A work in progress

As I'd mentioned in my post A Crafters Guide to Pain Relief, I've been working on a project for a fair amount of time now.  I was not expecting it to take as long as it has and there's so much left to do.  But I figured I could post my progress since the final product is just going to be a bigger version of what I have now.  Also maybe posting this will give me incentive to finish it.
I'm making a woven rug!
This is a great project that uses up old clothes that have holes in them that you can't donate, but don't want to throw away.  I have been saving shirts and other soft material items for a while now so I'd have enough for a decent sized rug.
Here's how far I've gotten:

As you can see it's definitely not rug size, but the rug will just look like a very large version of this

So to start you'll need:

-A bunch of old clothes, any colors work but I was lucky that all of them were among the same color scheme of grays, navy and white

-Cloth scissors

-Sewing needle, a bigger one is definitely better 

-Thread that goes with your color scheme

-Sewing pins

To start:

Cut your fabric into strips, I had a bunch of different thicknesses and cloth textures because it gives it a bit more of a rugged look but if you want a more uniform rug then cut them all the same size.

Make sure to cut off any seams, edges, tags etc because it will make it hard to sew and wrap

Next, tie all the strips together into one long rope.  This is very time consuming and it may be helpful if you had a friend to do it with.  I alternated colors of the strips so it took me a bit longer but it would also look nice if you tied all the same colors together and then attached them like a fading effect

Here is my big pile of tied together strips

To start, twist the strips and then pin them in place.  You can only twist small amounts at a time otherwise it gets all warped.  Then sew the edges together like so:

Make sure you're sewing on one side of the rug so that you don't have a lot of visible lines (unless you want that kind of look)

Keep going until you're finished!

Also, if you encounter the same pain that I did when starting this, check out my other post:

A crafter's guide to pain relief

Bright ideas

As many have heard, soon the incandescent light bulb will be a thing of the past.  This got me thinking: within a relatively short period of time, the incandescent bulbs being used now will burn out, and that's it.  Once they're gone, they're gone.  So why not do something sentimental with those old bulbs?
Even if incandescent light bulbs were not energy efficient, you can give them a second wind and upcycle them.
Here are some cool ideas:

Yes that is a fish in a light bulb

My only question is how do the water it?

Better Budgeting (I linked some of these to their respective blogs to give them credit)

Kitten Hood

Here are some instructions for how to hollow out a light bulb:

Team Droid

Selling buttons at the door

The other day I discovered how many buttons my mother has collected over the years and I was little overwhelmed to say the least:

TWO full boxes of nothing but buttons!  It got me thinking, what kind of things could I do with all of these buttons since I highly doubt that I will ever make enough jackets to use all of these up.  I haven't done any crafts with them lately since I've been a little "tied" up (the reference will make more sense once I get around to finishing my lat) but I found some really cool things you could do with buttons

(I didn't take any of these pictures. just thought they were some cool ideas:

I love the idea of putting those buttons on the door.  All you'd need is some glue.  Same with the mirrors, you can get a cheap one or bedazzle a boring one you already have.  Buttons are kind of an awesome, cheap easy way to bedazzle your life and you could literally put them on anything your heart desires.

P.S. If the title doesn't make much sense it's because it's a reference to The Hobbit, I figured it was in spirit since I'm seeing the movie tonight.  

Candles on a budget

Last weekend I got to do something I've always really wanted to do, make candles!!
Thankfully Katie, the wonderful hostess already had wicks, a giant box of soy wax, coloring and scents but it was our jobs to bring to the containers.  I found a really cool old Ball jar in my basement so I decided to use that as well as some cupcake tins for cute little candles.

Our wonderful photographer Dylan got some pictures of the process

Here's how they turned out:

 I really don't recommend using the cupcake tins because only one actually worked, the wicks on all the other ones wouldn't come up from the bottoms.  Next time I think I'll make them in cupcake papers and peel them off, I'm hoping that would make a cool design.
Anyways, I went home and wanted to make more!  Unfortunately, candle making isn't something you just do, you need to buy all the supplies which can get costly.  So I found this really cool guide for making candles and this one uses old candle wax.
We all have those old candles lying around that we've burned to the bottom, but the sides are still in tact.  Now you can use that wax to make a whole new candle!  I think it would be cool to mix colors and different scents.  And what's cool is that if you use old wax with scents and colors all you need to buy are wicks which are not expensive at all and you can get at any craft store.
To remove candle wax from old containers, freeze the container and the wax will fall right out!

Here's the site:
Comin' Home
I think these will make great gifts for people since you made them yourself and used up old stuff at the same time.

A crafters guide to pain relief

My latest trash craft (still unfinished) is one that involves a great deal of hand work.  There was a lot of fabric cutting, ripping and twisting and that was just the preparation for the project itself.  By the time I was done with that, my wrist was killing me and I was lacking a solution.  I tried moving my wrist back and forth and even massaging it but nothing helped so I just pushed through the pain for the sake of my art.
As I worked more and more on the project which involved a good deal of sewing and pushing pins through thick fabric, I realized I was rubbing my finger tips raw.  That's when I decided to throw in the towel for the night (probably best being as it was 3 in the morning).  But I woke up this morning knowing that I would have to return to my project and I would most likely face all the same pain I went through yesterday.  So I decided that today's post would be a healing guide for the overworked crafters out there, for those frantically finishing up last minute gifts for their loved ones, or who just like immersing their bodies and souls into their art.

Wrist pain:
I found this handy diagram for carpal tunnel exercises and I'm assuming it will help with regular wrist pain as well.

-Ice is a good remedy for pain, I read that it's actually better than heat since heat increases blood flow and can cause swelling

-Rosemary: add 1 oz of dried or fresh rosemary to 1 pint of boiling water, let sit for 30 minutes and soak a washcloth in it and apply to the affected area

-Peppermint oil: 3-4 parts vegetable oil (I prefer olive) to 1-2 parts peppermint oil.  Massage into your skin

-Epsom salts: put 2 cups in your bath and soak for at least 12 minutes.  It's high in magnesium sulfate which apparently a lot of us are lacking because of the rise in processed food consumption.  A magnesium deficiency causes muscles to contract which leads to pain

-Bananas, avocados, peanuts, whole grains and soy all are high in magnesium as well 

-Tiger balm: I know people who swear by this stuff, you can buy it at most grocery stores in the natural section.  The active ingredients are menthol and camphor which block sensors on pain fibers

Raw fingers:

-Aloe vera to soothe the burning 

-Ice

-Mole skin: not so much a remedy but something I thought of to put on your fingers when you do a good deal of sewing to prevent raw fingers

There are of course many more ailments  that affect us crafty folks, but I think wrist and finger pain is probably the most common.

Sources:

http://www.carpal-tunnel-symptoms.com/tendon-glide-exercises.html

http://www.prevention.com/health/health-concerns/pain-remedies-natural-cures-aches-and-pains?page=2

http://voices.yahoo.com/5-simple-home-remedies-wrist-pain-3399136.html

Water color cereal box lantern

I can't help it but I'm a big fan of those paper star lanterns.  The ones that are super low quality but still cost $12 without the light bulb.

But being as I don't have endless money to spend on decorative lights, I made my own equally crappy but way less expensive version out of a cereal box.

Behold!

 What's really great about this lantern is I didn't even use a light bulb cord, I plugged a nightlight into an extension cord and didn't have to spend any money.

So to start you will need:

 Materials:
-Cereal box (I used a cheerios one because it was the biggest)
-Utility knife
-Scissors
-Hot glue gun
-Tape
-Water colors
-A pencil
-A bowl for making your circle (or you could cut it into a cool shape)

To start:

 I used a bowl to make 2 perfect circles in the box.

 Once you have your circles, fold the box 4 times so that they will sit away from each other when you attach them.  Make sure your folds stick out on the side that you want to show (the naked side of the box).

Next I etched a pattern into the circles and cut out the triangles with the utility knife.

 Then glue most of the edges together, leaving one small open edge on top and a larger on the bottom (big enough to fit your nightlight in).

 I painted it with water colors because I like the way it looks but there are a lot of really cool things that could be done to these lanterns.  I think it would be pretty to put tissue paper on the inside so that the holes project colored light.

Then put the night light in through the bottom since you want the smaller hole on top to hold the cord in place.  This way you can take it out when you want without ripping open your lantern.

And there you have it.  I actually really like how the cheerios box creates a yellow reflection.  I think it probably makes it brighter than it would be.

These look really great hanging in corners to give a bit of soft light.

Toilet Trees

I woke up this morning feeling groggy and uninspired.  I had originally planned to do a much more elaborate first attempt at reducing my waste, but I just couldn't bring my brain or hands up to the task.  So I fell back on some materials that oddly enough, happen to relate to waste.  Yes, today I made toilet paper roll tree ornaments!
Toilet paper rolls, while their purpose is very important, don't seem to have one once they've been stripped of their white plush wrappings.  They're doomed to end up in the recycling- or worse -the trash (gasp!)  I've seen a few really cool ways to reuse such a trivial item as a toilet paper roll but I figured "'Tis the season", and went with a slightly altered version of a craft I'd seen on Craftgawker.

They were so easy to make and could be modified into some really ornate pieces if you painted them or added beads, but I decided to go with an quick, basic version so a lot could be left for the imagination.
So here's what you need:

-A toilet paper roll
-Needle and thread
-Hot glue gun
-Scissors
-Some sort of twine or string to hang the ornaments (just depends on the look you're going for)
-Cloves (the original post I saw didn't use cloves but I thought they would give it a "rustic" look and they smell real nice)
.

First, make a crease on one side (or both, depending on the type of flower you want), make sure you really flatten the side, it makes it easier to cut and it helps connect all the petals together.

Next, cut the roll into 5 pieces and sew them together at the base of the petals (the reason I didn't glue them together in the first place was because I wasn't sure where I was going to put the cloves and I think it makes it easier to put the petals together if the string is holding them in place)

I put a dab of glue in the middle and stuck the clove in place on either side, and then I glued a clove on the inside of each one of the petals so it looks like the center of a flower.  Finally, I glued some twine onto the top and voila! 

And there you have it!  A cute, cheap little ornament that smells nice and adds a nice touch to your tree.  Makes great little gifts or a fun craft with kids.