upcycle – Achiever Beaver

I’ve come to the realization that I’m not quite as satisfied unless my craft is an upcycle. It’s just not the same when you walk into Michael’s and purchase an assemble-yourself kit. I’d rather keep something out of the landfill and re-purpose it into something useful and fun.

I don’t know how to sew and I don’t have the patience to ever learn. That means my glue gun comes in handy when I’m putting together a costume, outfit…or bag!

As you probably know, 85% of my clothing comes from a thrift store (usually Team Amvets Thrift Store). Once I saw the idea of making a T-shirt tote, I had to look for some interesting designs. It then came to me…why waste trees by using wrapping paper? Or even a gift bag…I THINK most people reuse them for someone else’s gift, but they might only have a life of 3 holidays until they end up in the trash too.

What better use of an old T-shirt than making it into a gift bag for a baby shower, birthday, Christmas or even a “just because” gift? Not only is it an adorable way to present a gift, but it’s a usable gift itself! A collapsible tote to take with you to the grocery store, department store, farmer’s market, an overnight bag…the possibilities are endless. Let’s take it 1 step further and not let those scraps go to waste either. Make a headband with flower embellishments.

What you need:

A t-shirt of your choosing (the larger, the better)
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Glue sticks
Extra t-shirt/t-shirt scraps for additional embellishments

Step 1: Cut above the bottom seam.

Step 2: Fold the shirt in half and cut the sleeves off.

Step 3: While still folded, cut around the neck.

It should look like this:

Step 4: Go to the base of the shirt and cut about 3 inches up with about an inch between each cut.

Step 5: Start tying the corresponding flaps to each other and double knot them.

It will look a little something like this after you finish the line…but you’re not done yet.

See this gap here? I’m sure it would be okay if you don’t put tiny items inside, but I like a nice, solid bag…

Step 6: Tie the flaps next to each other to close up those gaps. Double tie these as well.

Ta-da! This is actually acceptable as is…but not as much fun as it can be.

Step 7: Take one of the sleeves and cut into 3’s. Make sure the middle section is larger (this will be your headband)

Step 8: Make a rose out of the smaller strip.

Put a dot of glue and make a triangle at the corner.
Start to circle the fabric around the center. Run glue down the strip.
Be sure to twist the fabric to add some texture.

Look how cute these are!

Step 9: Attach your rose embellishments to the headband with the glue gun.

All done!

Right here, you have “wrapping” for a Christmas gift, a Valentine’s gift, a birthday present for the poet/child/nerd in your life.

Why not upcycle instead? What is upcycling, you ask? It’s taking something you’d usually just throw out, and re-purposing it into something usable and fabulous again instead.

Once a month, my creative, fun friend, Mary Katherine, hosts a girl’s crafting night at her place. She makes it desirable for even the laziest of people…she gets all the supplies and tells us what we owe her. This month: wine bottle wind chimes.

I started out with the best of intentions, but cutting glass isn’t nearly as easy as I thought it would be with the special tool we had to use, so my lazy ass decided to skimp corners instead.

What you need:

Kinkajou Bottle Cutter (or another cheaper brand: Bottle Cutter Kit – I have not tried this brand, so I cannot endorse it…but I’m all about cheap! The Kink belonged to my friend)
A glass bottle of your choice
Ribbon
Guinea fowl feathers
Hot glue gun
Glue sticks

This is the Kinkajou…get your mind out of the gutter and follow along here…

Here’s how it works:

Easy, right? Wrong. Okay, when it works, it’s wonderful, but it can be tough to get it perfect. Tips for getting a clean cut:

Choose a bottle with thin glass. How do you know if it’s thin or not? I’m not sure, but the Pellegrino water bottles worked nicely (and they’re a pretty green).
Make sure the cut goes all the way around in a straight line and connects at its ends.

I only cut 1 bottle after 2 of my friends had failed, uneven cuts. Mine just snapped right off where it was supposed to. That’s it, I give up, 1 bottle it is. I made it into a wind chime at first (I’ll show you how to do that below), but ultimately decided on the candle holder instead.

My bag of ribbons is sorry, so this golden mustard color was the only decent choice. Cut about 18 inches of ribbon (you can always cut it down more).

Tie the ribbon around the bottleneck into a bow and play with it until you get it to your desired bow size. Then, cut off any excess ribbon.Pull the bow up over the top of your bottle and get out your glue gun. Add some glue around the bottleneck where you will secure your ribbon back.Add some glue to the middle, inside of the bow so that you can slip your feathers into it.

All done!

As for the windchime, Mr. Beaverelli doesn’t like noises, so this was a no-go for this lodge. I used 3 of these large plastic pearl beads (these came from an old necklace that Mary Katherine acquired, I might add).You have to play around with different ways of tying the beads and how much distance between them. Pulling the cord through the bottle is the best way to eyeball it and then make adjustments accordingly.

She also throws away the key fobs and keeps just the key ring (she’s my hero). You’d think that this old icky thing is not something you’d ever want to keep around, but I like it way more than the shiny, new looking ones.

If only the windchime didn’t make noise…wait? Huh?

You could even use it as both! Try out on the mantle for a while and when you’re tired of looking at it and would rather hear it instead (and let your neighbors have a nice view) put it outside.

Achiever Beaver

The Buck$ $aved Here

Archives

3-in-1 No Sew Upcycle T-Shirt (gift bag, headband and tote)!

All done!

Don’t Throw Those Wine Bottles Away!

All done!