Word of the Month- Re-Purpose...

Well, seeing how I have a few extra minutes to myself lately, with Berk & Braden in school and Brenner on a pretty regular napping schedule, I have had a chance to get back to my roots.  Well back to the root of what I do when I am bored besides bake...

I make things.  I started making jewelry way back when I was stuck in the house with Braden- during the first year or so of his life when germs were a big scary thing to be avoided.  I needed an outlet. So I began beading. Eight-ish years later I have made thousands of pieces, and I still love the peace that I get when I am stringing beads. It may sound odd, but no matter my mood, I have to be calm and focused to get all those dang little beads on, and not drop them in the shag carpet. 

I also began sewing, and my skills are limited, but I enjoy making baby things and I made the drapes for my house. But adjusting to life with a third kid has taken quite so time for me to find time to do all these things I love. I can't bead holding a toddler (I've tried) so these past times had to be put on hiatus until recently. 

We all remember the big crystal craze that swept the Valley a few years ago. I have been looking at all my pieces lately wondering how to take the things I loved, and make them more relevant now. And then I was reading a blog about re-purposing old baby blankets into throw pillows (can't find the link now sorry) and it hit me. Why not just cut it all up and start again?

Anyway, I just had to post some of what has been keeping my hands busy lately. Like this project --I do a lot of repair work for people.  Mostly baby bracelets and little girls necklaces that have been broken and need restrung. Or, they need sized, because the bracelet that fit a cute chubby 6 month old, doesn't quite cut it on a 2 year old. Projects like this are so fun for me.  But this job was different. A woman Rusty works with wanted to see what I could to with a pile of broken necklaces, bracelets and earrings. She simply wanted back one necklace and one bracelet.  So, I started by breaking them into piles...

I sorted the Earth tones out from the berry ones. And then I played and played until I decided I would make the berry tones into a bracelet (she had the most beautiful clasp) and then use the Earth tones for a long chunky necklace.

The results...

The best part was the cost was so small because all I really had to do was restring. I even got to keep the leftover beads. Plus she caught me in the middle of a rosette making phase, so she got one on her necklace (it's removable and can be used in the hair or on a shirt!) as well. 

I'm telling you, this is just a small, small amount of what I made one weekend. They are so simple, and I even cheated and used FabriTac instead of sewing them! Messier but much faster. (Shhh, don't tell, cause she can't read yet)

I made this little hair clip out of tulle and ribbon I had laying around. My niece Talia is getting it for her Birthday tomorrow. 

The necklace below was one I had to make bigger for my cute neighbor. I made it for her almost 4 years ago for her baptism, and now she's in 6th grade, so I needed to update it, and along with a couple others I made them longer too.  Now she (and her Mom --bonus!) can wear them again. 

I know, I am obsessed with these flowers but they are soooo simple and so easy! I have been digging through my ribbon and fabric scraps making all sorts of them. I have entirely too many head bands now, but it makes bad hair days that much more tolerable.

And just because I can make my own accessories, doesn't mean I like too. Well, I do like to. Too much in fact, ask my accessory holders... But the point is I love when I get jewelry from other people. My Mom always gets me something made for Christmas, and Rusty is superb about getting ones that come in little blue boxes. And I am a little obsessed with the hand stamped jewelry right now. I mean you know I got one for Mother's Day, but that didn't stop me from entering a give away on one of the (in my opinion) founders of hand stamped stuff The Vintage Pearl. I literally squealed when I saw my comment had been chosen for the winner of one of their new designs. The 'I Love You' sign has a special place in my heart because of Braden. He has signed it to us forever --like on his first day of Kindergarten, I love it. It was way larger than I thought and I love that it is a totally different shape than my tag ones. So I mix it up.

Tonight at the store the clerk asked me where I had gotten it, and I told her. And she was nearly in tears, turns out her little boy was just diagnosed with profound hearing loss and has begun learning sign. She just kept saying how cool it was that someone would make something like this. So, needless to say, it made my night.

I have one more re purposing project in the works. Well, more re-vamp than re-purpose. But it is gonna take me a while to finish. My fingers are actually sore, as we speak, err type/read.

Have any other Crafty ideas for me???

Saving the World...

Well, lately I have bitten the bullet and begun bringing my own reusable shopping bags with me when I grocery shop.  Let's face it, the benefits of reusable ones are numerous. I bought my first one last summer, it's ginormous by the way, and I use it as a swim bag. It's light weight, folds up super small, so it's like built in carrying capacity when I'm on vacation. I saw that my Disney Movie Rewards could buy them, so I thought, why not. And ordered 6 with my DMR points.  So, I'm gonna break it down with why I  use 'em and some tips too.

• They hold WAY more that any the plastic bags.  Where normally a trip to Walmart would have me making 30 trips to get all the bags (OK more like four trips) in, I can generally get everything I need into 3-4 bags.  Five if I am getting milk or diapers.  Plus, the checkers will load 'em up. No more bags with 1 item in it.  It's like the old school days where one bag is for cold stuff, one for grocery and the other one for toiletries, toys ect.  
• The handles are long enough you can put them over your shoulder. So,say you have to unload and carry a baby, it is SOOO much easier. 
• They're cute. I mean come on, they are.  I'm a little too OCD to have the mishmash of bags like my Mom has. She has one or two from every local grocery store. Aside from my Fresh N Easy bag, all of my grocery bags are green just like this picture.  Plus, the Disney company makes a donation to their conservation program when you buy them.  It's like a double whammy.  
• They are so much more than a grocery bag.  Mine become last minute sleepover bags. Toy haulers. Beach bags and more.
• Finally, NO MORE dozens of crackly wadded up plastic bags to manage.  You see, they other bags frustrated me because you aren't supposed to throw them away, but you can't put them in your recycle bin--which I find ludicrous by the way.  You had to take them to a store to recycle them. 

Really, if I had to guess, I bet I have saved a hundred or more grocery bags since I started using them a few months ago.  It's not a lot, but it makes me feel like I am helping, ya know?

The hardest thing about using them, honestly, is remembering to bring them with you into the store. I keep mine in the trunk and try to pull them out and put them in the front seat so when I get to the store, bam, there they are. 

Secondly, when you purchase fresh meat, or wet veggies, you end up having to wrap them in a store plastic bag first, and that sorta defeats the purpose to me, but whatever. 

Thirdly, on the negative side of this list, is the checkers' reactions.  They always seem so bugged when you DO bring them in. But frankly, your store sells them so suck it up, I'm trying to do my part so don't give me crusties when I bust 'em out.  

So try em.  Everywhere sells them. Target, Fresh N Easy, Sprouts and other stores (not Walmart, they're too cheap) even give you a bag credit (usually 5cents) when you use them. Betcha didn't know that huh?

Next up, I am thinking about getting one of these babies.

A compost bin.  Dang that Curious George, he showed me just how easy it is to make your own soil.(Season 3 Episode 4 Much Ado About Nothing-- I couldn't find it on youtube, but it's a good one.) And since I have it in my head to plant a garden this fall, I need soil!  We had a compost pile growing up. I totally remember the gallon ice cream bucket that we'd be forced to trot out after each meal,to the back corner of the yard and dump on the pile.  Luckily, that was the extent of my composting duties. There were too many Daddy Long Legs back there for me to want to learn more about the whole compost process thing.  Do any of you compost? Just curious.  Now go buy some reusable grocery bags.  You won't be sorry.

Summer Time Blues

We aren't even a week into Summer and Braden is already bored! So I remembered this idea I heard from a friend of a friend, and decided to try it this summer to see if we can keep him from dying of boredom. Hopefully, I will remember to post pictures of our adventures on here! Here goes...

Monday- "Make Something day"- baking, crafts ect...

Tuesday- "Towel day"- Sprinklers, swimming at the gym, Tempe Beach Park ect.. (we swim twice a day already in our backyard, so this is extra)

Wednesday- "Work Day"- chore day...enough said.

Thursday- "Tutor Day"- work on his writing, letters and numbers and other school-ish things...

Friday- "Field Trip Day"- the Zoo, Museums, the Library, Riparian Preserve and other fun places...

Hopefully this will help me remember he is a kid with a short attention span who likes to do different things, and it will be a great way to have play dates... SO, if you want to tag along, let me know!