Monday, 15 August 2011

Make a Greenhouse Out Of Soda Bottles

I'm always looking for things to do with used soda bottles. I don't have a yard big enough to hold a greenhouse, but maybe this link would be of some help to one of you.
http://www.squidoo.com/plasticbottlegreenhouse

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Chair

When some neighbors moved, I found this chair waiting for the trash man.  I grabbed it thinking maybe it can be fixed. The woven seat needs to be repaired.  But for now it makes a great anchor for my weaving project.


Oh and the loom is made from popsicle sticks.

Save the Pool


Our neighbors always stick things in the dumpster that are too big for the trash crew to pick up, then the bulky items get tossed in front of my backyard gate, which I consider a fire escape, so that really chaps my hide.
In this heat my ankles have been hot and swollen, and I was just saying to my boyfriend how I should get a kiddy pool, just to keep cool in the backyard and soak my tired feet in.
So he said, "Take that one that's been blocking our gate for a week." At first I was disgusted.  He said, "Big deal, just clean it and you are good to go."
It was still there this morning after the trash crew came and left. So I booted it over the gate, scrubbed it with a brush I use to clean the truck, and now I have a way to keep my feet cool and happy.  And I saved one more thing from the landfill, at least for now.

Oftentimes the universe plops what we need right in front of us, and we don't recognize our good fortune. I'm sure buying a pool would have cost me $20 or so. So it's like I earned $20.

Saturday, 5 March 2011

Air brushed birthday card

For this I took a leftover Christmas card, coated it with gesso and let dry. Then I used gel medium under and over bits of tissue paper to cover all the white areas. The tissue paper was saved from my daughter's baby shower. After that was dry, I cut a stencil out of graph paper, and used it to air brush a leaf and butterfly design over the tissue on the front. I'm letting it dry over night under weights and in the morning I'll write the text part. So far so good.

Friday, 21 January 2011

T-shirts

Many of my t-shirts are no longer wearable and are just taking up way too space in my bedroom. Some of the things I've done with t-shirts in the past include making  a beach blanket (cut the best front or back with a 12" x 12" cardboard template and stitch together), t-shirt yarn (which I used to crochet a bath mat), and rag curlers. This time though I took the simple route and just cut a shirt into shop rags which I'll use for applying dye, dusting before adding a finish coat, or to clean up spills.

There are many books and websites devoted to making new fashions from old t-shirts, so think twice before you pitch those shirts away.