The remains of a wardrobe part 2: the mirror

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Hello everyone!

It still feels like summer here at least in the morning so I admit I wasn't inspired to do any fall decoration at all.
Instead I will show you a mirror I made out of an old wardrobe door a couple of months ago. It is not a complete tutorial, more of a before and after post with some tips. Except I forgot to take a picture of the before.
 

Cutlery for decoration

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Spoons and forks help us eat our food in a civilized way but they can also help us decorate our house with style. Here are some ideas to steal:

You can frame cutlery or make frames of it

 

An Oregon Cottage

Crochet a plastic bag

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Do you want to make something good for this planet and be creative at the same time? Recycle plastic bags to crochet a bag for the beach or for shopping. Click the following links to see how you can make them:

on plasticbagbag 

and on cocoknits 

 

Bicycles

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I 've been keeping my old rusty bicycle in the back balcony for more than two years, since the day I decided that I wouldn't use it any more, at least as a bicycle. All that time of course I was trying to come up with a way to upcycle - reuse it, partly or as a whole. Searching the web, I stumbled upon some projects concerning mainly the wheels, but I thought nothing matched my space. And then, when things showed the moment came for me and my bicycle to be separated for ever, as I intended to give it away to be recycled as metal, I came up with the idea: to paint it one color from top to bottom. In fact I copied the idea from a magazine, I don't remember now  if it was a fashion or an interior design magazine, there were some totally one color painted bicycles as a background in some pictures. It only took one and a half can of green spray paint.

I think it made a very interesting addition to my otherwise neglected, not so green balcony. And since I don't have much of a view I prefer to look at my green bicycle. At least it brings to mind some joyful, relaxed moments.


It seems that a bicycle can be very pretty inside the house too, like in this New York apartment.

via Apartment Therapy

a bicycle wheel can be turned into a pot rack

via Apartment Therapy

or a clock

 via Cool Buzz

or even a pendant light 

via designspotter

the inner tube can become cool jewelry

 

via try handmade  

bicycle freewheels and cogs can be upcycled into tea light holders

at Elsewares

and bicycle wheels can stand for feet to make a very special table -my favorite!

via Dude Craft

Some very special chandeliers

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Madeleine Boulesteix started making chandeliers when she found some old glass drops. She continued by adding to her list of materials, teacups, glasses, kitchen utensils, and other recycled objects she finds in charity shops, flea markets and scrap metal yards. I think the result is gorgeous:

My favorites are her one bulb lanterns:

North Glenn Glass makes oil lamps with the finest reclaimed glass bottles. There is  a central bottle filled with water which acts as a  rise and fall counterweight  but also as lens that catches the light and projects all shades of light in the surroundings.

How to make a wall hanging from doilies

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Despite my last post, I 'm still here. Moving was postponed, because due to the work it requires, it can't be done now. But still, I made some changes . I refreshed my blog's appearance and separated it to two sections, one with only English text and one with only Greek text. It looks more right this way and it' s easier to read.

I also made something to decorate my home. I thought I could use some of those doilies my mother kept hidden in her closets -she didn't like them much either. She was very surprised when I asked her to bring me some.

When I emptied the bag, I was thinking of what I could make with them.  Then I remembered of that wall in my dining room which is quite empty and decided to make a wall hanging to decorate it.

I boiled equal quantities of sugar and water

and after the syrup cooled down, I completely soaked the doilies in it,

then I laid them on baking paper and waited with patience for them to get dry .

 The method proved to be very effective, it stiffened the doilies without altering their appearance. Moreover, if you change your mind, all you have to do is wash the doilies and they return to their previous situation.

I used small copper rings, as they wouldn't show against my brown wall,  to link 5 doilies and just one pin to hang the wall hanging.

If you republish this tutorial or/and photos, please put a link back to this blog.

How to make stuff with recycled magazines

If you look for a way to get rid of old magazines don't throw them away, instead do something creative and useful with them.



I stumbled upon this vase from recycled magazines in House of Handmade which gave me the idea to look for more inspiration on how to use the piles of magazines that accumulate week after week.


If you want to begin with something easy, use recycled magazines to make some coasters. Watch this video to find how.






I think this mobile looks really nice, you can try and make one yourself, with recycled magazines, click here for the tutorial.






If you like these boxes learn how to make them here.


If you prefer bowls, on Indiepublic you 'll learn how to make them.




You can make little ornaments like these (craftpod)




or use them as bows on your gift packages (crafster)






Another idea I liked is to make a frame with rolled magazine pages, click here to see how.





If you are not so patient to make all the above here 's the perfect idea for you, it will only take a few minutes: make a plant stand !

Make with paint chips

It is a fact, when someone has the imagination and the inspiration needed, he can make truly beautiful little things using those that others throw away. Here's such a case I found on Go Make Something.Learn how you can use paint chip samples from wall paint companies to make cards, bookmarks and other stuff, here.




Here's another fun idea, using the same material: a paint chip garland.





If you click here you will learn how to make these cute little notebooks.



A search on Flickr brought these interesting results:


Greeting cards by Something to See





Cd covers by this is love forever





Another festive garland by paper ballet




Now you know what you will do the next time you pass by your neighbourhood's hardware store.

Creative recycling

It seems that recycling and creativity are really close these days. Designers seem to be challenged by the fact that they have a worn, useless, ready to be thrown away object which have to make it desirable again.

Lori Marsha is a California based independent designer who makes one of a kind clothes, jewelry and accessories. Everything she makes incorporates vintage or recycled components.





Talking about clothes, if you have too many of them which you don't need any more here' s a cool way to reuse them: sew them together and make a carpet. I found this on Ecoble in an post about creative recycling ideas.




And if you want to try some creative recycling yourself, why not make a bag out of an old sweater? On WhipUp you will find an easy tutorial about it.

Recycle old textiles

Do you wonder how you could reuse all those old t shirts you can't wear anymore but also the old linen and towels that beg for a second life? Make a bath mat! On Ecologue you will learn how to do it . You can watch this video. You will also find many other recycled crafting ideas.

DIY christmas tree

After my post about alternative christmas trees I had to show you this one in a post of its own. It sure isn't the kind of christmas tree I can imagine in my living room, but I have to admit that the person who made this, apart of being the biggest consumer of the drink in the green can, is also the king of diy and recycling. Visit home made christmas tree to see all the hard work behind this tree.

Second life

Pascale Palun is an artist based in Avignon, France. There, in her atelier, which I guess is a very interesting place, she makes her very special handmade creations using old, worn materials, giving them a second life. The objects she makes have a very personal, poetic style. But pictures speak better. You will see more if you visit www.voxpopuli-deco.com

How to make christmas ornaments using your old cds

It's already time for christmas crafting so here 's one from my sister. She used old cds /dvds, glue and knitting left overs.




She glued two cds together so that she had two shiny surfaces and then she wrapped wool in two or three colors around the cds not covering them totally so that the shining shows through the gaps.






And here's another idea, you make a coil with wool in the center of the cd which you secure with glue, and also make a circle with wool on the perimeter of the cd using glue again.





They're simple and beautiful and most importantly you recycle some useless objects.