cupboardwitch:
I'm sort of new here; I've been watching for a little while. I'm not very artistic at all, but I do like to make things out of stuff that's outlived it's usefulness. Maybe it's a product of being a bit cheap - but with three kids, cheap is the only way to be!

Anyway, I've bought myself a sewing machine and I'm leaning how to sew!

Well, I already had a clue - I did use a sewing machine in Home Ec. about a million years ago. Oh, I learned how to fix things here and there (with three sons, how can you not?) but I'd never ever actually made anything from scratch and I've never actually owned a proper sewing machine of my own. Well, TA DA! Now I have ... ( cut for 6 kinda big pics )

X-posted to my own journal

tehcutiepie:
Hey all,
Just recently joined because I thought my question would fit here best.

Has anyone here ever made their own canvases using plastic bags instead of canvas material? I'm usually as environmentally friendly as possible when it comes to art supplies, especially surfaces, but I never thought of a good way to replace buying new canvases when used ones ran out. I got the idea recently because of all the plastic bags lying around that no one needs or knows what to do with. But er... it seems that plastic is too smooth to allow the paint to actually stay on for a long time. I tried putting paint on a plastic bag and it was way too easily rubbed off even after drying.

So yeah, has anyone tried anything similar with promising results? Maybe there's something I can use before putting the paint on to make the surface rougher? It's just... if I find a way for it to work, that's quite an endlessly cheap and environmentally-friendly opportunity for artwork :P

Thanks in advance!

jkg_vader:
SO, while working on costumes for Dragon*Con yesterday, I took a few minutes out to make reusable shopping bags out of some old t-shirts of mine that I never wear anymore, but that I can't bear to part with.

They were super easy. I just cut off the sleeves, cut the neck wider, serged the bottom together and serged the neck. Took about 5 minutes per bag. And I've used them already. They are pretty sturdy and so fun!

( pic here )

knotandthreads:
Hey! Here are pictures of some of my jewelery. The necklace was the result of my father emptying his electronics toolbox. It's made from a mercury switch and a handful of resistors. I think the only bit that isn't recycled is a few pieces of wire securing the switch.
The earrings are made of pencil erasers, a piece of broken pottery I found on the beach, and some keys from a dead laptop.
What do you think?

astaciamorrigen:

( Clicky... )

knotandthreads:
Hi Everyone!
I'm new to this community and just thought I'd introduce myself.
I knit, sew, felt and make jewelery.  I like to create  with whatever materials I might have on hand. I'll post some pictures of some of my jewelery as soon as I find my USB cable.

Cheers!

purealto:
Craftyrecyclers, I need some crafty thinking power. I saved some fabric books from the garbage - another teacher at my school had run out of closet space and was going to toss these old samples. These are the things that stores have so people can see examples of all of the fabric, how the fabric feels, whether it will match, etc. Anyway, there is quite a bit of fabric and all of the pieces are cut to nice sizes. I can think of a million-ty things to do with such an abundance of salvaged fabric. Purses, quilts, wrap skirts, bulletin board backgrounds. My list is endless and apparently so is my supply of fabric pieces because now the other teacher has been saving the books to give to me instead of throwing them away. The only problem? Many of them have a stickery-label on the backside stating the fabric's name, price, and other details. Normally with a sticker, I would be inclined to simply peel it off, but these stickers are tricky! They rip or only part comes off or they cover so much of the fabric that sitting and trying to scrape it off little by little feels like it gets me no where. My mom suggested just cutting off the portion with the sticker (typically at the bottom of the fabric, about one inch tall, going all the way across the fabric) but I feel like it's a waste of perfectly good fabric. If only I could get the flippin' labels off! Has anyone ever tried this? Is there some magic way to remove them without consuming my entire summer? So far the only other methods I could think to try were soaking the fabric and then hoping the wet stickers would just fall off (like labels do on glass jars). Or trying to get the fabric really cold and then rip it off (like how candlewax and gum comes out of things when you freeze it or put an ice cube on it). Any other ideas for the sticker-label removal? Or, of course, suggestions for way cool projects?

jkg_vader:
For my fellow knitters, this is a great site (just in case it hasn't been posted yet).

http://greenknitter.com/

amyheartssiroc:
Does anyone here make crafts from old vinyl records?

What do you use to cut them?

I've got a pile of 45s that I'm trying to figure out something to do with, but I don't know how to cut them or punch holes in them without making them crack.

Thanks!

typo_13:

hey everyone!
i'm in the process of cleaning my room, top to bottm. i have found about 5 pairs of worn out pyjama pants. small tears in the seams, worn out in the bum area etc.
theyre all 100% cotton.
What can i do with them? I'm primarily a knitter, but i do sew a bit...

bling_blangin:
WE have stumbled upon a bunch of clay, and plan to make some neato clay pots and such for art purposes, possibly eating purposes.

we are curious if anybody knows of any easy DIY ways to make Glazes for this. I heard something about heated up crushed glass working???

Or just any tips in general for keeping our clay creations unbreakable and usable.

soapfaerie:
I wanted to make a fun foraging toy for my recently inherited cockatiels, but i'm broke. haha. So i looked in my recycling bin and craft room and came up with something ugly but works! :)



x-posted to craftyrecycling and captiveforaging  :)

onceupon:


If I were going to write an article for a craft magazine about this project, this is how it would go:

One Saturday afternoon, at a yard sale, I had one of those moments. One of those moments when the heavens parted and a ray of sunshine fell on an item I just couldn't leave behind. Sometimes this happens to me at yard sales.

This particular ray fell on a small side table, about knee-high, with angled legs and a slightly recessed top. After some smart bargaining, the table went home with me for the low, low price of $5.

My next step was to start combing ebay for buttons. Buttons can be purchased in bulk lots for between five and twenty dollars, plus shipping. I ordered two bulk batches for a total of 1600+ buttons in a green and white mix. Always order more than you think you’ll need for a project like this. The table I was working with had about 2 sq feet of surface area and I had around 100 buttons when I finished.

( cut for length and pictures )

hazel_tree:
I thought that this article on recycle this might be of interest:



Artificial flowers made from plastic bottles

longlongwaytogo:
Hi, the forum http://www.notebookinhand.com is doing a low key competition right now, with the theme of transitions. There are two categories, art and writing, and it can be any sort of art or writing. I was thinking that since you do craft, and that's a kind of art, some of you might be interested- you can submit photos of your craft. Details are on the forums, though yes, you do have to join. The winner is chosen via voting, and the prize is small, but it's a good chance to practice. The theme is 'Transitions' and that can be interpreted however you want. It can be any sort of art or writing.

designbyclaire:

Okay, so it's not as though the rucksack hasn't been invented before! But I was thinking yesterday that it would be good if I could figure out a way of making rucksacks out of the pillowcases that I'm recycling.

This is my first experiment on the subject:




I'm really pleased with how this bag came out. It's comfortable to wear, nice and sturdy, and it will carry a lot of weight.

There are a few changes I'd like to make to the design though. At the moment, as soon as you put anything into the bag, all the weight is carried by the popper. This means that the load-bearing capacity of the bag is dictated by the fastener, not by the bag itself, which isn't ideal. Mind you, this can be solved quite easily by simply putting on the bag the other way around. That way the straps hold the weight of the bag against your shoulders, and the bag can't gape open. Maybe the solution's as simple as that?


You can read more about how I made it over at my LJ. :)

wishnotgranted:
I just learned to knit about a week ago.
so far i have made a headband (that wasnt connected properly)
a wash cloth and a scarf.

so I need to know how to do things other than squares and rectangles, I try to read free pattern instructions but theres a bunch of abbreviated words that take too long to read.

if you know of a link that would help me out that would be awesome.

thanks abunch!!

onceupon:
I'm participating in a show at a Birmingham, AL art gallery. The gallery is called Naked Art and the show is called Trashionista - basically trash that has been turned into wearable art. For most of my offerings, I've taken thriftstore finds and given them a lot of new life and some fabulous style.

( A LOT of pictures. )

saltlesstears:
I would LOVE one of these? But i have no idea how to do it. Any ideas?
Happy (green) Spring!
-Kristen

soapfaerie:
I have several books i received recently from a Freecycler that i don't want. They're all in rough shape, missing covers, torn pages, etc, so i don't want to put them on frugalreader.com or anything. 

Anyone have ideas for what can be done with them? I was thinking decopauge, scrapbooking and such. Also, if anyone would like one i have like 7 and would be happy to mail it out to you. Knowing it's going to be reused is worth the 2 bucks or so in postage. :)

cross-posted to craftyrecycling and diy_stuff