T-Shirt Diaries and More

Upcycling is taking something that was once previously owned and turning it into something new. A lot of people think that upcycling is simply taking something new and making it better. While that is fun, and I do it myself, it does not fall into the realm of upcycling. It's being an awesome crafter. Now does that mean an upcycled product has to be 100% reused. Well I think that would be pretty darn hard (but possible). I use new thread and sometimes even the occasional new material to make the necks of some of my upcycled T-shirt dresses. I would definately consider those upcycled. With that said here are ten ways you can upcyle: Wrap presents with newspaper instead of buying new wrapping paper. Take that old T-shirt you haven't worn in years and make a pillow, childs dress, or a more fitted version of the previous tee. Oatmeal containers make great drums or banks.  Mod Podge or paint can spruce them up quite a bit. If you have a piece of furniture that feels drab ...

Well I have strep so my posting is going to be on hiatus for a day or two. I am so sorry but I have a ton of awesome projects I can not wait to share with you and Upcycled Awesome will still be on Wednesday!

If you are interested in getting free cards from Shutterfly please check out my blog post on my review blog HERE. You will not be sorry! XOXO,

Don't forget to sign up for the Holiday Craft swap Here I can't believe only six of you want to swap some holiday goodness:( It has been a crazy busy week. Last year I got up at 3am to shop those Black Friday deals. This year I have completely ignored them. It has not been easy. I mean I LOVE a good bargain. I love getting Thomas the Train Engine for 50% off! So why am I ignoring. I am trying to buy only locally made Christmas presents for my kids and I am also trying to teach my kids that they do not "need" every toy that they see on television. I am also making a large portion of their Christmas presents.  I love my children very much and I know a day will come when I absolutely will not be able to do a handmade holiday for them because they will need to have a Wii. Heck I wouldn't mind getting one myself. While they are young and can truly appreciate handmade I am going to encourage and support it. I am going to encourage making things because as a great...

It's time for Upcycled Awesome #23, your linky party dedicated to upcycled crafts and more.  As always you have until Saturday at Midnight to post your upcycled project.  Upcycling is taking something you already have, something rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and making it into something new. For more information on upcycling check out this post . We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here and then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Please do not link up projects made from 100% new materials. I love these products, but they really don't constitute upcycling. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Decide what upcycled project you want to link up (more than one is fine by me!) Link...

A while back (oh say three months ago) I was doing a regular post called T-Shirt Tuesday where I would feature a few rocking upcycled projects. While I can not guarantee that it will be a regular feature once again I would like to highlight a few fabulous upcycled projects from last weeks Link Party. Hey before you check out the three crafts that are now on my to-do list don't forget to sign-up for my Holiday Craft Swap HERE . The first is from OrloSubito . She always has wonderful upcycles, although not in English google translate will still let you read her blog. She took some fabulous T-Shirt yarn and turned it into a braided belt. Simple, yet adorbs (making up my own words again). T-Shirt Belt As I love all things upcycled I was pretty excited to see an upcycled sweater hat with instructions so simple even my husband could make one. Check this beautiful sweater hat out from Nancy's Couture: Upcycled Sweater Hat And Kristy from Textiles4you is making the...

Attention all crafty momma's, fellow Eco-crafters and stashbusters. I am so excited to announce my first annual craft swap. I love getting goodies in the mail and I love sharing my crafty love. You will mail an item that you have created or some sweet stash that you know you can not use but your swap buddy would love to the blogger who lists their name below yours in the comments section. Sign ups: From NOW. Leave me a comment here with your email – hopefully at least one of you wants to play so that I can send a wonderful piece of my crafty goodness out. It is up to you to contact each other I will be commenter number one so that the gifts can get started. It would be extra nice if you could: A . Post about this swap in your blog   B . Let the blogging world know what wonderful crafty goodness you get from your fellow swapper by posting a fabulous picture! Any questions, comments, ideas please email me. Oh yeah you have until December 4th at midnight to sign ...

I recently took a cake decorating class. I loved it! One of my favorite things has always been making cupcakes but I needed to make something for my Cat in the Hat party and with a $20 budget buying cupcake toppers was out of the question. I started by creating several different designed disks. I used picnik and made 1 1/14 inch circles. I used this EXCELLENT tutorial from Homemade by Jill . (Thank you so much to felicitouschick for helping me find the tutorial!) I then used my scallop punch and three different colors of card stock to cut out the scalloped circles. I put them together. I glued the pictures onto the scalloped edges and placed a toothpick in between. (with a ton of glue). I clipped them together, let them dry over-night like this. And I had my cupcake toppers! I used a lovely cupcake stand to display these beauties I love how C1 is fascinated by the smoke from blowing out her candle. Yummy! Everyone loved them.

It's time for Upcycled Awesome, your green linky party dedicated to upcycled crafts and more.  As always you have until Saturday at Midnight to post your upcycled project.  Upcycling is taking something you already have, something rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and making it into something new. For more information on upcycling check out this post . We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here and then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Please do not link up projects made from 100% new materials. I love these products, but they really don't constitute upcycling. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Decide what upcycled project you want to link up (more than one is fine ...

Over the summer I came upon a ton of scrap fabric such as these scraps of upholstery samples. I also had two horribly ugly pillows from our downstairs couch like this (and don't say I didn't warn you): So I measured the pillow (18" x 18") I  broke out my very important crafting supplies I measured the first square for the pillow case cover adding one inch to allow for the stuffing and the seams (19"x19")  Sidenote: I probably should have added a little more than an inch but hey it's a learning process right? I measured out two flaps for the other side. The samples were not big enough to do two squares, but hey this way I got to make a removable slipcover! I turned all of the material over and pinned it together. I broke out my trusty serger and went to work. (what can I do to make blogger stop flipping my pictures?) Put the cover on the pillow and yeah new lovely slip-covered pillows from old worn dog eared pillows. I...

Seriously I never win anything. I must have applied to ten million bloggy contest where the winner is chosen and guess what it is not me:( So imagine my surprise when I saw this post for Sunny over at Life in Rehab (we all know I need coffee rehab but that is another story.) I won a $40 gift card to CSN stores and I bought.... A Melissa and Doug Swivel Bridge Train Set for C2's Birthday. Yes that is right I am in the midsts of yet another birthday party planning frenzy, but hey what is a girl to do. So check this bad boy out: I have to say I am pretty excited I have one thing crossed off my list for C2. I know he will love it because the boy is obsessed with trains. Keep on Upcycling,

It's time for Upcycled Awesome, your green linky party dedicated to upcycled crafts and more.  As always you have until Saturday at Midnight to post your upcycled project.  Upcycling is taking something you already have, something rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and making it into something new. For more information on upcycling check out this post . We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here and then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Please do not link up projects made from 100% new materials. I love these products, but they really don't constitute upcycling. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Decide what upcycled project you want to link up (more than one is fine by me!) Li...

It was a party as fun as can be. We invited thing one, thing two, and the rarely seen thing three. We had cupcakes galore Fun on the floor and found a funny little cat who happened to wear a hat The friends came to play They stayed all day We had so much fun But now we have to run So thank you for enjoying our party du Jour Mom needs a nap now and oh dear what is a word for coffee that rhymes with rhymes with jour ? And yes the entire party (food not included) cost less than $20 like I promised.

I am in no way an ETSY expert. In fact I just opened my shop as part of my One Week To ETSY posts. Nothing draws you in more than a solid description. Why did I not say a good description because good will not cut it. So what is a solid description? It is one that will answer pretty much any question that the buyer might have such as the measurements. I can not tell you how many shops I have seen that don't tell you the items measurements. Here is the latest description of the whopping second item I put on my ETSY site: Who says that kids should have all the fun. Adults can rock the Tutu too. The adult tutu is slightly sheer (scandalous, I know) and looks great over leggings or a funky pair of tights. Heck wear the tutu over jeans when cooking in the kitchen and make everyday fun! This Stylish number is: Made of hand-cut sparkling black tulle. Formed by knotting a ridiculous number of strips on one inch elastic and wrapped with one inch thick black grosgrain ribbon. ...

Coming up with the perfect birthday present for C1 has been quite the task. I wanted to make her something cool, but I didn't want to have it be something that she would look at and then disregard. I came up with the idea (not an original idea I first spied upcyled nightstand kitchens HERE on homemade by Jill ) of making a play kitchen out of a nightstand. Well I bought the nightstand in June or July for $5.00 and have been working feverishly on creating the perfect play kitchen since then. Okay I will be honest I just really started two weeks ago. More pictures and a little DIY instruction to come!

It's time for Upcycled Awesome, your green linky party dedicated to upcycled crafts and more.  As always you have until Saturday at Midnight to post your upcycled project.  Upcycling is taking something you already have, something rescued from a thrift store, garage sale, or even your neighbors garbage and making it into something new. For more information on upcycling check out this post . We all need a place to go to find green projects on the web so why not link yours up here and then check out other green crafty bloggers. I know I get some amazing ideas from this linky party. Pretty much anything goes. You can sew, Mod Podge, or redo furniture, as long as it is something that is redone in some way or another. Please do not link up projects made from 100% new materials. I love these products, but they really don't constitute upcycling. Other than that here are the rest of the easy rules: Decide what upcycled project you want to link up (more than one is fine by me!) Link ...