Author Archives: Kat

About Kat

I started this blog to share with you all the results of years of turning trash into treasures. Hopefully I'll spark some new creative thoughts and if that happens I hope that you'll share your discoveries and together we’ll build a blog that will singlehandedly reduce global warming and save the world! Okay, maybe that’s a grand goal but we should be able to at least downsize our own trash output.

No More Wire Hangers!

Posted on by
Reply

I can’t stand wire hangers, nevertheless they still end up accumulating in my closet. The dry cleaners, garage sales and thrift store buys all tend to come with wire hangers. Die-hard recycler that I am I can’t seem to throw them away so I started looking for ways that I could use them to either make my life a little easier (as in the Bottle Dryer tip below) or craft them into something beautiful. Some of these ideas came straight from the old noggin, and some came from surfing the Internet.

Bottle Dryer

To keep water spots from forming on the inside of items with a narrow neck, tape a rag to a straightened out wire hanger and use it to dry the inside of your container.

Bubble Maker

Mix one part dishwashing liquid to two parts water in a large container. Untwist the hanger and stretch it out straight leaving one end bent. Bend the bent section back on itself to make a handle. Bend the long straight section around to make a large hoop. Dip your new bubble-maker into soap solution and wave it gently to create giant bubbles.

Camping

Straighten out one or more hangers. Leave one end curved and doubled back on itself so you have something to hold onto.  Use to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire.

Christmas Decorations

Using wire cutters cut the long piece of wire away from the curved pieces. Use pliers to shape the wire into stars, hearts, diamonds, circles … whatever shapes you want for your Christmas decorations. Decorate the wire shapes by:

  • painting
  • spray with glue, then shake on glitter
  • wrap with fabric remnants
  • wrap with ribbon, lace or string

Tie ribbons to the top of your new decorations to hang them on your tree, in a window, on a mantle …

Dream Catcher

Bend a hanger into a circle. Wrap it with ribbon or raffia. Construct a web by wrapping ribbon, yarn and/or string across the open section of the hoop. String beads and feathers onto fishing line or heavy duty thread and tie onto your new dream catcher.

Halloween Costumes

Cut, bend, twist and shape hangers into all kinds of accessories for Halloween costumes. Swords, wings, halos and horns are a just a sample of what you can shape and cover with fabric, foil or paper.

Mobile For Baby

Structure of Mobile

You’ll need two wire hangers for this one and if you want to get really creative you can add more layers and use up more hangers.

With a pair of wire cutters cut the long straight portion of each hanger at the point just above where it curves up so that you have two straight rods with a slight curve up at each end.  With a pair of pliers make a loop in the center of one of the rods. Thread the other rod through the loop and bend the loop downwards and twist so that it locks the two rods together. Now use the pliers bend the end of each rod so that it curves back onto the rod creating a closed loop and making sure that there are no sharp edges exposed.

Mobile Design

Decide what you want to hang on your mobile. You can print something onto card stock and cut it out, use small toys, whatever suits you or in the case of a true DIY’er, whatever is laying around the house. Poke a hole in whatever you’re using, thread string, ribbon or fishing line through the hole and tie to the loop at the end of each wire. Tie string, ribbon or fishing line to the center loop to use for hanging your mobile.

Plant Hanger

Cut away curved pieces from 4 hangers. Twist a small loop at the end of each wire. Thread 3 sections onto the 4th section. Wrap the straight piece that all the others pieces are strung onto around a 6″ to 8″ pot just below the lip. Thread one end of the wire through the loop at the end of this wire and then twist the wire back on itself to secure.

Wreath

Cut the straight sections away from the curved sections. Bend one or more pieces of wire into a wreath shape. If using more than one piece of wire, use pliers to make a loop at the end of one wire. Slip the other wire through the loop then make a loop at the end of the second wire and bend it over the other loop to secure. After bending into your wreath shape do the same with the other two ends to hold the wreath together. You can make a single strand wreath or multi-strand wreath (which makes it easier to attach decorations to). Use florists wire to attach holly, evergreen or vines branches to your wreath. Leave as is or continue adding other decorations such as:

  • bows
  • ribbon
  • lace
  • silk flowers and/or leaves
  • small toys

 

 

Flip Flops

Posted on by
Reply

Now that summer is over you probably have a pair or two of trashed flip flops. Perfect! You can turn them into brand new footwear to get you through the winter.  P.S. If you’re dying to do this refashion and don’t have a pair of old flip-flops Walmart has them for a dollar a pair, although now that it’s colder in many parts of the country they may not stock them anymore.

inspired by A Pair and a Spare

Platform Shoes

I saw this project over at A Pair and a Spare and just had to share it with you all. Thank you to Foam Magazine for initiating this project using pieces of foam such as the type you can buy at Michael’s Crafts Stores of Joanne Fabrics. A pair of old flip flops can be the perfect start to a new pair of platform shoes. If you’re dying to refashion a pair of shoes into a pair of platforms, picking up a piece of craft foam is a good option but I’m patient, persistent and a die-hard refashioner so if I don’t have a pair of old flip flops I’ll look for a pair while garage-saleing or thrifting to make my platform shoes. The flip-flops don’t even have to be your size. They can be your size or  bigger, just not smaller. Cut or pull off everything on the flip-flops leaving the sole bare. Place the shoes you’re restyling on top of the flip-flop sole and trace around the shoe so you’ll know where to cut later. Use a craft knife or Exacto knife to cut along the line you’ve traced. Repeat with the other shoe. Depending on how thick the sole of your flip-flop is, you can stop here or repeat with another pair or two of flip-flops until you have the desired height of your platform shoes. Glue the flip-flops to the bottom of your shoes. Let the glue dry for the appropriate amount of time.

 

inspiration from A Pair and a SpareYou’ll notice that the edges of your flip-flops look a bit raggedy. You can cover the edge of your platforms in a variety of ways:

  • glitter
  • sequins
  • decoupage fabric, lace, magazine pics, gift wrap … around the edge – protect with several coats of clear varnish or shellac
  • glue string or ribbon around and around the edge until it’s completely covered
  • sand the edges until smooth
  • and leave as is or paint

 

Urban Threads fantastic sweater boots

Sweater Boots

There are tons of tutorials all over the Internet showing you how to create a pair of boots using the sleeves of an old sweater. I like to use a pair of stripped down flip-flops for the soles of these boots rather than a pair of ballet flats because the thick foam helps to keep my feet warm, whereas the ballet flats make me feel as if I’m walking on top of a block of ice (when it’s cold out). Check out these tutes:

Urban Threads –  Sweater Boots

Craftster Argyle Sweater Boots

Craftster Knee High Sweater Boots

Happy Together Gathered Top Sweater Boots for Mom & Daughter

 

Eeyore Grows Up

Posted on by
Reply

I fell in love with this boxy, way too big for me v-neck t-shirt because of it’s lovely shades of lavender and Eeyore’s sad eyes staring out at the world.

Once again I forgot to take a before pic, but this one is the same shape.

 

This was a simple fix to take this shirt from frumpy adult who looked as if she was hanging onto her childhood way too long and make it over into a t-shirt that is both super cute and fantastically comfy. I know, I know Stacey and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not to Wear” would roll their eyes at describing any garment as comfortable but I really think this works both ends of the spectrum, fashionable AND comfortable.

First thing was to remove the collar. I cut it just below the stitching all the way around. Then I cut off the sleeve hems and bottom hem just above the stitching.

At this point I could have just tied it in a knot at my waist and called it a day, but I wanted to take this one a bit further. I found a Spandex lavender workout shirt that I will never EVER wear again (stop snickering!) and cut a horizontal tube six inches wide leaving the bottom hem intact so I could use it for the bottom hem on my new t-shirt. I slipped the tube on around my hips and since it had fit me well before I cut into it, it now fit snugly around my hips. Perfect!

I used chalk to mark both the bottom of the t-shirt and the top of the tube at the middle front, middle back and left and right sides. After pinning the bottom of the t-shirt to the top (cut side) of the lavender tube, right sides together, stretching the tube to match the marks on the t-shirt and so that the t-shirt was gathered to fit the circumference of the tube, I stitched it all together, put it on and fell in love.

t-shirt gathered to fit tube

 

 

view from the front

view from the side

 

I did try it on with Eeyore in front but I like the surprise of Eeyore on the back and felt that it looked a little more grown-up than entering a room with Eeyore greeting everyone.

I’m so happy with how this refashion turned out that I’ve been looking for oversize tops and coordinating Spandex shirts at garage sales ever since. I’ve made a few more and each one has turned out very different. For instance, I applied the same tactic to an over-sized see-through lace blouse which I wear over all sorts of cami’s and tank tops. I love that it pairs well with either jeans or a pencil skirt.

Tanktop Topper

Posted on by
Reply

I have this collection of scarves which I can’t get rid of because they’re so beautiful, however not only do I not wear most of them, many of them I’ve NEVER worn. Egads! What was I thinking? I thought I’d start wearing scarves tied into chic headbands and around a ponytail, forgetting that I rarely actually wear a ponytail and that scarf headbands slip off my head before I can even leave the house. Yet still I kept buying these beautiful scarves and now I’m determined that I’m going to find ways to use them in my wardrobe. I started with an easy one, a medium sized square scarf.

I can't let all the beautiful detail in this scarf waste away in a closet.

I measured across my shoulders to get an idea how long a slit to cut into the scarf. Then I cut a slit. Note, I said SLIT. I didn’t arc the cut downwards as this is such a sheer scarf I wanted it to cover as much of my chestal region as possible. I liked how I thought that would look.

After putting my head through the slit and determining that I had cut it as much as I wanted I stitched two short rows of zig-zag stitches on either side of the scarf to create bat wing sleeves.

To finish the edge of neck opening I used a drawstring left over from a skirt I had refashioned. It was a very light weight silk so it would go well with this scarf. I didn’t use the entire drawstring. I just zig-zag stitched the drawstring to the edge of the neck opening all the way around and cut away the excess drawstring, saving it for another refashion.

Worn over halter top as a coverup.

This is perfect worn over either a wife-beater tank or a silk cami. I’ve even worn it over a halter dress when a backless dress wasn’t quite appropriate for where I was going. Because this scarf is so sheer I didn’t think that it would provide any warmth, but it does help a bit when a day turns chilly. I’ve also worn it as a scarf by inserting my head through the opening but not putting my arms through the sleeve openings. This style of scarf is much more modern that any way that I could have worn it as a simple square scarf.