Apothecary Jars on the Cheap

So...  Apothecary jars are fantastic!   I love them, but wow are they expensive.   I found a great tutorial that is so easy to follow and you can make these for 2-5 dollars each depending on what you get!  

http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2010/09/make-an-apothecary-jar-for-2/

Basically while at the thrift store or dollar store match up your pieces and use e6000 glue to set them together!  Here is how a few of mine came out!  I used a small bowl, and drawer handle, and a candle stick.  I glued them all together and that was it.

Here I turned them into Terrariums, using leftover poinsettias from the holiday!  I think Terrariums are really beautiful, and make plant care pretty easy!

Repurposed find!

Earring conversion that is sooooo easy, you just might leap for joy!

 I love blue and I love any flower that is a daisy or looks similar to one.  So when I saw this cute little earring sitting in a box I knew I must have it.  It's a loner but that was okay because my first thought was glue it to a frame or something.  The other great thing about it was it is a clip on earring, which I love those things, they go on and off so quickly.  To be honest I am not sure why it is so hard to find them anymore.

While I was poking around in the little dollar basket for a nice pin.  Old blouse pins had become a new obsession for me they are so shiny and colorful.  And then BAM!  an idea slapped me upside the head, why not clip that cute little pin to my shirt and just like that.  I repurposed a truly fabulous earring into a pin without a single drop of glue, no twist of the pliers, and no hammer to break apart.

These are my most favorite kind of re-purpose, one that is easy, quick, and fun!  One that will take a single earring that sat inside a jewelry box all alone (sniff sniff) and then tossed away, but now has a new home on my jackets and plain old shirts!

And here it is clipped to my shirt, this one is tiny, but everyone noticed my cute little blue flower on my shirt.  The best thing about these is that they don't poke holes in your shirt, and there is no little magnet to get knocked down your shirt.  So enjoy searching the little bins for new pins!

Part 1... Dresser/Vanity we found

So my husband and I are out and about checking out Threads of Love in Tulare, CA, and there sat under a pile of items, a really cool piece of furniture.  We snapped it up for out daughter so fast that my debit card is still warm...

Here is a series of pictures.  This thing was put together really well.  It is all hardwood and very sturdy which translates into heavy.  The knobs were not just screwed on, the drawer was notched and the knobs were inset into the drawer and then screwed on.  The knobs were made from the same wood.  We didn't do a whole lot to it, it is really perfect the way it is as you can see from the cool pull outs and vanity mirror.   These pull out drawers still glide so nicely.  I love the paper inside the drawers too.

 My husband did a little work to it because of damage to the drawers.  The vanity mirror was not installed right at some point so the flip up lid would not shut very well, 2 of the drawers were damaged (fixable on another day).  The back of the mirror was dated June 66, but I have a feeling this is not the same for the rest of it.

I love this mirror with the space inside of it, perfect place for her brushes and hairbands.  I can just see them now all lined up in a nice... neat... row, well at least they will look great sprawled around.


So far so good, we dropped in this paper organizer/cubby thing where two of the drawers were.  Interestingly they are just big enough for those plastic shoe boxes.  I am loving this!   I am not a huge fan of paint... its too permanent, so I have this idea that I will be posting in part 2 of this fun project.

Cool New Place in Visalia

So there is a super cool new place in town called Estate Sale Central  it is on Main street in the Picnic sandwich shop mall.   My favorite part about it is the really unique items, that you just don't normally see anywhere, you know those quirky little collector things.  I saw a Snoopy corkboard, and paintings, prints, postcards, the coolest looking chair, beautiful fishing flys, and just so much.  I was weak, and though this was a no spend day, I had to have this really cool cribbage board, it will be a perfect gift for someone who I know LOVES cribbage.  This thing was carved out of a small log, and was just perfect.

So there it is, if your local get there and get there quick,  it was awesome! 

t-bags

This project is a repurposed project.  I love t-shirts, and I wear them alot.  I also wear them out or stain them, and until now have always just put my favorites or memory jogging ones up on the top shelf of my closet.  Then today I ran across a pepsi refresh project video, where a woman took old t-shirts and turned them into bags.  My first batch was very large bags, but none the less cool.  The next batch I am working on will be more like the size of a grocery bag, which is large child or teenager sized shirts.  There is a ton of instructions but they are all the same basic model.  But I like lots of pictures and small words...


Step on of this project is to gather your stuff... old t-shirt, scissors, pen/pencil, plate, and sewing machine (I suppose you could hand sew)

This is one of my shirts I used, the poor thing is stained but I can't bear to get rid of it.

Cut each sleeve off the shirt leaving the seam on what will now be bag portion of the t-shirt.  I used my fingertips to make sure the seams on the front and back of the sleeve are on top of each other.  Only do one sleeve at a time, this project is quick so there is no need to rush it.  At this point you have your basic sleeveless shirt.

 Lay the shirt flat and naturally ( the front neck will be lower the the back of it a little bit then place the dinner plate on the shirt in the middle of it.  Using a marker lightly mark around the plate you can either trace one long line or a few spots.  

 Then remove the plate and begin cutting the neck off.  Cut just outside the line so it will go with the scrap.  Once it is all cut it will look something like this.

 Turn the shirt inside out and line up the bottom seam and using a straight stitch sew right in the existing seam.  A straight stitch worked fine for me, but really, whatever makes you comfortable, don't sew backwards in the beginning and at the end to kind of lock it in place.

Once you are finished it will look sort of like this.  Flip it right side out and throw it in the hot wash cycle and tada...  A real recycled-reuseable shopping bag.

A redesigned light....

Here is a light that my husband... who is a great stained glass artist...  found when we were out recently.  The light was cute, but really could use an updo.   The first thing he did was pop out the old glass by bending down the tabs, it is important to use leather gloves so you won't get cut on the glass. 

Now head on down to the local stained glass shop and search through the sea of gorgeous glass.  They can cut it down to the size you need for a fee. Once you have your glass just pop it back in place and bend the tabs up to secure it.
That's it... real easy to replace the glass in these sort of things.  Just remember to open it up to see if it has tabs.

Here it is with a candle in it... Our kiddo said it looked like a ship in a storm.

*UPDATED* Some Thrift store finds... quicky

Do you see these lovely little shelves, I bought them at Rescued Treasures.  They were unfinished and that was perfectly okay, I like a clean palette.  I sprayed them with flat black paint and we hung them.

Now these shelves didn't seem to be able to carry much weight but they hold these cute little frames of some of my nieces and nephews so that works too.  It breaks up the wall a bit with all the pictures.

I bought both of them for $3 and they came in their original package with the hardware.  This was so easy, I had time to gloat... silently to myself of course.  That was it, so lets go over it:

1. Grab them, and run like mad to the register!
2. Bring them home, open them and spray with paint.  I used flat black.
3. Let dry, lightly sand if you need to.
4. Hit with a second coat.
5. Hang on the wall!

Now what to do with all of these brown painted walls!  One of these days I need to call Nate Berkus!

Clearanced item Repurposed!

So I found this little doodad at the hardware store on clearance.  I had no idea what it was until my mother-in-law told me (thanks mom)  So it is a support for a curtain rod bracket, keeps things from falling down when you have a long rod or heavy curtains.   But what I saw was a cute little way to hang a razor or other little things in the bathroom.

This is super easy.  First remove this little screw here and throw it away, and make sure when you mount it that you turn it away from sight so you don't have to see it.

Then make sure you mark the screw holes where you are going to put it  and then just bolt it right up to the wall.  This came with molly's so if this is going in a place where there is no stud behind it, you can use them to stabilize it better.

That's it screw it to the wall and drop in your razor or whatever you are going to hang there!   Simple easy stuff, and cheap!

Another clock idea!

Okay so that dry erase board project gave me a great idea...  On a recent trip I found a big round cover for the older style light fixtures, however I saw a cool clock.  The first one I found was too big for a clock, so I kept looking.   Then I found it!

I like the floral leaf kind of design in it, and it is light weight which is important, my clock box has a built in hangar on it, and I don't want to put to much weight on it.  The best part about these plate covers is that they already have the hole in it, so no drilling into the glass.  I used a similar clock from the last project so I am reposting those pictures, because the process is the same.

The list of stuff remains the same,  basic battery operated clock , remember its the hands that we want to look interesting, also make sure that they are either metal hands or small enough to fit within the curve if your clock has a curve.  A light fixture plate, and a few washers.  Pop a battery in the clock to make sure it actually works.  Carefully take apart the old clock but keep in mind how the clock pieces go back together.  But remember glue fixes many a mistake.

I set the clock up on the plate but I did not snap the pieces together, because at this point we need to gauge how many washers we will need to fill the gap.  I will be using star washers because they look interesting, kind of  clock-workish, but you can use any kind.  Once you know how many you need, shoot them with a little spray paint so they match the hands of the clock and don't touch them until they are dried.


I used some that glass glue that will glue anything to glass.  and glued the battery box to the back of the plate just make sure the little knob that holds the hands is not only through the hole, but also centered, because once the glue sets... its forever.  Then set the washers on top and then stack your clock hands back on the knob... as it turns out mine snap together quite nicely.

  TaDa!   Here she is... my lovely little quickie clock project!   Don't you love her!  I know I do... now where to hang her.

Gift Idea....

I got this idea from this website... it is a nice blog.  So rather than getting a clock kit from Michaels I decided to stick to my 'save the world and reuse/re-purpose things.  Which I think the receiver will also love about it. 

 

This is my .25 cent clock

 

So here is the before of all of my stuff...  basic battery operated clock , remember its the hands that we want to look interesting.  A dry erase board, dry erase markers, and maybe a few washers in varying sizes (you never can tell). 

First take apart the old clock but keep in mind how the clock pieces go back together maybe take lots of pictures or even number them so you remember how they go back.  I got a little excited with the screwdriver however a little glue fixed it right up.   Don't forget to make sure the clock works before you start smashing it up.

Place the clock hands on the board to figure out exactly how you want it.  You may not want it exactly in the middle, I left some space to also write messages. Drill a hole for the clock works in the dry erase board, and reassemble.  You can draw your own picture of a clock around the clock works, and then write "design your own clock"  off to the side.

Be sure to include the markers I think I might add a small piece of cotton cloth tied to a string for an eraser.  I think she will love it!

This weeks treasure hunt finds...

 So this week I found a couple of cool items that work perfectly for me.  The first are these floating shelves.  Floating shelves are an amazing idea, but they are expensive.  I love them and have always wanted some... so of course I squealed when I saw them.

They needed a little touch up but otherwise perfect, hardware and all for $5 each, I found them at two different stores.  These shelves will be perfect for me to display my sculptures, which currently sits inside of a china cabinet, and are just way to hidden.

My next find was unexpected and I almost missed it.  You see I love fishing, I have been going since I was a kid, and now as an adult its really relaxing.  So when we moved into the new house, I decided I was going to decorate the dining room in a fishing theme.  This has turned into an ordeal because it's a little difficult to find that stuff.

Oh there is plenty of Coastal fishing stuff or Country themed.  I am neither of those, but when I found this I knew it would be a perfect fit and functional.  I really like the background and the best part is it opens up to a key rack...  So this will fit right in perfectly!

Thanks everyone!  Coming soon... a project from another find from this week!