citymade

Pink Dress #4

There was a little pink flower on the dress. By simply removing it and sewing a ribbon around it, I was able to attach it to a hair band.

Only 1 project to go…

Pink Dress Series #3

So, I think that Lauren was jealous of the vest we made last week because she was so excited when the top of the pink dress morphed into a little pink vest that was just her size.  By cutting off the top of the dress and adding some seams and ribbon to tie it closed we have number three in the series, “The Little Pink Vest.”

Pink Dress Series #2

Here is Anna sporting the lovely scarf made from the bottom of the pink dress.  By cutting off the bottom of the dress I was presented with a nice child-scarf-size piece of fabric.  It took about five minutes to turn this piece of fabric into a little scarf giving us our second item in the pink dress series.

This is the first of 5 Pink Dress re-purposing posts.

In the beginning there was the pink dress. Then the pink dress was too small. Then we thought, “how many things can you make from one pink dress?” It turns out about 5.

Number 1: The Jean Skirt Ruffle. We love ruffles, and by simply removing the ruffle from the dress and sewing it on to a denim skirt, that was getting a little too short for the youngest, Lauren, we were able to lengthen the skirt and create a whole new look.

See you tomorrow for Pink Dress re-purposed item #2.

Ice-Cream Bank: Re-purpose idea #25

Today we decided to make piggy banks out of plastic ice-cream containers.  I, Melany, am trying to teach my girls about saving money and being good stewards of what they have.  I decorated the plastic containers with paper, fabric, stickers and ribbon.  I then made dividers inside the piggy bank using hot glue and cardboard from snack boxes.

I cut three holes in the plastic lid and labeled the holes with the words, “save, share, and spend.”  I gave the girls each some money that they had been saving and told them that they could put the money in whatever slot they choose.  I tried to explain that the save slot is for money that you do not spend but save for someday when you really need it.  The share slot is for money that you will share with others that need it more than you do and the spend slot is for money that you can spend on whatever you want to.  I am not sure how much they understood but we will keep talking about it and practicing.  I decided to give them each some change to see where they would put it and to my surprise they divided it pretty evenly among the three categories.

It would also be fun to let the child decorate his or her own bank. Older children might be able to come up with their own categories to divide their money in.

Today’s re-purposing idea: Notepads

Since Melany and I have children who love to draw and color, we tend to keep a lot of scrap paper around  (just in case a dinosaur or princess must be drawn.) Scrap paper can also be turned into a useful, attractive notepad.

We used some scrap paper, cut into different sizes, PVA glue (check art supply or craft store), and some cardboard for the backing. On the 2 smaller pads, we used an old cereal box. A little cutting and gluing (and waiting), and you have handy, functional paper pads. We embellished the smaller pads with some hand made papers. But it can be as simple or as decorative as you want.

What did we re-purpose today?  Well, this is one that I, Melany, stumbled upon while making toast.  I used the last piece of bread in the loaf and put the bread sack in a drawer (by the way, we re-purpose those for tying up food scraps before throwing them away).  I was still left with that little plastic disk that ties up the bread bag.  On my way to the trash can, I glanced down and cringed as I saw how dirty the cracks in between my counter and sink had become.  Good news! That little plastic disk was just the right size to clean all of the cracks and the spaces around my faucet as well.  Now I have a cleaner sink and a use for those pesky pieces of plastic.

Have another use for bread ties? We would love to hear!

Re-purposing project #23-Jars!

This one comes from my (Carol’s) dear sister-in-law, Phyllis. She and her hubby like to buy fresh herbs and spices in bulk, so Phyllis has saved jars from pasta sauces and previous spices to put their new spices in. This is a great idea, especially if you live in an area that will not recycle glass. If you go to a retail store, empty jars sold for decor or storage can be quite expensive. But with a little warm water and soap, you can remove the label, and reuse a jar for storage.

(I am dedicating this post to my husband, Christian, who has for years been saving and reusing every glass jar he ever used. It used to bother me, but now I see he was simply ahead of his time.)

Re-purpose project of the day: A Bag-o-Bags!

We have really tried to cut down our plastic bag usage. However, once and a while we go to the store, ad before we can show the cashier the pile of reusable bags, all the groceries have their own plastic, future landfill-resident-for-life bag. So, where to put them all? Well, by taking an old, but still nice dishtowel (this one was not very absorbent, therefore hardly used), and doing a quick, I mean really quick, makeover, it’s what we like to call a “Bag Bag”.

Still working on re-purposing plastic bags. Anyone have good ideas?

Re-Purposed Jacket

Today’s re-purposing idea is to take an old jacket and turn it into a vest.  Simply remove the sleeves and sew a seam.  It is fun to refresh and old item of clothing and almost feels like you just went shopping!