Recycled Projects - Recycled 101 - Create a trinket bowl!

Welcome to another week of recycled projects, where I have taken a plastic drinks container and turned it into a bowl that can be used to display some of your favorite things.

I have taken newspaper rolls and wound them round the bottom of the bottle, creating a base

 I have then painted it with a water resistant paint product called powertex, and then added a gold finish around the bowl.

It is now a great place to store my stones that are waiting to be painted.  Check out the video below to see it up a bit closer.

Recycled Projects - Are Back! - Crafting a Cup

Happy Saturday!   So great that you could join me today.  I wanted to let you know that the Recycled Project posts are back and I will be sharing things that you can do with recycled materials.  There are a lot of crafty things that you can do with recycled materials.   You will have endless amounts of fun re-purposing, reusing and just making stuff that you might be able to use around the home or in your crafting space.

This is also useful if you are creating on a budget and want to find some inexpensive ways of creating the products or equipment that you might need for a fraction of the cost.

In one of my previous posts I shared a book case I made from Cardboard boxes

Cardboard Bookcase

which was made from packing boxes below!

The foundation of the bookcase made from Cardboard

I had great fun making it, was able to make it fit the space I had in mind.  I have since been making other things, and there seems to be more recycled material than time to make something new and exciting, but I am giving it a go.

I have come up with a few ideas for things to do with plastic bottles and newspaper, and again it is quite exciting what you can do with a little bit of imagination.

I have made a storage container this week, which will be used to hold some of my tools in the studio, see photos below, you can also see the video so that you can see it from a different view point.

So many things can be made from these two materials

So many things you can do with plastic and paper!

There is a wealth of things that you can create with plastic and paper, here is one way in which you can create an inexpensive storage container, that can be used in a variety of ways in your creative space or around the home.

The design formed itself and began to take shape once the paper was added.

It is made using the top of a plastic container and newspaper.

I love the way the paper lays on the plastic

The newspaper is rolled and covers the plastic to get the textured effect.

I created a stand from the rolled paper

It is dried and painted then given the brushed gold effect with metallic paint. I really like the detail on the handle and the pattern around the container.

Painted cup, which is varnished

It is then sealed with varnish and is water resistant, but to preserve it don't actually use it as a cup (lol).

With some thought you could allow your imagination to run away with you and create other shapes and styles - how about a series.

Do come back next week to see what else can be made, subscribe and sign up to the emails, so that you don't miss out on a post!

New - Recycled Projects Returns - Cardboard Bookcase

Welcome to a long overdue Recycled Project, and I look forward to sharing with you things that I create out of the things that we would normally recycle and give no thought to.

I will be doing a mixture of Art and Creativity and DIY projects that take my fancy.  If you want to see some of the previous projects you can find them HERE and there are a few more dotted around the blog which I will be gathering together into one place - though that's for another time.

Cardboard Bookshelf

I recently finished this bookcase, I am really proud of myself for making it.

It has truly been a labor of love and quite challenging at times but I persevered and here we have it finished, painted, distressed and ready for the purpose it was built. 

It started off as empty cardboard boxes, I got the basic plan from a youtuber HERE, with my limited Spanish followed along then went and added my own flair

Putting it together was fun

I added a shelf on top and a draw for smaller books

  

I made the feet out of masking tape tubes after they had been used on the structure

After covering most of it with paper, I decided to make some paper tubes and decorate the bookcase with these

At the home stretch with painting, sealing and then embellishing with a gold rub-on

My bookcase is ready, this is how the draw turned out

I couldn't decide whether to leave it in the bedroom or the studio which it was originally made for.

It is great to see something that would have been thrown away become so useful.  There are some amazing things that you can make with cardboard, and I will be sharing more here on the blog.  I will also be putting together the video of the process of making bookcase and I hope you give it a try.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!  Watch out for other creative makes!

Material Mondays - Painted fabric

Material Mondays - Painted Fabric

Welcome back to Monday Makes, it has been a while since I have posted what I have made either from fabric or crochet.  I have been busy in the background and will be sharing with you over the next few weeks, getting back on track

You can do many things with fabric, it is so versatile.  I decided to experiment, and took sari fabric which was quite sheer and sandwiched a piece of paper between two pieces of the material.

This meant that I was able to stiffen it up prior to working on it.  After letting it dry I painted with gesso and was then able to add an image.

I also added some journaling and beading on the body of the image and also as earrings

 It was great to experiment by adding the beads, and being fabric made it easy to sew.  I found that because the material was so sheer you needed to take extra care to add enough glue to the surfaces, which resulted in areas where it didn't stick properly.

A remedy would be to use these areas as a part of the decoration and sew additional beads to these parts, try to flatten by ironing them out or cut and reseal, which will probably be the most effective remedy.  I haven't quite decided what I will be using the decorated fabric painting for, and this will inform to a certain extent how prominent the areas look.

Painted and decorated fabric

Why not see what you can do with the fabric that you have and do something different with it.  Do let me know how you get on.

If you are considering learning how to crochet, or any other creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here. 

Have a blessed day, see you tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday.

Recycled Projects - 'John Lewis' art Journal

How many times have you come across a catalogue that you were not really interested in the products, but the paper that it was made from?  Not to say that I don't like John Lewis products, but when I came across this catalogue I thought that I would put it to use.

You can make a journal out of anything, putting the pages together for yourself and creating to your hearts content.  The fun lays in taking something made for one use and totally changing it, and seeing what each page will eventually become.

My use for this journal is as a jump start to get my creative juices flowing using some of the pictures as inspiration and for when I have a limited supply.

I first set out to decorate the front using paints, stamps, modelling paste, and markers to remind myself that its purpose was to inspire, not get overwhelmed with what I wanted to create, but just play.  

On the back cover I wanted to create a painting but it also had to be durable as it would be taken around, thrown into bags and experience rough and tumble.

Using tissue paper glued randomly to the back, applying paint and then sealing it all in means that it is a journal that will stand the tests of time, or there about.

I proceeded to stick several of the pages together to create a strong surface that would take paint well, and then I see what images inspire.  Each page has a selection of beds, bedding and household furniture and I either use the room settings as the basis for the page, or draw something totally unrelated. 

Here is a page that I chose to do create a scene with, after it is chosen and I start to draw round the items I want to keep in charcoal. 

I get a sense after a while of the characters that may be present in the room, and this young man found his way in the room, and decided to jump all over the bed.

Using gesso I block out those areas that I don't want to keep and think about either adding additional characters or thinking about paint.

This little girl couldn't resist joining the little boy to jump all over his parents bed, and so that's how I have been using the journal to think about ideas and stories about the lives of the people that join me on the pages of the journal.

I have yet to finish this page, but finishing is not the main objective or motivation, it is to continue to take the time to be creative if possible every day.

Here are a few other pages that I have started, and work on bits when the mood takes, and I look forward to working on them.

On some of the pages I have been working on, stories waiting to be told.

Some stories tell of hope and looking to the future.....

thinking about the past, and being present.......

But most of all working in this journal has been a fresh way of looking at things, often those things that we see day after day and making something new.  I really do encourage you to look at some of the things that you can recycle and use for creative purposes.  Check out some of the other Recycled projects that I have made.  Over the next few weeks I am looking forward sharing other recycled art journals, and ones that you can also make and bind yourself.  Until then stay blessed!

Recycled Projects - Mini Wall Hangings

What do you do with all your paper and card scraps?  Why not create some mini wall hangings?

Mini wall hangings

I have wanted to make these mini wall hangings for such a long time but kept putting it off and finally got round to it.  

What delights do you have in your scrap boxes

They are a great way for recycling cardboard, scraps and odds and ends in your supplies that are too nice to throw away but are too small to be used on their own. 

Simple additions make mini pieces of art!

I have 3 containers labelled as ‘scrap’ that had come from the off cuts when I was creating other projects and I am determined before the end this year to use them up and make room for other things.

On each of the sections you can also create them and apply a selection of images of your favourite things, encouraging words, even some art work.  

You can change up the shape of the arrangement of the wall hangings....

create a variety of sizes

......depending on where your imagination takes you and the space you have to hang them, choosing to make a feature of them or use them as creative reminders.

They could make lovely presents and you can create some that the recipient can put their own photos.   

Creative reminders

Some other ideas that I might try is trying some transfer images, or making them thicker and larger in size.  Because they are made from cardboard they are also lighter in weight than if you were to make them from clay.  I really like them and look forward to seeing what you create and how many ways you can come up with the layout. 

I hope you have a blessed weekend, and allow your creativity to push back the boundaries in order to allow yourself to really soar!

Come back on Tuesday to see how I made the Wall Hangings in Tutorial Tuesday. Do share creative ways in which you have used recycled materials and leave a comment below.

Material Mondays - Recycled Bag Journal

I wanted to show you one of my favorite bags.  In its hay day It was lovely and soft, very flexible, I loved the colour, but alas I wore it out...

Whilst it was not leather, it meant that it didn't last as long with the daily uses.  I would take it every where and it began to get a bit worse for wear.  I decided that I wanted to see if I could create something else that would prolong my use of the bag.

I decided to make a cover for a journal, where the inside pages would be able to be replaceable, but I could keep the essence of the bag.  Taking it apart was easy, and in the back of my mind I had a vague idea of how I would reconstruct it.

It was one of those projects that once I started I was determined to finish.  Armed with glue, needles, wool, painted fabric and some signatures I was ready to begin working out how to put together the bag. 

I added stitching here and there and with a bit of perseverance it began to come together.

Adding tassel's on the bag

The inside detail includes painted fabric which you can recycle from old clothes or sheets.  This journal uses my sons old primary school shirt and trousers and the strips of fabric provide spaces for extra storage.  The signatures as I said are attached by the plaited blue and purple wool, and is a selection of painted papers from projects that I didn't use.

Painted recycled materials for pockets on the inside

The pockets are deep enough to store supplies and still be able to close and not be too heavy.

The bag journal came together really well, I added detail on the back using fimo clay, sequins and fabric paint and made a woolen button as the clasp.

With corresponding wool, I added tassel's and placed painted fabric on the handles give them added durability.

Quite a different looking bag now, I am looking forward to using it, might even use it as a travel journal!

If you are considering learning how to take part in creative activity check out Craftsy online courses, at the moment they are doing a special offer on some of their classes, and they are offering some free mini courses. Click here.