Half Tire See Saw

Great use for an old tire. We just painted the kids' tire swing Mediterranean blue. Now the "black" doesn't rub off on our hands and clothes any more. When we get tired of the tire swing we can always cut it in half - like this one from Ripe Green Idea

Recycle an Old Book into a Paper Vase

If you're like me you hate to get rid an old book. I don't care so much about the new ones - we give those to the library.
But old books - different story.
Recycle them into "vases"?
Look at these cool vases made from old books! What a neat way to add texture to a display. I'm really going to have to try this one.
Sweet Paul makes it look so easy!
Recycle an old book into a paper vase tutorial here, via Sweet Paul.
Photo by Ellen Silverman

Recycled Silk Top Giveaway

Kathleen is having another giveaway.
She took a silk blouse with short sleeves and altered it into this lovely top covered with cherry blossoms.
Recycled Silk Top Giveaway.

You have to link back to here site to be entered to win - but if you have a blog and want to enter, here's the link.

Man's Shirt Recycled into Girl's Dress

Dana has a great tutorial on how to make a girl's dress from a man's shirt.
Her instructions are very thorough and easy to understand with lots of pictures.
Thanks, Dana, for this great idea! Adorable little dress and adorable little girl!
Dana's a very talented re-fashioner and you and you can see lots more of her great ideas on her blog, Made.

Sweet Paul's Tea Pot Lamp

Paul Lowe, aka Sweet Paul, made this funky Alice in Wonderland" themed lamp from tea pots he collected at flea markets.

I love it when people make something functional from things that are not what they were originally intended for.

Paul made this lamp for Country Living and their website has complete instructions for how to make this lamp yourself.
And by all means you must check out Paul's blog. It's one of my favorites (see some others in the left column). Absolutely inspirational and Paul is a hoot!

Country Living
Sweet Paul
How to make this lamp.

Recycled CD Case Light Cubes

Here's a great idea for using up some of your old CD cases.
I found this idea on the Design Mom blog. Images are printed on vellum-type paper so that they are translucent and they light will shine through.

Great idea.

Details on how-to here.

Handmade Dress with Thrifted Sheets

I just had to write about this darling little dress - with cape - made by Mike for his daughter, Emmeline. Isn't she sweet!?
Mike is a stay-at-home-dad living in San Francisco. He let Emmeline select the fabric for the cape from his thrifted sheets supply. Read all about it on his blog, Cry it Out, but be prepared to stay a while because Mike is also a professional writer and his essays will capture you.

Play Stove

Play kitchens are always a winner with kids. My daughter had one she loved and when she outgrew it my son played with it. I got several years' worth of play from that kitchen.
I did a previous post about one that was handmade and a vintage one from an old Sears catalog.
This particular play stove was made from a small cabinet with drawers, MDF and paint, spotted at Dabbled. They have included complete instructions for how they made the play stove.
I love seeing people take what they already have and make something completely different from it. I also love play kitchens and I'm storing these ideas because I want to make one at some point for the munchkins (on my list).
Have you made any play kitchens or stoves? I would love to see them. Send me a link and I'll post it!
via CROQ Zine

T-Shirt Art

Okay, could art be any simpler (is that a word?). Even I could do this... I think.
This falls under the category of this-little-t-shirt-is-too-cute-to-throw-away-but-what-do-I-do-with-it.
Problem solved! Stretch that cutie over a canvas, staple on the back and hang.
Personally, I think I might add some Stiffy to the fabric for more support.
Instructions, if you need them, from Country Home.
Found via Craft Blog.

New Project Sneak Peak

Just so you'll know I am working on some things (while also working on painting the den, working on taxes, laundry and, oh yeah, my "real" job).
This project involves this box.
The box contained an Ott-Lite, which my mom gave me for Christmas (OMG, can I just tell you how much I needed that?!) It was such a nice, sturdy box. Like a lot of you I can't bring myself to throw away a perfectly good box like this and its shape reminded me of something...
Check back in a bit and I'll show you what I've been doing.
(2/22/09 update - see next post for the completed project.)

Valentine's Fun with Matchboxes

This is probably one of the most popular links in Blogland but I thought I would post it any way because:
1) This graphic is so visually pleasing
2) It is a fun project
3) It is an easy project (you could do this with kids)
4) I love matchbox projects (I did some clay-wrapped boxes for Christmas stocking stuffers.)
Thanks to Inchmark for this terrific Valentine's Day project!
Link and instructions here.

Play Kitchens

I saw this adorable kitchen on Our Sweet Life's blog.

She made this for under $60 mostly out of recycled materials. Really cute and the ideas for expanding on this are endless!

Then I saw this kitchen from a Sears1959 Wishbook. The whole kitchen was priced at $27.95. Can you imagine! I know I'm showing my age, but I could have been that little girl and boy would I have loved this kitchen! It's pink for cryin' out loud.
As a side note, I was about this age, maybe a little younger, when my grandmother took me shopping one day. I can't remember the store but I remember a photographer taking my picture playing with some of the toys in the store. I had no idea why he wanted my picture but I didn't need an excuse to play with those toys that's for sure! Then my picture showed up in the newspaper! I think it was some sort of article on Christmas shopping and the season and all that but I can't remember. It's been a long time since I've seen the picture but I'll never forget that day. I think my mom may still have it somewhere.

Paper Halloween Wreath

Scrumdilly-Do put this paper Halloween wreath together with her kids. It's just paper, paint, glue and cardboard and looks super easy. Great for something to do with your kids. For the complete how-to, click here.

Pillow Case Dress Orange

Aren't the colors of this pillow case dress great? Very orange and very vintage 70s. I made the dress from a thrifted cotton pillowcase. I added coordinating ribbon ties and band at the hem and added the yoyo with button center. The yoyo can be removed for washing. Another recycled item.

Pillow Case Dress Red & Aqua

I just love pillow case dresses.

This one was made from a thrifted pillow case that originally started out as a white pillow case with gray flowers, a tone-on-tone. Pretty, but I wanted color. I hand painted the flowers and leaves in one of my favorite color combinations, red and aqua, and added the cute red polka dot ribbon (I'm madly in love with polka dots!).
Madison's not big enough to wear this yet but this is the type of thing she could actually wear for years. Because of the ribbon ties it can be adjusted and could even be worn as a top when she's older. Another recycled project - I never waste anything if I can help it.

Dress from Recycled Fabric

This is one of the first dresses I sewed for Madison. I made it when I first found out my daughter was pregnant. She finally grew into and as you can expect she looked adorable.
I made the dress from two separate fabrics. The black fabric came from an outfit my sister gave me from Chico's. The white was some fabric from my stash. I made the applique from scratch - one of my first appliques.
I'll see if I can find a picture of Madison wearing the dress. It really was too cute on her.

Gallery: Birds, Babies and Other Pretties

Hope you'll enjoy looking at these images of some things that caught my eye. Like this cute, hand made top sewn for a baby girl from Danish Casalinga



Very sweetly decorated children's bedroom for two from Katarina's World.



Interesting wood and metal hand made bird house from Harmony.



What kid wouldn't love these adorable animal utensils for children from Huset.





It's a clock; it's a birdhouse. "Klokke" birdhouse from DesignTorget.



A couple of adorable handmade mobiles. This cute bunny softy fabric one from Milda Maranger...





...and this cute bird softy, recycled fabric one from ReFound Objects.



Love the expressions on the faces and bold colors of this fun baby animal toy from Sprell.

Fabric Flowers from Old T-Shirts

These flowers are made from recycled t-shirts. They are fabric chrysanthemums! I thought they were real when I first saw them. Who doesn't have a gazillion old t-shirts lying around?
The next time I think of throwing some out, I might want to try this. It's the kind of thing that is more tedious than hard, but looks like it would be worth the effort - and could be fun.

From the book: The Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin, available here for $35
Complete instructions to make the flowers here via Selvedge.
Natalie's blog: Alabama Studio

Recycle Betty

This is Betty.
I made this softie from a very nice sweater that was too small for me and I could not bear to get rid of.
The sweater, which I used for Betty's body, is a combination of cotton/poly/angora and is so soft. Betty's a tiny little thing, she is just barely 5" tall. Her scarf, cap and diaper are made of cotton fleece and are sewn on.

Are you making softies? I would love to see them>

Soda Can Pop Top Belt

I know I like to recycle but this soda-pop-top belt takes recycling to a whole new level.

Curious Girl was inspired by an article in Budget Living Magazine, which is now out of print.
She used over 100 pop tops.

Very clever.

Curious Girl
Complete instructions on how she made it here.