The 3 R's - Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle

I have always been one to try to at least reuse and repurpose things.  I have always been a "trash to treasure" type of crafter, even as a child. Unfortunately, I didn't become aware of recycling until I was an adult, but better late than never, as they say.

Besides making the world a greener, better place to live, Reusing, Repurposing and Recycling also save money. With my budget, or lack thereof, that's very important.

I often shop second hand stores, yard sale and such in order to find great deals on things I can reuse or repurpose. One of the tings I bought at a local Salvation Army store is a plastic shoe hanger. I use it to store my stabilizers, interfacing, cross stitch fabric, etc.

I labeled each section so that I can easily find things. I only paid a few dollars for it and it offers me lots of storage in a small amount of space.

Another reused and repurposed item that I did for my sewing room uses these little jams jars that often come in those holiday food sets.

I added fabric yo yos to the tops to make them cute and I use them to store small things like buttons. If you would like to use fabric scraps to make yo yos, there is a great tutorial here: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/how_to_make_a_yoyo/hbyoyotutorial1.html

I also repurposed a glass candle jar. The lid had the company name embossed in it, so to cover it, I traced the lid on some vinyl, cut it out and glued it to the lid and added a 3D sticker that I had bought on clearance.

My embroidery machine uses USB flash drives. I did a "trash to treasure" project to keep those on my sewing table. I took the cardboard core from a roll of shipping tape and traced the outline on to a piece of cardboard. I cut out the circle and glued it to the end of the core. I covered the whole thing in fabric and glued ribbon to the top and bottom. Instant storage from trash and a few scraps.

I recycle plastic grocery bags to line the small trash cans in our home and also to put patterns, fabric and such for projects in. I made a fabric holder for the bags and embroidered a sewing motif on it. I have one in different fabric and with different embroidery in my kitchen. 

If you are interested in purchasing a holder for your plastic bags, they are available on my web site: Colleen's Cottage Crafts. I can make them in just about any color or theme you'd like.

For my last idea of the day, don't overlook the simple things. I use the cover to a jar of spaghetti sauce to catch any glue dripping from my hot glue gun. I have also used jar lids as a mini paint pallet when working on craft projects.

 

 Future blog post will contain more ideas using the 3 R's. Feel free to comment and share any of your ideas to go green and save some green too. Happy Crafting!

Cat Feet Not Included

In my first post, I told you I had 2 cats.This is Ebony and Granite.

 

When I started working on my latest project for my sewing room, Ebony would not leave me alone. Every time I tried to take a picture, he was in the way. After at least a dozen attempt, I decided if you can beat 'em, let 'em join you. So, here's the first photo for this project, it shows some of the supplies you need, except the cat feet, they are not included it what you will need to make the magnetic board.

I found this idea on Pinterest and made some changes to make it my own. It is a magnetic board made using the "silver" tray you can buy at the Dollar Tree. The Pinterest post showed the trays spray painted. I decided to leave mine silver and glue scrap book paper in the middle.  I used my favorite stamp to dress it up.

 

To protect the paper, I coated it with three light of coats of Mod Podge, making sure it cried completely between coats. Don't worry if the paper bubbles when you put the Mod Podge on, it will flatten again when it dries.  I attached a D-ring to the wide ribbon.

Using a glue gun, I attached the two finished trays to the ribbon and my new magnetic board was complete.

I needed some cute new magnets for my board, so I got to work again and came up with a few sewing related ones.

Both of these are available on my web site: Colleen's Cottage Crafts

 

Unpacked Another Box

Since I moved into my fiance's house on New Year's Eve, a lot of the items in my sewing/craft room have been in boxes. As I slowly add storage and function to the room, I am able to unpack.

One of the crafts I do is scrapbooking. When I moved to Indiana 3 years ago, I had to leave most of the things behind for this craft so what I have now can fit in a cardboard box.

 

I really needed a place to put my things, but the space I had available wouldn't hold the 12 x 12 sheets of paper without curling them, so it was time to reorganize.

A few weeks ago I had told you about an estate sale we went to. I had picked up and table that I put in the living room to put my printer on. I had the printer on this plastic storage unit and with the purchase of the new table I moved the drawers into my sewing room.

 Even though the drawers weren't wide enough, this eventually solved my scrapbook storage dilemma. 

I emptied out all of the office/computer related things from the drawers and put them in my computer desk. This freed up this unit to house my serger thread.

 

I was then able to put my scrapbooking supplies into the unit with the wide drawers where my thread had been. It also gave me another empty drawer so I can unpack more boxes soon.

 

I organized my stickers and my paper scraps in large folders to make them easier to find. 

 

My photos, tickets and other memorabilia are stored in a smaller drawer in another unit. 

 

The day I chose to do this reorganization was hot and humid. I was making sure to drink plenty of water while I worked. Unfortunately, my water glass sweat on my sewing table. It is plastic so I didn't have to worry about damage, but it did make things a bit wet. I decide that I really needed a coaster for my table. Rather than buying some, I decided to make one to match the room. Below is what I came up with and it worked perfectly. Need a coaster for your sewing room too? I have them available on my website,  Colleen's Cottage Shop and I can make them in whatever colors you'd like.