Plastic Bottle Purses!! - Guest post on Craft Envy

Hello readers, this week I got something very exciting for you! I'm posting over as guest blogger for the first time on Craft Envy. Yay, I'm so excited! Such a lovely offer from Nicholette and Vanessa - they knew I was just a beginner here and still were generous to spotlight my crafts!

Well, I love today's creation of mine, it's a great recycling-cum-storage project! We all know that plastics are non-biodegradable and create a horrible mess and hazard to the earth. Ever since I read this I keep thinking of new ideas for crafts involving plastic bottles..and yesterday this idea hit me- Why not make purses or coin boxes out of plastic bottles!

So here they are: Plastic Bottle Purses, zippered up and all! If you wish to learn how to make these beauties, head over to Craft Envy HERE!

My, aren't they cute! Store what you like in these lovelies, and save the environment too..now that's what clever re-purposing is all about! Do let me know what you think!

Also while you're there, check out the awesome creations by Nicholette and Vanessa, if you haven't already!

Spring-y Summer-y Beach-y Bracelet!

Cheesy title again, I know but I couldn’t help it…since this week was quite boring and dull for me, and I wanted to shake it off through the title!

CAUTION: An extra lengthy post ahead..move at your own risk!

This week we spotted our little jungle friends in our library upstairs..’termites’! The Pest Control people were immediately intimidated, and as a result our home was turned totally upside down. We packed, unpacked and now are packing our stuff again, ‘coz the husband and I are going out on a holiday! Yay, finally! More on that later!

The house was in shambles, but I so badly wanted to make something crafty, that I came up with this cutie li’l thingy!

Those are glass gems, yes! It looked so springy, summer-y and beach-y, that I had to name it the same! I love the messy, tangled look, and thought some others might like it, too!

To stretch a short story long, I was busy packing, yet just had to make something, when I confronted some strings with glass gems stuck to them in tangled mess. Now if you have seen my older post where I made a butterfly and glass gem mobile, then you will know where those strings came from. First time readers don’t panic, I’ll ramble about it from the start!

You will need: Glass Gems, Yarn thread, Tacky Glue, and the ability to tangle the threads finally! (that comes naturally to me!)

Now follow these simple instructions to make your glass gem strings:

Cut the yarn threads in the desired length and number. If you want a fuller and heavier bracelet, use 4 strings. 2 strings should do for a simpler one. I used 4 strings, each 15 inch long.

Now, the glass gems obviously wouldn’t be fully secure onto the thread if you simply stick them to the strands. So you need to make a ‘seat’ for them so that you can safely glue them onto the threads, forever secure. The ‘seat’ is made as follows:

Easy- peasy, isn’t that? Let them dry for few hours. The pics are borrowed from a previous post, since I had my strings readily made for me from the previous project.

The next step is mighty easy, and even if I do not have the picture for this step, you will be able to do it easily! Simply hold the glass gem strings and give them a good shake. Yarn tangles easily, yours will, too! Don’t bother to keep the loops straight and let them tangle. When you’re satisfied with your ‘tangled mess’, start wrapping them around your wrist. Do it in such a way that the ends are knotted and tangled as well.

Now wear it on a sunny day to the beach, like I’m going to, soon!

I love how it sparkles in my hand!

And I love it in sepia colors as well (don’t know if I can get glass gems in these colors!)

Make yourself one, too!

Now about my vacation – I’m going to visit these fab places:

It’s a good combination of ancient heritage places, and gorgeous beaches…I’m gonna have fun!                                                     Goa ...Oh, I love beaches!

Now  I'm off to meet my dear friends now before leaving, see you next week!
Linked to these fab parties..do 'attend'!
Tutorial Tuesday @Hope Studios
Get Your Crafts On @Today's Creative Blog
Tip Me Tuesday @Tip Junkie
DIY Day @ A Soft Place To Land
Weekend Wrap Up Party @Tatertots And Jello
Creative Cats @ Poppies At Play
Show Off Your Stuff @Fireflies And Jellybeans
Whatever Goes Wednesday @Someday Crafts

Spring Flowers Mobile From Plastic Bottles

I finished my spring flowers mobile quite some time ago, but things have been so hectic nowadays that I didn’t get time to post it till now.

Can you guess what these flowers are made of?? (Of course you can – that’s plain evident) These were made of plastic bottles!

Recycling is the new buzz around the Blogland, and I’m into it as well. So this time it was plastic bottles – did you know that only 20% of the overall plastic bottles are recycled ever?

That seemed just so awful, and I decided my next project would be from plastic bottles- everyone has so many of them around! So here’s the final product: Spring Flowers Mobile!

I’ll be honest – the flower making takes some time and lots of patience. But I guess all of us ought to recycle things in our own style. If you decide to make this, then you will need:

Plastic bottles –lots and lots (I used about 20)

An old butter or normal knife 

Strong scissors with teeth or Exacto knife

Acrylic Paints

Fishing line thread

Embroidery or metal hoop

Satin Ribbon

Lets get started! In order to cut flower shapes we need to poke a hole at the bottom of the neck of bottle. Some choose to drill a hole, but I hate heavy machinery, so I found an old blunt buttering knife which I put onto the stove flame for around 30 seconds, and poked into the desired place on the bottle..it does melt a hole as if plastic is merely butter!

Easy Peasy! Now draw some flower petals around the bottle’s mouth and cut them by inserting your strong teethed scissors through the hole you just poked. This does take some effort in the starting stage, but slowly you get the hang of it. Don’t these flowers look very cute?

I also used the flower shaped base of the bottles by cutting around the shape. The middle part of the bottle looked like it could be used as well so I drew some flower shape on the middle part of the bottle as well and cut it.

Now for the fun part. Paint the flowers in your favorite colors..I guess its not difficult to guess which is mine!            
Right, I love blue! Now pile the flowers over each other the way you want them to hang from the mobile:                    
Now take a strong needle and thread it with some fishing line. Poke a hole through the piled flowers like this:         
Decide the length of the flowers to hang from the mobile and knot the ends accordingly.  Repeat the same for all the flowers.
Now take one flower pile at a time and knot the upper end of the fishing line onto the embroidery or metal hoop.  After you finish knotting all the flower threads, take a longish piece of satin ribbon, glue an end to the hoop and begin rolling it around the hoop. for more precise instructions regarding the making of a mobile, go here.
Now cut four equal lengths of ribbon and insert them into four opposite corners of the hoop so that they hold the hoop securely. Tie a knot and hang your mobile from a hook. 


There, isn’t it pretty! Some might not find it that pleasant, but I’m mighty proud of my recycling skills!

I'm going to join fab parties this time, but sorry that I can't include all the party buttons as it makes the posts look very cluttered. I'll just be including the link to the party now on..hope that's okay with the party organizers!!

Market Yourself Monday @Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Whatever Goes Wednesday @Someday Crafts
Make it Yours Day @My Backyard Eden
Penny Pinching Party @The Thrifty Home
Craft Schooling Sunday @Creative Jewish Mom
Show off your Stuff Party @Fireflies and Jellybeans
Get your Craft On Thursday @Life As Lori
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @Somewhat Simple
Great Idea Day @Infarrantly Creative
Craft Concotions Friday @That's So Cuegly
Creative Cats @Poppies At Play
Weekend Wrap Up Party @Tattertots And Jello

Fabric Scraps to Switch Plate Covers – Say goodbye to lifeless switch plates

I give up. There’s no point hiding it. I love colors. I tried keeping to neutral colors, but I just can’t keep off coloring anything and everything!

And I just cannot bring myself to throw away the remnant fabric scraps from any project. They are stashed away in hope of a reuse. The other day I noticed some scraps of a lovely fabric with pink and red patterns like cherry blossoms. My bedroom walls are alternatively pink and red, too, so I knew what I’d do with these. The husband cringed yesterday as I said I wanted to color up the switch plates,  like this:

But I did go on doing this, anyways, for I hated this drab white look of the switch plates:

So I transformed them to colorful and cheery looking by gluing some fabric scraps onto them. Isn’t that a great idea? All you need to do to make these beauties is a few fabric scraps remaining from your previous project which also coordinate with your walls. Simple as that!

You will need:

And of course, fabric glue or Mod Podge…Did you ever come across a project that needs only that many items?

Now proceed! Measure the dimensions of your switch plates, and size the fabric scraps into strips of suitable size. Note that you will need to leave some allowance if your switchboard is in an angular shape like mine. Those with straight switchboards can relax.

Now  glue or Mod Podge all over your switch plate carefully so that none of it goes into the cracks (If it does go into the cracks, then you can kiss the circuit goodbye!). 

Cover with the fabric strips on all sides. It is okay to let the strips overlap sometimes, it wouldn’t be visible. Let dry.

We’re done! So fast and easy, and adds such dash of color to the room!

 
Got some fabric scraps? Bring them on, Ladies!

Linked to these fab parties..come join the fun!
Tip me Tuesday @Tip Junkie
Great Idea Day @Infarrantly Creative


Its So Very Creative @ Its So Very Cherie
Market Yourself Monday @Sumo's Sweet Stuff


Whatever Goes Wednesday @Someday Crafts
Show and Tell @Blue Cricket Design