Scrappy Jean Jems

I've been having way too much fun with denim refashions lately.

I made a braided denim rag rug for my kitchen, so I have something nice for my feet to stand on while doing dishes.  See more info on my blog.  

I cut up the pant legs to make the rug, but I didn't use the side seams.  

I had previously seen a pin on pinterest where they made bracelets out of the side seams of jeans, but unfortunately the pin linked to spam.    It was easy enough to figure out on my own, though.

If cut off carefully, there is a natural hole in the seam and you can slide a piece of bendable wire (I found mine at Michaels in the floral section) right through it.  Add a few beads, curl the ends and viola!  You have some new, funky, fun, stylish, scrappy jean jewelry gems!  You can see more on my blog.

There are so many options and ways you can style these.  What is great is that they are bendable and can be wrapped around just about anything or anywhere.  

I just kept it simple, as it was my first time playing with these scraps and I used what I had on hand.  I would love to see what others could do with this fun, versatile, stylish idea! 

~Peace!

Sticky Genius

Erinn

Anthropologie Inspired: The Collection Necklace

From one pile of broken jewelry . . . 

. . . to one Anthropologie inspired eclectic necklace . . . 

Inspired by Anthropolgie's Collection necklace ($48)

See more details on my blog.

Tom Binns Inspired Colorful Cameos

Tom Binns necklace ($445)

Tom Binns Earrings  ($365)

Tom Binns Necklace  ($515)

While these pieces are very beautiful, they just don't fit into my budget.  

So I created my own  - - - >

This is so easy to do.  All you need is a cameo, some nail polish, and a chain or bead necklace.

This was one of mine before painting.
Paint the cameo with nailpolish colors of your choice.  I used a toothpick to help get the nailpolish in the little nooks and crannies.
Attach to a chain or beads and your necklace is ready to go!

See more photos on my blog.

Money for Old Rubber, Part 2

Monet for old rubber part 2 (followed on form part 1)

Recycled, inner tube rubber.

Part 2 of my "Money for old rubber" collection.

Shown above is my favourite necklace to date. In fact this is 2 necklaces one on top of the other. The top one is strips strung up in such a way to create interesting curly shapes. The necklace underneath is slim strips of different lengths placed and strung with clasp fastening (still perfecting this). 

I am lucky enough to have a partner whos family in Cleator Moor near Whitehaven, who own a bicycle repair shop Ainfield Cycles. They have kindly been keeping and posting all the way to Aberdeen the inner tubes for me to reuse and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. I have many more inner tubes to get through and am excited about what I will come up with next.

This image shows more of an interior take on reusing the inner tube. Holes were punched using hole punch and hammer, then wrapped around a UV light. I am yet to discover a way of securing the tube to the light in a professional way.   

Ok that's my update for today. Next I will be showing you what I did with a fork lift truck inner tube which is much bigger and thicker. Until next time, thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

My Version of Anthropologie's Mirela Fringe Necklace

My version - made primarily from repurposed vintage bits and pieces.  The green center stone piece was originally an off-white/pearl clip-on earring - I removed the clip-on back, painted the "stone" green using fingernail polish and glued on the rhinestones around the edge.  I did purchase the hot pink rolled fabric beads for .99 cents at a local bead store and found the coral beads for approx. $3.00 at Jo-ann's. 

wearing it out to a lake party

And here's the original from Anthropologie:

$58.00 - and it doesn't get very good reviews.

twobutterflies

Recycle Those Ugly Beaded Sweaters

If you have an ugly jewel covered, bead covered sweater that you wouldn't be caught dead wearing--tear it up! Salvage all the crystals, beads and sequins for use in other projects. Sometimes I will seek out an ugly sparkle sweater just for all the great swag I can tear off of it! Tearing all the sparkly stuff off a garment is easy. I use a seam ripper for most of the job and keep some small scissors around for tougher spots. I usually lay a towel across my lap while I work so that all beads and stuff I rip off, fall on to the towel for easier collection when I'm finished. It does take a little patience to clear a sweater but it is easy mindless work that can be done while you watch television. I mainly use to my recovered beads and such for making jewelry and applying them to random crafts. I've included a photo of a necklace made with recycled beads...just to give you an idea. *The necklace is for a friend of mine who wanted a The Cure band necklace. Other stuff on my blog, here

school days over

 Hey there, exams are finally over so that means it's holiday time! YAY! I can refashion and stuff all day long now so hopefully, I will be able to post my stuff a lot more frequently now. In the mean time, here's an easy peasy jewellry refashion I came up with. Basically I took little plastic covered bendy wire bits ( you know the ones that are wrapped around bundles of cables to keep them together) and bended them into the shape of treble clefts, then attatched them to earring fixtures. you could use a little dot of glue to keep them from un bendyfying. I'm sorry there's no completed earring pics, my camera ran out of juice, but I'll post finished pictures on to my blog ASAP.
Roisin :D

Great minds think alike

A few weeks ago I was looking for something else stored on my old Sony Vaio laptop when I came across some jewelry pix I’d saved some time ago for references/inspiration. One in particular -- an Anthropology seed bead and fabric necklace -- reminded me that I had  already bought a half dozen strings of garnet beads for this very project.  I was thinking I might chronicle my step-by on one of my two main blogs if the prototype came out reasonable well. 

But before getting to work on this piece -- again while looking for something else -- I came across Copy Cat Crafts (who have THE greatest disclaimer on the difference between you being a Copy Cat and a Counterfeiter) and from there discovered Flamingo Toes.

You can a). head to my blog for more details on how I made my Tana Lawn version, plus the usual ramblings which sometimes often stray from the path but get there in the end or b). skip straight to Bev’s tutorial for her construction details. 

earring refashion

    A simple refashion for now as i get ready to break down and get some things done lol. just a quick fix for a pair of earrings I bought on sale, not noticing that they were missing a feather until I 'd went to wear them. So yesterday i was going through my jewelry and happened upon a pair of clip-on's I'd bought at a flee market a while back that I had got for it's little portraits but hadn't really worn because, well, their clip-on's. So I merged the two, and with the extra feather and one of the clip-on backings made an ear cuff.

I rather like it. much more interesting in my opinion. :) -QueenOfNothing.

"Don't Label Me" Cuff

Vintage ties make great cuffs. A bit of trial and error and you too can create your own distinctive cuff.

Before

After

Full story @ http://recycledrepurposedrenewed.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/dont-label-me-cuff.html

newspaper rings

 Hi there, it's been a while, but I'm 3/8 of the way through my exams, so not long until I have refashiony freedom again :P I got the tutorial for these rings from the channel 4 programme Kirstie's handmade Britain and loved the simplicity of the refashion and how they look cute but still elegant. The website doesn't seem to have a tutorial for the rings so there's a tute to follow on my blog. I used an old music sheet, a mismatched earring and some insulation tape for the band, but you could just as easily use newspaper, vintage wallpaper, drawer liners, a poem, pages from a book ( please make sure that the book is old and broken before you use it, no literature massacring please :) anything can be used. A proper ring post (post?) can be used too instead of insulation tape, I just didn't have any in the house at the time :) Happy refashioning, Roisin :P

Recycled Bracelet Part Two

So, I'm really into this next bracelet I made.  As you might remember, I bought some barrettes and after some creative shearing, was left with this piece of plastic which was destined for the waste bin. 

I painted the plastic which took two coats.  Next, I wrapped the brown string around the plastic in a pleasing pattern.  I liked how it turned out so tribal.  I glued a piece of string to the back of one end of the plastic and wrapped more string around it to reinforce it.  Lastly, I sewed a button on the other end so I could fasten the bracelet by wrapping the string around it.  

 I can't keep a goofy grin off of my face every time I think about how I made this bracelet out of a piece of 'trash'.

Visit my blog for more pictures and details.

"Flowers for Lauren" Necklace

Before

After 

After 

full story @ http://recycledrepurposedrenewed.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/flowers-for-lauren-necklace_04.html

Lauren was a flower that endlessly bloomed. This necklace is dedicated to her memory.

"Adrift @ Sea" Cuff

From this.....

 I actually created this cuff as a special post for American Nanny on her Irish Attic blog. Never having using Wordpress(which is the format her blog takes) the challenge of trying to master it was beyond me. So big apologies to American Nanny for not being able to share this story with you.

To this........

Full transformation @ http://recycledrepurposedrenewed.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/adrift-sea-cuff.html

"Key to my Heart" Pendant

Amazing vintage art-deco style tarnished padlock found at a church fete for 10 cents. Padlock locked and key missing. Do we pass this opportunity by or do we re-fashion it into something else?

Of course we refashion it. Random key found and with the help of jewellers pliers, a couple of links and an old chain, a new lease of life has been found for the old padlock.

Now the key to the "Key to my Heart" Pendant is that it is possibly too big and may not fit. Is this the right key?

Mezzy @ http://recycledrepurposedrenewed.blogspot.com.au/

A Spring Give-Away

Click on over to my blog to enter to win this refashioned necklace - upcycled from vintage brooches, earrings, and other bits.

For Spring

A little bouquet for spring - refashioned from vintage brooches, earrings, and other odds and ends - makes me smile.
See more pics on my blog.

DIY fabric flowers are everywhere! Check out this tutorial on how to make them from old t shirts.

This sequel is better than the original

Heeeeey!! I felt the need to update the fate of yesterday's ring. It's a fairy tale, happy ending sort of story, don't worry!

First off, I found my 'before' pic of the earring ring I made yesterday:

So I decided it needed a little more.. flair. Here is the end result after digging around my craft supplies:

And there are more photos at my blog:
http://mommymakesthingspretty.blogspot.com


Peace,
Bat Ma'am