The Beautiful Art of Recycling: Tin Cans

I absolutely love the idea of reusing empty tin cans, turning them from useless junk pieces into useful, functional decor. Tins can be covered with lovely paper or cloth; embellished with ribbons; painted on; used as table centerpieces, flower vases,  planters, or a cool organizer for tools, utensils, pens, etc.  There really isn't a limit to what you can do with cans.  So, the next time you opened a can of milk or mushroom, think about recycling that piece of scrap before throwing it away in the trash.  Here are some of the coolest concepts I found online:

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~KITCHEN~

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~WORKSPACE~

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~GARDEN~

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Which of these recycled cans caught your eye?

Feeling Crafty: Pretty Bow DIY

This is my second attempt on DIY. I must say, I think I am enjoying it.  This time, I tried my hands on sewing a bow out of the remaining dotted fabric scraps by following this tutorial.  Liz makes a lot of different things on her blog and I am amazed at how crafty she is. So, here's what I came out with.  A pretty bow in polka dots.

The materials you will need are needle & thread, fabric scissors, and some old cloth.

Of course, this was an easy project to begin with. All you need to do is cut one big square, depending on how big you want your bow to be.  I cut about 8 inches by 8 inches from my fabric because there wouldn't be much left so I might as well make use of the entire scrap.  Then, cut a rectangle, about 6 inches by 4 inches.

As you may already have guessed, I am no expert on sewing but I know how to do simple stitches, like backstitch.  Fold your square into half and stitch-up all the sides from the back, leaving a gap on the last corner, just a small opening wide enough for you to be able to pull the cloth from the inside out.  You can sew up this gap later.  Do the same thing for your rectangle.  

With your square fabric, make a crease from the center to form the shape of a bow and stitch it up to hold it together.  

With my rectangle fabric, I twisted it once, placed it vertically in the center of my bow, and tied it up, so that it creates a smaller bow right on top of the bigger bow.

I'm seeing this bow on a headband, as a necklace, or as brooch.

Linked up with:

 

Feeling Crafty: DIY Rossette Fabric Corsage Necklace

I'm excited to be sharing my very first DIY project on this blog. The reality is that I'm not a very crafty person but I definitely appreciate handmade things and I am in awe of creative people. I love discovering DIY crafts; I enjoy looking at photos of the step-by-step process; I collect DIY tutorials on Pinterest, wanting to try my hands on various projects but haven't found the time or the compulsion to do any of them.

Yesterday, I saw this project on A Few Pretty things and I felt this itch to actually create something.  Today, I stopped imagining and just start.  And so, here it is, a rossette I made out of pretty fabric scraps which can be worn as a corsage necklace or a brooch.

This isn't a complicated DIY.  You can trust me when I say this because I'm definitely a beginner in this field.  I was quite hesitant to do this but then I really wanted to give it a shot.  If you're not skilled in cutting patterns, sewing and putting things together, like I am, but would like to try your hands on crafting, this is one project that you can do.

The only tools you need are needle, thread, scissors, a necklace chain and a compass or a circular ruler.  You can also use jar lids to draw circle patterns on your fabric like I did.

Of course, you will need some scraps of cloth with different patterns.  I've been saving these, wanting to do something out of them for the longest time.  It's an awful waste to throw away scraps of pretty fabric when you can turn them into something nice again, isn't it?  For my rossette, I chose to combine dotted denim; black, cotton cloth with smaller dots; and a cambric shirt in blue & white stripes.

The next step is to cut circle patterns in three sizes out of each fabric.  I chose the dotted denim to be on the center so I made four circles of those in equal diameter.  Don't worry if the edges are not perfect as long as they are round.

I folded three of the circle denims in half twice and stitched the bottom corners.

I assembled my circles one on top of the other, and stitched them all in the middle. Then I sewed the three half circles side by side on the center like this: 

When I was done, I realized that my black, cotton fabric was too soft so I needed an extra layer.  I cut two larger circles using the same blue & white striped cloth.  I stitched the sides of these two circles to make it one so it would be strong enough to hold the entire rossette without folding down.

And this is the final output.

I know this is a very simple DIY but I'm happy that I was actually able to finish it.  Think this one's going to be special because it's my first.  Have you done this kind of project? If yes, I'd love to see what you've made.  If you would like to make your own, you can also check out these tutorials on these blogs: denim & sweater fabric brooch by A Few Pretty Things; corsage necklace by Polka Dot Chair.

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Joining the link-up at:

J

The Beautiful Art of Recycling: Window Shutters

I love recycled projects! I always think about trying them myself even though I know that I'd probably won't be able to do most of them.  I found these creative new uses for old window shutters in the home.  The idea of using this as a mood board or a mail sorter is a clever one but that's not all you can do with it.  It can also work as a rustic headboard, a wedding prop, an interesting piece of wall decor or a place to hang planters in your garden.  Take a look at these super-cool ideas:  (Click on the link at the bottom of each picture to view the source.)

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Which one of these projects would you be willing to try for your home?