UPcycle Wednesday - What you can do with a Shirt!

 I've been wanting to make one of these for a long time.

My daughter and I made a trip to Phoenix a while back;

and there, we went to Scrapbooks, Etc.

They had a darling tablerunner made with burlap and fabric ruffles.

Mine is similar... not totally like their's.

Believe it or not;

the ruffles are made from a [$1.50 Salvation Army] man's shirt 

and a [$2.50 Salvation Army] cute girl's mini skirt! 

 It was my daughter's idea to use the 

shirt with the black graphics on it!

And she found the red ruffled mini skirt!  

We really loved the red polka dot embroidered ruffles! 

It was really hard to cut the mini skirt up, it was so cute.

I simply had to cut the top band off... about 4".

(nope...no before photos...what was I thinking?)

I simply sewed the [white] shirt onto the underskirt of the 'mini'.

Finished off all of the seams.

Pretty easy.

     I decided to completely line the burlap.

So it's just sewn right sides together, with the ruffles in the middle.

 

And yes, there are ruffles on both sides of the tablerunner.

 

Do you love the dishes?

They are my everyday dishes.

And almost ALL of them were on a super clearance at Fry's.

(It's a part of Kroger Co., like Fred Meyer)

    I guess it's one way I'm 'lucky' to work there,

I can watch for the super clearance markdowns!

  The white plates, the ramekins, and the silverware

were all super clearance... like .49 for the plate.

and $3 for the SET of red silverware.

Yeah, pretty crazy.

I've gotten them over the years I've been there.

The polka dot bowls are from the dollar store.

And the 'dipped' cups were on sale.... but not 'super'. (darn!)

   

   The table is super small.

It was an island... but we decided we didn't like it.

So my hubs cut the legs short.

We got rid of the glass top table we had...

and this table is eventually gonna be:

a farm table...ALL UPcycled!

Wish it would happen soon.

We will see!

    

thanks for visiting!

(and I made it... got it posted on Wed... whew!)

    

a Post Valentine's note!

This is just a short mini note!

My hubs is amazing.

He's so kind and loving and thoughtful.

I'm not a flowers and going out type of girl.

So this is what he did for me;

This was waiting for me when I came home from work that day.

 He hand-cut it... took him a few trys.

So sweet and thoughtful and simple.

Love him!

and...

that's not all.

When it was close to Valentine's I told him:

'Ya know what I want for Valentine's?

I wish for our bikes to be outta the living room!'

Yep, we have stored them behind the couch forEVER!

ick

And so he did.

He moved 'em out that day into this:   

Then over time, finished it up to this:

   Our house is weird, 'cause it faces backwards.

In other words, when you drive up you see the BACK of the house.

So my back door is my 'front' door.

No one ever sees the front of the house, which is this view.

Weird, huh?

Thanks for visiting!

    

Scrappy Saturday, oops, it's Sunday!

 OH MARY!

It's the title of my new little mini book. 

I love it!

Mary is the little girl that my grand-daughter adores.

I was at the pool, where my daughter and all her friends go.

It was such fun watching all the kiddos play!

I was snapping photos, and saw that I really got some cute ones,

of this little girl.

So I decided to make a mini book of her...

and I'll give it to her mom!

No special reason, other than I was selfish...

'cause I really wanted to create this!

Here it is.

     

I had the chipboard mini for a long time... time to use it!

I covered the front with:

A cover I created on Microsoft Publisher.

I faded out a photo on Picassa... and cropped it to just the lower part,

with her cute little bathing suit skirt and legs!

Then added the scrolls alongside.

The clear letters are OLD ones from Heidi Swapp.
The ribbon I died with Glimmer Mist - Electric Blue.
(The 'ribbon' is "Hug Snug" seam binding!)

     

 Almost all of the embellishments are from Heidi Swapp...

old and new.

(Yes, I have a 'Heidi Swapp' drawer!)

The only items that are not HS, are the little heart gems.

OH, and the paper is from 

 A My Mind's Eye, 'fine and dandy'  6x6 paper pad.

(Except the glitter paper...it's DCWV Glitter Stack!) 

When I do mini books, I often like to write little

poems/songs about the photos.

Why???

dunno.  just do.

The words kinda 'sing' to me in my head when I'm doing the book.

I cannot sing.

At all.  LoL  

 

Again, most of the embellishment are from HS.

The bird is a die cut from a Tim Holtz die.

The little paper clip topper is from Target.
(thank you Kari!)

I made the tag title tag... and the gems are from Doodlebug (old). 

This next page is probably my favorite one!

I just love the garland...

and the first line on the glitter title tag!

Yes, all the embellishment are HS.

Old ones... that I've had for a long long time.

The only new item (from HS) is the sequin arrow!   

Notice the tape holding the garland in place???

 Believe it or not, it's also from HS,

it was some decorative tape, BEFORE Washi Tape...

from [the trendsetter] Heidi!

Cute, huh?

Oh, and the little staples???

They are from the Tim Holtz stapler.

    

This side is so cute too, I had to show you a close-up!

The book goes to the back of the book/cover...
(which I used a page from an old DCWV stack)

then I 'continued' the 'story' on the 'back pages'.
 

I even have [old] HS chipboard letters!

Crazy, huh?

The tall girl in the photo is my grand-daughter...who's 7 here.

she lOvEs to 'baby-sit' little Mary!

It's so cute to watch.   

Just simple and cute.

The chipboard letters here are [old] from Making Memories.

The rest from HS.

On the right page...at the top...

I created a little pocket... using the HS tape.

In it I put a wee little note with the info on it of:

time and place and who.

 

I've been working off and on on this book about 4 weeks,

along with having to do some other major items.

Oh my gosh... I finally got through the major events...

and cleaning up my disastrous craft room...

and finished it!

yippee!

I'll give it to Mary's mom...soon.

If you'd like to PIN the WHOLE book,

I think you'll like this below!

thanks for visiting!

  

UPcycle That! - salvaged store racks

Several weeks ago, the store where I work was gonna throw out

!!!

a wire calendar rack.

I asked if I could buy it.

It was a mere 25 cents.

Yep.

I had it stuck in my craft room for several weeks...

trying it out with paper, to see if it would work.

The biggest problem was it neccitated a BIG overhaul of the room.

ugh

I just have too much stuff, 

even though I de-junked the end of summer last year.  
-sigh-

So, it was coming to a head... and I finally decided what to do.

My cute little, as yet un-finished, sewing table got moved!

It went into the third bedroom, where I actually like it better!

I don't feel so closed-in.

Then, I had to move other stuff around a bit...

AND clean up a HUGE mess.

But finally...I was done at the end of the day. (Monday)

My hubs and I planned how to make the rack work better...

I needed it to SPIN.

I happened to have a spinner plate from an old toy on hand!

(that's why we SAVE stuff, right???)

My hubs cut a discarded piece of plywood...that was green,

into the size we wanted, and then I painted it black.

Then, yesterday, in the morning before I went to work

(started work at 9:15am)

we drilled holes in the board... (a bit difficult to line 'em up right)

Took out the bolts/feet and put 'em through the holes in the board,

and right into the rack!

Then, we needed to 'test' it to make sure it would balance
on the spinner right.

So we used... ahhhh...

believe it or not;

Pop-Up Glue Dots!

Yep!

They work awesome for projects that need temporary tough gluing!

I loaded the paper back into the rack... 

and it works!!!!

I LOVE it!

I took all the paper I had in drawers, which I didn't really like there...
and put 'em into the rack.
First, I had to use some heavy cardboard that I had on hand,
to cut and fold 'holders' for the paper, 
as a lot of the scrap paper is small pieces.
But, it works great!

I have projects that I want to SEE...
and DO...
So those are right there in front of me all the time.
(The layout you see, is from my BFF in Oregon, KC!
LOVE love love it!)    

    
 Here's a picture of the bottom base.
OOPS... a footprint! Funny, you can't see it in 'real',
but you sure can with the camera! 

Looks like I paid a pretty penny for it, huh?
NOPE
I'm wondering if one could ask at stores...
'when you're gonna throw it away, can you call me first?'
Push the 'you're filling up the landfills' angle?
hmmmm....

One other quick item:
You can see a bit on the left side of the rack, along the wall...
a set of wall racks.
Those too, came from work, from one of my friends there!
I must be getting a rep' of liking this stuff!
She gave 'em to me... they were just plain silver metal.
I spray painted 'em black...
hung 'em up...
and they are PERFECT for smaller items.
They are not FULL of the 'stuff' yet, but they will be!

   
Thanks for visiting!
Hope I've inspired you!