If your little princess is eating a lot of frozen popsicles this summer, save the sticks and have her help you make one of these! And if she doesn't know the story, what a fun way to introduce her to it :) Complete tutorial at Small World Land
I've had a lot of fun extending the life-span of onesies/babygrows. But when they're really too small to turn into more clothing, then what? I'm quite taken with these frivolous, flowery accessories! How about a onesie bouquet?
Or a flowery headband, care of Alisa Burke
Or flip a pair of cheap flops for yourself... flower flops?
We received a delicious edible arrangement this week ... and now I'm sitting with a pile of plastic skewers! What should I do with them? Yes, I could keep them for future "fruit skewering" ... but I'd love some ideas from you folks... comments please!!!
Talk about refashioned refashions! The thrifted yellow top was turned into a tank. The black dress went from long-sleeved to short but "needed an update". Then both were turned into a dress. Go Hulibug!
You know those framed prints that take up oodles of space at thrift stores? The ones of basset hounds, fox hunts, manor houses and historic street scenes? The ones no one really wants, even though they're 50c? Well next time you see one, buy it. Then add food coloring to bubbles and let your kids turn it into art! Complete tutorial at Life As a Thrifter.
I used random.org to pick the winner and it chose entry #14 - Lisa P! Lisa, I'll be contacting you asap to get a shipping address :)
Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway! The Foxglove Accessories clearance sale is still on, so if you didn't win, go take a look! And be sure to "like" Foxglove on Facebook so you don't miss out on future giveaways, sales etc.
Meet "Reel" ... a bike-storage idea by Yeongkeun Jeong, an industrial designer based in Seoul. Silicone stickers are attached to the bike frame then the elastic band is wrapped around the frame to create a storage space of your own "design". As far as I can tell, this idea is still exactly that .... an idea. So I'm not promoting a product here, just an idea for turning negative space into storage. An idea that looks DIY-able to me. One that could be made real (!) using materials that are easy to find. Anyone tried anything like this? (via Storage & Glee)
I've seen this simple paper-rolling technique used everywhere. But I'm blown away by this clock! Perhaps it's the way Brandy's combined colors? Head to Repurpose Relove for a great, step-by-step tutorial.
From the waste land
rises suddenly
a flight of birds
- R. Hudson
See Karen Abel's complete "Outside the Planter Boxes" project here.
My dad collected stamps as a kid and I loved paging through his carefully arranged (and stored) stamp albums. But now that I think about it, why were all those beautiful stamps hidden away in heavy volumes? I know that my dad's answer would be "because they're valuable!" I wonder ... is that still true? I mean, I'm sure there are some rare, valuable old stamps out there. But for the most part, wouldn't it be better to just show them off? (Dad - I hope you still have those stamps!) Here are 16 beautiful ways to bring to refab them and show them off!
The things they carried to the lighthouse, after the plague:
Breath
Eyes
Memory
Identity
Voices
Love medicine
The old man who read love stories
The book of laughter
and forgetting...
(it's) not the end of the world.
Let's talk utterly beautiful (poetically postal?) refabbing! Foxglove Accessories is the brainchild of photographer, artist and friend Betsy Treacy Siber. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, created from postmarked vintage stamps from around the world. Each piece tells a story. Each piece preserves a little history inside a perfect pool of resin. What more can I say? Betsy inspires me as an artist, a visionary, a maker, a doer and a mom. Speaking of making and doing, take a look at the recent Apartment Therapy tour of her (and artist husband Matt's) Chicago home!
(Pssst... sale now on at her Etsy store!)
And now, onto the giveaway! Enter for a chance to win the beautiful pendant pictured above. Here's Betsy's description:
"This is a 20mm, large sized pendant that hangs from a 17" acrylic-coated stainless steel cord. The pendant is made from a blue toned 1960s postage stamp from Indonesia. It's created by cutting a section of a postage stamp and placing it at the base of a sterling silver bezel cup onto which I've soldered a basic bail. I then pour resin on top to seal everything in and attach it to the necklace. The necklace is held together at the back with a sterling silver spring clasp."
Giveaway opens 12:01 EST Tues, 7/17 and ends Fri, 7/20 at midnight. WINNER announced Mon 7/23. It's easy to score multiple entries and increase your chances of winning - see below for details... (Open to US residents 18 and older)
Campfires and melting marshmallows = happiness! Thanks to Oh Happy Day, you have all the instructions you need for DIY toasting forks (and a complete S'mores Kit - free printable too). The idea is to make the wire forks at home using a wooden spoon for sizing. Once at your camp site, you (read: your kids!) hunt down actual sticks/twigs that fit.
I got my first pair of glasses when I was 14 (I'm nearsighted). I wore contacts through most of my 20s but ended up doing a number on my eyes. So I've gone through a lot of glasses in my life. When it's time for a change in prescription, I usually donate my old pair and get new frames. Donation is always the best first option if the frames are still good. But what if we're talking about cheap sunglasses that are really scratched? Or you're attached to your old specs for some reason? Here are 18 (really very geeky) ideas for you!
The unbearable lightness of
being the shadow of the
wind, all over creation
changing planes ....
If you are not yet a regular visitor at It's Always Autumn, change that now! Beautiful blog, great ideas. Like this simple book photo frame (please click through for the complete how-to)
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| Original images via the Farmer's Nest - Collage by me. Please use kindly |
One day I will have to round up all the amazing DIY/Re-do play kitchens I've seen ... the transformations never cease to dazzle me! This one is care of The Farmer's Nest - please click through for the complete how-to. (via Life As a Thrifter)
I used random.org to pick the winner and it's .... Jillian Mitchell! Jillian, I'll be contacting you asap to get a shipping address :)
Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway! If you're interested in grabbing one for yourself, please visit PickPunch.com or like Pick Punch on Facebook to make sure you don't miss out on future giveaways.
Surprising right? Weave drinking straws into drink coasters... really. Get the full how-to at Country Living.
Sometime on Friday evening, the page-view number crossed the half-million mark. In real terms, nothing has changed. The earth did not actually move. But personally, I'm thrilled... because the vast majority of this activity has occurred in the last 6 months! I'm really grateful to those of you looking and enjoying what I do in this little space. I will work hard to keep doing it. So that's the first announcement.
Second announcement: I decided a while ago that a name change was in order. While "Candoodles" is very "me", the name doesn't really capture what this blog has become. So with a little help from some trusted, opinionated, word-loving friends, I landed on a name I like and I registered the domain on Friday. It's going to take me a couple of days to make all cosmetic changes, but candoodles.blogspot.com is already redirecting to the new domain. So I wanted to explain quickly!
New name: (the) ReFab Diaries. Because refabrication is fabulous. Because the remaking and rehabilitating of stuff (and people) is a good thing. Because reinvention and re-envisioning takes as much creativity and vision as starting from scratch. So there it is! Thanks to the transatlantic coven (and the flooding in the UK) for allowing this rename to happen so efficiently.
Do you need to do anything to keep following me? Nope. And since I feel very at home on Blogger, it's unlikely I'll actually "move" anywhere any time soon. This is just a heads up ... :)
I rarely post on weekends, but actually remembered to take some pics at the market this morning, and I wanted to share. You don't have to drive too far out of Chicago to hit farmland... which means the city benefits from easy access to locally grown produce! And not just during the summer months. Many small farmers sell pretty much year-round thanks to great indoor venues (we go to the Nature Museum) ... and the innovative things farmers are doing with greenhouses, storage and meat production. In the summer months, we go the market in Evanston every Saturday and I'm constantly dazzled by the colors, and the care sellers put into displaying their wares. Today's best buy: Michigan cherries and sweet corn! Oh, and just to give a shout-out to Evanston: Not only are they licensed to accept SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), but they have somehow raised the money to match the benefits dollar for dollar. So people receiving "food stamps" and trying to stretch that money can, in many cases, pay less for local produce at the market than they would for the stuff we can get at a grocery store.
What to do with broken guitars? Here's a roundup of quirky ways to upcycle guitars that are too damaged to play.
Ok! Here's what I made with my Pick Punch (Enter to win the punch if you haven't already!). I've laid out this post tutorial style, but I hesitate to call this a tutorial because there are very few steps involved.
Not sure this needs any explanation. In honor of girls, eccentricity and independence day.
"Like most guitar players I eventually found myself without a guitar pick. In a pinch, I cut them out of materials I had on hand such as plastic lids and expired credit cards. I remember saying to myself, 'there must be an easier way!' So that's when the Pick Punch was born." Von Luhman, Inventor
The Pick Punch® has been available since 2009 but I saw it for the first time recently, when I worked on a post about re-using old credit cards and gift cards. I thought it looked like a genius product, so I wrote to the inventor/owner (Von Luhman) and asked if I could have one to test, then give away to you lovely doodle folk... he said yes! (FYI: Pick Punch® is a local business for me - I consider Indiana local and I'm thrilled to feature them!)
I learned to play acoustic guitar very young and was taught to pick with my fingers. So I've never used a pick myself. However, I know plenty of people who do, and they lose them all the time. For $24.95 this punch pops out a life-time's supply of 1-3/16″ (30mm) tall by 1-1/16″ (25.5mm) wide picks in the standard tear drop shape (351 or Fender shape). Here's what Von told me about the resulting picks:
We make picks here as good as, if not better than, a factory. And you can also make picks from materials that are not sold by the guitar industry, so it's actually better in many ways. You can put left or right handed bevels on our picks unlike factory picks (they tumble them with even bevels).
The punch is exactly what it looks like - a very strong stapler/paper punch. It arrived with a sanding block, which I wasn't sure I'd use but did. In the picture above, I have the yellow card positioned design-side up for the shot. However, if you flip the card over, you can see exactly where the shape will punch out and position it accordingly. Very handy for aesthetic purposes.
The punch works perfectly - cuts through the card with little effort and the resulting pick has a really clean edge that is quickly beveled/perfected with the sanding block. I popped out picks from two gift cards and a credit card. I was done in minutes and had ready-to-wear jewelry in another hour or so (see the tutorial for the guitar-pick earrings and pendant).
I'm as impressed with the Pick Punch® as I hoped to be and excited to send it to a new home! Giveaway opens 12:01 EST Tues, 7/3 and ends Fri, 7/6 at midnight. WINNER announced Sat 7/7. It's easy to score multiple entries and increase your chances of winning - enter below for details... (Open to US residents 18 and older)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy first Monday of July but...what happened to June? And half of 2012? Tick-tock, tick-tock. So... guess what the theme is this week? No, not clocks. Guitars! I got my first kid-sized acoustic guitar when I was 8, a not-quite-full-size and an actual teacher when I was 11 and I've had some version around ever since. I never trashed a guitar (I was a flaky, eccentric singer-songwriter). So, I'd never thought about repurposing the various bits and pieces of one until I found Stringcycle and saw what could be done with used-up strings. Since then, several posts have been brewing. They all go live this week.
The first - turning a trashed guitar into a clock! Clock mechanisms are cheap and easy to find - I say this with confidence because I once churned out book clocks to make extra money. This dramatic transformation from My Repurposed Life is a lot of fun and I'd love to see a version done with book pages! Please note that the clock face is an old CD. Note too the guitar picks used to frame the clock. Guitar picks will be a focal point this week! Get the whole tutorial here. (Via Handmade Spark)
