‘them’). We lost the little girl’s hat the other day, it was a 99 cent bargain from the thrift store (so it’s not a tragedy – just a bother) and I can’t for the life of me figure out where we’ve been that we may have misplaced it. Now that I’ve made a replacement we are sure to find it any minute.

So here I am cutting down t-shirts again, I know that I could have just cut a cylinder out of the t-shirt – but really we are going for some sort of style here and besides I really like the texture. Here is my little superstar in her recycled t-shirt hat…

This t-shirt has been a recycling stretch, I’ve made 2 birds, one hat and started a new rug. I bet when hubby decided he didn’t want it anymore he didn’t realize that he’d continue seeing it everywhere. Save your t-shirts, it’s amazing what you’ll be able to recycle them into – recycling craft projects as far as the eye can see.

As soon as I get a moment I’ll post some quick directions. For those so inclined please refer to the ‘How to cut down a t-shirt page‘ and just make the ribbon width a little thicker.

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Best of Intentions

So we spent most of this holiday week with a head cold – can I just say that there isn’t much worse that a sweet little girl with a cough. My sweet little babies have both had the cold this week and thankfully both are feeling better…

I did get a few more things done now that we seem to be on the mend, here are some more Matryona dolls, the original doll didn’t feel done and now I’ve given her a few sisters. All are created from reclaimed upholstery scraps, antique gold trims and fibers and a little bit of embroidery. I painted the faces on some felt and a little scrap of cotton fabric – I really like how the felt looks.

I hope you’ve all had a great holiday – and wish you a Happy New Year!

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Recycled Upholstery – Matryona Dolls

The other day when I was making those recycled thank-you notes I was going through my stash of upholstery scraps and I was inspired to make some recycled scrap dolls. I’ve been seeing some really great Matryona dolls and I was ready to start something new after all the Christmas stuff.

This is my first version of the doll. She is made up of recycled felt – her face is done using watercolors and colored pencils. The dress is reclaimed upholstery fabric and the backing is more scrap felt. I’ll post some more as I get the embroidery done.

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Third Time’s the Charm

Have you ever noticed how much better your third try is at something than the first and second tries were?  I’ve found that the third version of my work is alway the point where things finally look ‘perfect’.  The first time I do something I am still thinking about what is going to work – establishing the technique.  The second time – I usually take it too far – too much color, too extreme in one fashion or another.  The third time is wondeful, the technique is working and I’ve finally had enough experience to make the right balance and color choices…

This morning I was finishing up some Thank-you Notes for my daughter, we’ve been a little lax lately and didn’t get thank-yous in the mail right after she got birthday presents, so this weekend is my last oppertunity to make sure that’s done before we’ll enjoy Christmas present and need to get a few more thank-yous in the mail.

The pink note with the technique problems is of course the first try and the deep marroon is the second (of course I went with that color)

This is the third try, where the fabric is just right and matches the Gocco printing.

I wish that picture was a little better, but you get the idea.  BTW this is made from swatches of upholstery at the local fabric store – I can’t say enough about making friends with the local fabric store.  I’ve gotten the greatest donations of remnants because some sweet clerk was willing to tip me off.

One last thing, after the third try I usually find that somethings continue to improve but it never seems to be the kind of leaps and bounds that are achieved between the first through third iterations.

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Another Recycled Scrap Quilt

I finished up a couple more of my little scrap recycling quilts yesterday. These have been really fun – I’m enjoying them so much I want to do more.

I look through my scrap box and see what they remind me of. The little tree quilt was left over triangles from a bird ornament.  Next time you cut out something, save the scraps, you might find that a little scrappy quilt is in your future.

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