Upcycled Bakeware

A month or so ago, my aunt took dinner to my mom. One of the items she brought was in this old, blackened, caked-on burn crud type pan, and she told my mom to just throw it away when they were done with it because it could not get clean. And the crafter inside me shouted "NOOOOOOO!!' So I snatched it and brought it home! I'm not 100% sure where I got this idea, but I know it's all my own. 

Anyway, so I brought it home and got out my fabric scraps and glue gun and went to work! IT was actually kind of tricky, not as tricky as I thought, yet a little trickier than it first appears. But still not too bad, and I love how it turned out! So I took all of my fabric and matched colors, and measured to make sure I had enough to cover all of it. It turned out I used 5 different types total. The purple to cover the inside sides, the dark green on the outside, then I got a canvas type of material for the bottom (and I just folded it under itself and stuck some hot glue underneath) and the ribbon from my wedding dress corset (we didn't end up using it for the dress, don't worry, I'm not cutting up such a beauty for a craft) to border the bottom to make the edge look nicer. Finally I used some tulle and just wrapped it around the handles. An there you go! I also thought about adding the beading around the outside rim edge, but I only had bits and pieces, so I didn't finish that. I may go buy some and finish it later. 

The final product is a tray I keep on my table. It looks so classy! I love it so much! If you want to try something like this, I think any thrift shop would have junky old bakeware you could use on the cheap! 

Cost: Completely FREE!

Time: 1-2 hours between thumbing through fabric and all that jazz. 

Hanger Re-do!

So, like ten years ago, my mom gave me this hanger. She used to use it to hang all of her necklaces on. It was cool enough, but it was kind of this dark pink color... Not really my thing. So I decided to paint it! 

 See? Dark pink color... not happening. 

So I decided to go with a green base, and alternate between blue and yellow for the pegs. 

Here is what it looks like now hanging up in my room!

I quite like it! And it will match the colors I will eventually paint my little girl's room, and then I can pass it on to her! CUTE! 

Perfect, right?

Time: maybe an hour total painting, plus a few hours drying

Cost: few buck for paint (the stuff I used was given to me)

Birthday Liter

So, as many of you out there probably can relate, I have become a lover of Pinterest. So, when my brother's birthday rolled around in October (I know, so long ago!) I perused my boards and found this nifty idea. 

So, what you do is you get a two (or in this case three) liter bottle of soda (preferably one you enjoy) and empty the contents. Of course if you have a bottle just laying around, that's probably best. Anyway, once emptied, you clean the bottle out so it's not sticky, an cut a hole in the side where the name of the soda is. I recall this being tricky. I believe I had to stab it with a knife, then try and wiggle my scissors into it to cut it open, so be careful when you attempt this. I made three cuts so it could open like a lid and proceeded to fill it. My brother is a sugar-holic, so I just filled it with lots of candy from the dollar store. Depending on your recipient though, you could fill it with yo-yo's, bouncy balls, small dolls, coins, dollar bills, chap stick, make-up, cards... anything you think they would like that will fit. Next, you tape up the hole, cover the side with cute paper, and add a label if you would like. I just turned the wrapping paper around and used the white side. Also, I would suggest writing on it before you tape it to the bottle-much easier that way. Then I got some fun matching ribbons and tied them on top and added a bow and voila! A cute birthday present that everyone can love!

Time: An hour or so
Cost: I spent about $10 but it could easily cost more or less depending on what you fill it with.

Paper Flowers

A few months ago, a friend of the family died. I wanted to do something special for the family that would stand out from what everyone else does-which in my mind is buy flowers. So, being the poor, married, pregnant college student that I was, I decided to make a bouquet out of what I had lying around.

This was fairly simple. I made it out of five pieces of 12x12" paper for the flowers, and two smaller pieces for the base. I cute the 12" paper into four pieces (except the green), cut those smaller pieces into circular shapes, then cut a spiral in them, leaving a small circle in the middle where the spiral ended. Then I rolled the spiral up, and glued it to the circle in the middle. Next I cut out leaf shapes in the green, with a wide base so I could fold it in half to give it a creased look (which you can't really see). Then I bought some wires (the only part I bought. It was like $2 at the craft store), cut them in half, and glued them between the leaf and the flower. Next, I cleaned out an old asparagus can, melted wax from candles I had lying around, and poured it into my clean can. Then I stuck my wires down in the wax, and added the grassy stuff, and finally covered the can with paper for a nice vase look. 

Overall, it was pretty quick and easy. Done in less than half a day. But be warned, all that paper curling left my fingers a tad bit sore. But, I'm pleased with the result, and I think my friend will appreciate having it for years to come. (I hope... I'm bad with this whole memories of the dead thing) 

This shows the crease in the green a little better. 

Time: couple of hours, including gathering supplies.
Cost: $2- but varies based on how many supplies you have and how many you need to buy.