From The Vault: How To Save That Old Bangle

Our team and our blog have been around for six years now and we have published an enormous amount of information, tutorials, and pretty pictures. The From The Vault series seeks to resurrect some of those goodies so they are not forgotten. Today's vault post on how to upcycle an old bangle was published by Danielle on April 30, 2008. Check out her tutorial here. Happy Summer!

On Being a Saver, Part II

In my last post I confessed to saving a couple of really raw materials --- so raw, in fact, that it's difficult to imagine how exactly I might use at least one of them (metal lampshades). This time I'm revealing a couple of things I save (or collect) for their obvious utility, regardless of whether I actually capitalize on that utility (i.e., use them).

These and the other type of saved items highlight the dilemma faced by all city-dwelling up-cyclers: the potential for joyous transformation or economic/ecological conscious practice versus space to live and work in. With regard to the first set of items, the balance is out-of-whack, with the items clogging up space while I figure out how to use them. This second set of items needs management but doesn't yet pose a serious threat to my habitable space.

The reason these items don't pose a threat to habitable space is in part because they're relatively few in one case, and because I have actually used them to good effect in the other case. They are just too obviously potentially useful (and/or even joyously transformative -- the categories are not mutually exclusive) to toss. They just are. Specifically, these items are:

1. Popsicle sticks, and 

2. Baby-food jars

Popsicle sticks are great for scooping, dolling, propping, and stopping (among other things for sure). And you can use them to make neat boxes. Every one of the sticks in my collection comes from a popsicle I actually ate.

I really like popsicles.

Who can argue against the utility of baby-food jars for storing all manner of tiny things? No one. You can also use them to make neat things, perhaps, for example, snow globes.

My collections of popsicle sticks and baby-food jars were sitting in a box collecting dust and verging on becoming a threat to my habitable space until I brought them together to write this post. I did it for the sake of a photo but liked their pairing so much that I kept it.

Now my jars have a use and my popsicle sticks are within easy reach for creative or mechanical purposes. No more threat to habitable space. Yay.

Until next time --

Linda

Purty Bird

How-To: Gum Wrappers, Mom, and Me

When I was a little girl, my mother taught me how to make folded paper chains from gum wrappers. This humble paper craft introduced me to the concept of making something decorative from what would otherwise end up in the trash. It was like learning a magic trick. There was a lot of treasure-from-trash activity going on in the 70s -- my grandmother's crocheted kitchen mat made from plastic bread sacks, my mom's Christmas tree made from spray-painted tuna fish cans! But the gum wrapper chain was my first attempt at upcycling, and it's still my favorite.

We took gum wrapper chains seriously in our house. My mother was the Gumkeeper and Chain Maven that made it all possible. We had a drawer in the kitchen that she always kept stocked with gum and loose wrappers to work on when the mood struck. At the height of our wrapper-folding enterprise, the chain stretched from one end of our house to the other (and beyond!).

Sadly, the chain we made got lost in a move, but I have a chain of my own now, which I started making when I was 17 years old and living away from home for the first time. I was an exchange student living abroad, at times terribly homesick. I'm sure that repeating that same sequence of folds my mother had taught me years before must have helped a little at easing the sadness of being so far away from her and dad.

Here are the instructions for making your own Gum Wrapper Chain. I usually work in stages: tear a big batch of wrappers in half, then fold all the halves into links, then assemble the links at the end.

1. Fold gum wrapper in half lengthwise. Give it a nice, firm crease, then tear wrapper along fold line. Each half-wrapper will eventually become a link in your chain!


2. With blank side facing up, fold each half-wrapper in half lengthwise and crease.

3. Open the fold, turn the edges in toward the center crease, and refold. You should be left with a nice thin strip.

4. Fold strip in half, forming a large "V."

5. Turn both ends inward toward the center fold. You will now have a link that resembles a small "v."

6. Now it's time to assemble your little links! Grab two links and insert the tabs of one link through the slots of the other link. Repeat and repeat and repeat until you run out of links. And there you have a gum wrapper chain!

(NOTE: If you're not a gum chewer, you can use other types of paper to make a chain. Skip step 1 and instead cut paper into 1" x 2 5/8" ( 2.5 cm x 6.7cm) pieces, which is the same size as one-half of a wrapper. Also note that paper that is too thin or slick will make chains that are prone to getting twisted and tangled.)

Happy Mother's Day and happy folding!



Lisa H.
parallelbotany.etsy.com

How-To: Turn Bags into Beads

I've become somewhat of a curator of plastic bags. In fact, there are some doors you shouldn't open in my house because you will be buried under an avalanche of interesting plastic. Primarily, I fuse these bags into collages and turn them into other things like: BEADS.

If you would like to transform your own collection of plastic bags into beads, follow these instructions:

Materials

• Clean plastic bag


• Parchment paper


• Iron


• E6000 or similar glue


• Toothpicks


• Scissors


• Ruler

Fusing the Plastic

Place two layers of plastic between two sheets of parchment on a hard surface and iron them together using a low setting with the steam set to off.

That will leave you with a sheet that looks like this:


Making the Bead

Cut out a triangular shape that is about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide at the bottom. You can play around with the sizing. The wider the triangle, the longer the bead and the longer the triangle, the fatter the bead.

With a toothpick, apply a thin layer of E6000 or similar glue to one side of your triangle. Leave a small strip free of glue at the base of the triangle. Place a clean toothpick at the base and roll up the triangle around the toothpick so it shapes an oval bead. Jiggle the toothpick a little to make sure that it doesn't stick to the bead.

Leave the toothpick in the bead and stick it into something to dry overnight. I used a dried out bit of Model Magic clay, but any kind of Styrofoam, etc. will work as well.

Once your bead is dry you can lacquer it or leave it as is and use it in a project like this:


or this:

Happy Recycling!

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

How-To: Re-Purposed Pants -- The Yoga Sling Bag with 2 Pockets

I’ve yet to find a yoga sling bag to tote my yoga mat around that will suit my needs at a reasonable price! I want one with pockets for a MetroCard, some cash, and keys. It should be comfortable to carry, have a little extra room for a small towel, and not cost 50 bucks!

So I have these cargo pants that I haven’t worn in a while and decided that they will make a GREAT bag to carry and store my yoga mat. AND I can incorporate the pants' pockets in the redesign! You can make one too, and here’s how…

You’ll Need:

An old pair of pants or jeans
A good pair of scissors
Sewing machine (preferably)
Webbing (for the sling strap)
Shoe lace or other means to close the bag

How To:

1. Fish out an old pair of jeans, preferably boot-cut and big enough to fit your rolled up mat. It should have a little wiggle room, but not be too roomy.

2. Cut the pants/jeans in half so that the two legs are separated. Turn the half you will use inside out.3. This is how to cut up the pants if you want to use the button fly as the opening for the yoga mat sling bag.4. Sew the button fly back onto the pant leg.

5. Next, put the yoga mat into the pant leg to measure how long the bag should be. The top of the yoga mat should sit where the waistband meets the pant leg. Cut off the bottom portion of the leg. You can use this remnant for the base of the bag.


6. Measure the diameter of the pant leg bottom. Using the leftover pant leg fabric from Step 5, cut out a circle with the same diameter plus a 2 inch seam allowance. This will become the base for the sling bag. I traced a circle around a cordless electric kettle for a perfectly shaped base.

7. With left sides facing out, pin the circle to the bottom of the pant leg. Decide where you want the strap to run across the bag and position one end of the webbing between the base and the pant leg.

To recap, the pant leg should be turned inside out with the left side facing out and the webbing should be inside (touching the right side) of the pant leg with one end positioned between the circle base and the pant leg.

Sew the base to the pant leg with 2 or 3 seams to attach the strap and the base securely to the sling bag.
8. Turn the bag right-side out. Secure the loose end of the webbing by sewing it to the opposite end of the bag with an “X-shaped” seam.9. To create a drawstring closure at the top of the bag, carefully cut two slits in the exterior part of the pants' waistband. Do not cut all the way through the waistband! Pull a shoelace or other heavy string through the waistband "tunnel." Pull the ends of the drawstring tight to tie the bag closed.10. If you are so inclined, go ahead and embellish the pocket with an “ohm” for extra credit :)
You’re ready to go!By Lorina Pellach-Ladrillono of The Original Beadscarf and beadscarf.etsy.com

Wardrobe Refashion: Stenciled T-Shirt

A friend of mine recently made this t-shirt for me. The shirt is upcycled from the thrift store (yay thrifting!). She cut a stencil out of cardboard, laid it on the shirt and sprayed bleach onto it. When she lifted up the stencil, it left this great design.

You can use the same technique with found items as your "stencils." Leaves work quite well.

I'm especially fond of the idea that revolution includes a lot of love.


Karen
Karen's Monsters