Midweek meander

More ideas to think about this time it's the garden again.

Cheap wooden spoons as plant markers.

A lovely use for old tin cans.

An old welly boot bird house what a lovely thing.

This is brilliant get the drill out, drill it on a slow speed though and use blue tack to stop it slipping.

Looks great but I don't know how long it would stay looking like that outside.

Images with thanks www.dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Sorry for missing a couple of posts, the weather has been so glorious that I confess to just being outside enjoying myself, this could be summer so I'm making the most of it.I have always been the type of person to reuse everything that I can, so all the lovely re purposing stuff that is turning up online fills me with ideas. I am going to be posting some of the things that interest me hope you enjoy them to.

Cookie cutter pin cushions such fun.

Cookie cutter mini chandeliers I really love these and think they would work in the house and garden.

These would be lovely maybe in a kitchen window or at Christmas.

I'm making these for the potting shed and my studio.

Genius plastic or wooden spoons painted and glued around a mirror,I would also like this as a clock or maybe a picture frame.

Thank you www.dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Midweek meander.

Lucy Casson has always been a favorite of mine ever since I discovered her work, the worlds that she creates from tin are wonderful, see what you think.

Revisiting her work fills me with childish delight.

Midweek meander.

Carrying on with our 'Meet the Makers' theme here is another talented 'crafter' who will be helping us make a success of our open day at 'Studio 15', Naomi Lock.

'If you go down to the woods today your sure of a big suprise'

'He's my favorite'

'or maybe this one, I'm a sucker for beach huts'.

These look fun

something different on the Christmas tree or how about a Christmas garden?

This is a super little bag, nice one Naomi!

Maybe something a bit more flowery?

To see more of Naomi's products visit www.woolylakes.co.uk

or come and buy from her direct at

'Meet the Makers' 10.00am-5.00pm 22nd October

'Studio 15' above 'Just Sew' Penrith.

Eco craft ideas.

In this economic climate we are all looking for ways to save money and even better to try to reduce waste and reuse things we would previously have thrown away. I'm often surfing the net looking for eco ideas and this week I came across these great little videos by Shiho Masuda on you tube.

Brilliantly simple crafting.

All there is left to say is upcycle, upcycle, upcycle.

Upcycle something this weekend.

Here are some great ideas from the internet to get you started.

Backyard bird feeder. www.greenkidcrafts.co.uk

Two sunburst clocks made from a cheap clock movement and recycled bottle tops.

A retro storage cube made from old album covers, I love it.

www.i-brain-zombies.blogspot.com find the instructions here.

and in a similar vein this great little pouch.

A lunch pouch from a 4 pint milk container, looks like the fastener is a velcro sticky dot. Sorry can't remember who to credit but what a great idea, you could use it to store craft bits as well.

Make your own washi or fabric tape, simple doublesided tape, sticky side down onto your chosen surface, brilliant. Old wrapping paper or fabric offcuts, maybe even the selvage.

And this is my weekend project, a beautiful lampshade made simply from a balloon, wallpaper paste and old lace doilies, the patterns it makes on the ceiling and walls when the light is on are beautiful.

find the instructions here  

www.moredesignplease.com

Well I hope you found something to fire you up, have creative and relaxing weekend.

Midweek meander.

For all you people out there who love old spoons or forks for that matter, here are some great ideas from the net. This old cutlery is still found in charity shops at a really cheap price so no excuses if you want to make something that you see!

A spoon chandelier.

A spoon family to enjoy playing with.

Soup spoon candle holders.

A retro sunburst mirror.

Fork hooks.

 I made a set out of flattened spoons. Curling the prongs of the fork is easy with a pair of pliers, flatten them out first by hammering them on a hard surface, this technique also makes great wind chimes and mobiles.

More candlesticks,

the little candle cups which are glued on. hold the small tapper type candles, so sweet.

Handles and tie backs.

Spoons coloured with alcohol inks.

Use a fork to make a pompom easy peasy.

A fork bracelet.

Finally spoons bent up, tied around a jar and  holding dyed eggs, this would be great for Easter but also for Christmas with red eggs and a different flower arrangement. I'm sure all you creative people could come up with many more great ideas to upcycle cutlery.

Simple ideas are always the best.

Get green and get out in the fresh air this weekend.

We should all be finding ways of recycling our waste rather than just adding to the landfill mountain.

Here are some simple upcycling ideas that I found for the garden, balcony or yard.

A beautiful use for old wellies. www.sharelandscaping.com

An upright planter, just old plastic bottles and a pallet.

www.ecycler.com

Little messages and

plant markers www.igardena.blogspot.com

I have made these from old charity shop finds, not only upcycling but adding a bit to the charity coffers. To make them you just hammer the spoon flat and scratch in the name, go over the text with a permanent marker and wipe it off before it dries, it will stay in the text.

Lovely little nightlights from old tin cans.

tutorial www.finegardening.com look under how to.

This one is not strictly for the garden but its a simple idea for an organiser, you could of course use it to store your plant labels and tags! Sorry can't remember where I found it.

These are just a few of the many ideas easily found online, so before you throw it away have a surf around and see if you can make it into something beautiful and useful.