Secondhand Shirt Turns Into Cute Summer Crop Top

Recently at The Felted Fox, Nicole has started sewing her own clothes for the summer. One of her recent outfits started with this large, secondhand men’s shirt.

Nicole created her own pattern for a crop top shirt. She cut the pattern pieces out of the fabric she harvested from the oversize men’s shirt. After sewing the pieces together, Nicole’s crop top was ready to show off. I’m impressed!

Find Nicole’s free pattern for this cute crop top at The Felted Fox.

By Kimm | Filed under Clothing, Outfits | Tags: altered, clothing, crop top, dress shirt, free pattern, men's to women's shirt, mens, old, outfit, refashion, secondhand, sewing, shirt, women's shirt

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July 31, 2014July 30, 2014

Empty Soap Container Makes Cute Nautical Vase

Melissa blogs at A Prudent Life. When she ran out of dish soap recently, the container was so nice that Melissa couldn’t stand to throw it away. I think we can all relate!

After deciding that repurposing the container into a vase would work nicely, Melissa hot glued pieces of rope around the container. During the process, the rope was giving her nautical vibes, so Melissa scrounged up a chipboard anchor she’d picked up on clearance from the craft store. She painted the anchor navy blue and hot glued it to her vase. What a perfect nautical vase for the summer!

Read Melissa’s smart tips on how to flawlessly cover an angled container with rope at A Prudent Life.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor | Tags: anchor, container, empty, Hobby Lobby, hot glue, jute, Method dish soap, nautical, recycled, rope, up cycled, vase

July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

Cheap Back-to-School Style with Cereal Box Notebooks

At Creme de la Craft, Natalie loves to take notes, so she always keeps notebooks in her purse. Cute notebooks can be pricey, though, which is why Natalie was so excited to discover that she could make her own cute notebooks from leftover cereal boxes.

Natalie cut and folded the cardboard from the cereal boxes to the size she wanted, with the blank side facing out. Then she cut sheets of paper down to size and stitched them into the spine. To finish each notebook, Natalie glued a piece of decorative paper to the spine. I’m smitten!

Visit Natalie at Creme de la Craft to read her instructions for adding the button closure to her cute notebooks.

By Kimm | Filed under Recycled | Tags: back to school, buttons, cardboard, cereal boxes, decorative paper, DIY, Moleskine, notebooks, notes, office supplies, recycled, school supplies, up cycled

July 30, 2014July 29, 2014

Vintage Rocking Chair Makeover

Over at Weekend Craft, Michelle found this rocking chair at a yard sale shortly before her sister’s birthday. Good bones for sure, but it needed some sprucing up. And since her sister had been eyeing rocking chairs, Michelle thought it would make the perfect gift.

Michelle started the transformation by sanding down the rocking chair thoroughly. After cleaning off the dust, she stained it with white stain (a tip from the hardware store paint guy). Now the rocking chair looks brand new, and what a fantastic gift for Michelle’s sister!

Read Michelle’s tips on how to sand rounded edges and details at Weekend Craft.

By Kimm | Filed under Chairs, Furniture | Tags: DIY, estate sale, furniture, Lowe's, old, painted, rocking chair, rounded edges, sanded, vintage, weathered, white stain, yard sale

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

Plain Jane Clipboard Gets All Glammed Up

Over at Twelve O Eight, Tanya shares that she needs a visual place to make lists and keep herself organized, and clipboards are perfect for that. At the dollar store, the price is right for a clipboard, but the one Tanya picked up was a little too Plain Jane for her taste.

Tanya decided to make the basic clipboard glam and girly. She used tape to create a herringbone pattern, then spray painted the clipboard gold. Glam? Check. Next Tanya added a clip-on flower and a strip of Washi tape. Girly? Check. I love how it turned out!

Get all the details on Tanya’s clipboard makeover at Twelve O Eight.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor, Recycled | Tags: clip on flower, clipboard, Dollar Tree, girly, glam, herringbone, Jo-Ann, Krylon gold spray paint, organization, school supplies, up cycle, washi tape

July 29, 2014July 28, 2014

Vintage Lunchbox Upcycle

Kerri blogs over at Keep Calm and KERRI On. Recently while at an estate sale, she found this vintage metal lunchbox for $3. (Who else remembers these lunch boxes? They were made to last!)

To give the sturdy lunchbox another shot at life, Kerri sanded it down and wrapped the hardware with tape. Then she painted it a bright lipstick red. After adding a silk flower embellishment, Kerri now uses the lunchbox as a purse. It’s beautiful!

To find out what paint color Kerri used to get that gorgeous bright red, visit her at Keep Calm and KERRI On.

By Kimm | Filed under Accessories, Clothing | Tags: clear coat, estate sale, Folk Art Lipstick Red, lunch box, nail polish remover, old, paint, red, Rustoleum primer, sand, up cycle, vintage

July 28, 2014July 26, 2014

Comic Book Action Figure Container

Over at Organized 31, Susan has a son who loves super heroes. (Can anyone else out there relate?) Lately she shared a great way to reuse old comic books and leftover containers.

First Susan and her son cut apart the comic book panels they wanted to use. Then they used Mod Podge to adhere the comic book panels to the outside of the can. To finish, they sealed all the paper with a top coat of Mod Podge since the comic book paper is so delicate. Now Susan’s son has a super place to store his action figures!

Read Susan’s tips on where to find vintage comic books at Organized 31.

By Kimm | Filed under Recycled, Storage | Tags: action figures, canister, comic book, comic panels, container, DIY, mod podge, peanuts can, super heroes, toy storage, up cycled, vintage

July 28, 2014July 26, 2014

Cheap Dino Toy to Cornasaurus

Louise and Jenni are two good friends who blog at Paging Fun Mums. Inspiration for a fun way to help their kids eat their vegetables came from an interesting source: these soft, rubbery dinosaurs found for cheap at the local toy store.

These creative ladies cut the dinosaurs in half, removed the stuffing, and glued in regular corn-on-the-cob holders. Looks like this idea is a winner for Louise and Jenni, because their kids give the “corn’a’saurus” a big thumbs-up!

Find out how to make your own corn’a’saurus at Paging Fun Mums.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor | Tags: cheap, children, corn holder, corn on the cob, cornasaurus, dinosaurs, DIY, rubber, soft, summer, toy store, vegetables