Upcycled Design Lab Blog

Stylish Purse Upcycled from Fused Grocery Bags

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since my last post.  Oh dear how the time flies.  Sadly this post is not about another project that I have completed.  I am still working ever so painfully slowly on Upcycling 20 T-shirts.  I have one project that I do hope to have completed by the end of the week but of course no promises.

 

I have been meaning to post about my new plastic grocery bag purse for awhile now, a birthday present from my sister.  I had been using another one of her creations that I wrote about here.  But I have completely moved in to the new bag and I think there is no going back.  I am just not one of those women who bothers with matching her purse to her shoes.  I am also pretty hard on them (ie: I carry a lot of heavy stuff and don't like moving it from one purse to another) 

 

There are a lot of things I like about this new bag but the best thing is how sturdy it is and the fact that the bag itself is so light weight.  I have picked up a few purses in department stores and felt like they where already too heavy when the were empty (Not good for a woman who needs to put 10 pounds of.... well of course it is all very necessary stuff, in her purse.)

 

Anyway my new purse is part purse / part brief case and I couldn't be happier. 

 

 

Oh and it kept 60 or so grocery bags out of the land fill.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

I love the fun red lining and all the pockets.

 

 

 

You can find more of her purses at HFR Designs on Etsy or become a FB Fan.

 

And if you are wondering why I can't get more done on my own projects, here is my latest excuse. 

 

I was working on my halloween costume.

 

 

 

Happy November 1st.

 

DIY Make Your Own Upcycled Dog Toys

It has been rainy and cold here for the last several days and the dogs have been going a little stir crazy, missing their walks and being cooped up inside for most of the day.  In an effort to find some indoor entertainment I made a trip to the pet store for some new toys.  They loved this one for about 15 minutes.  (I am not exaggerating.)  The squeaker part of it lasted for about 5 minutes and in another 10 minutes it looked like this.

 

 

 

That was $5.00 not so well spent. 

 

After the new toy debaclel  I thought I would check out what some other folks have done to entertain their furry friends.

 

I was delighted to find many of the ideas used unwanted scrap materials that most people have around their homes.  I was doubly happy to find the ideas for this blog but also because my poor pups really need some entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

One of my favorite ideas was just to let your dogs clean out your old peanut butter jars.  I actually dug a jar out of my trash can.

 

 

I figured it would last at least a long as the "new" toy did.  :-)

 

I have been knee deep in T-shirts again of and I hope to have some project to show soon.  My main project is a sun dress made from multiple T-shirts so I have been spending a lot of time cutting out the screen printed parts of the shirts to use for the dress.  This of course has lead to a lot of leftover scraps.  I thought I would try to make some dog toys from the smaller pieces like the one in this video. 

 

  

 

Will have to keep you posted on how that goes.  I did ordered some squeakers from Ebay to put inside my designer dog toys but right now all I have is the idea and a big pile of scraps.

 

On the short term I think I am going to try the treats in a toilet paper roll trick.

DIY Upcycled Duster from fabric scraps

I saw this tutorial on Eco Etsy today and thought it was the perfect thing to share on this blog. 

 

 

I personally like fleece and velvet but to each their own.  :-)

 

 

 

10 Ways to Upcycle Your Dryer Sheets

There are only two of us. 

How can there be so much laundry? 

Ok technically there are six of us in the house but only two of us ever wear pants. 

I feel like I have been doing laundry for two days straight so its time for a break and some thoughts and experimentation with, what else, but dryer sheets. 

A while back I started collecting my dryer sheets in this coffee container that I keep on top of my dryer. 

 
 

I was born with an extra "hoarder" gene. 

It's not an official disorder but it does on occasion cause a little marital strife.  This coffee can is one of the ways that I try to contain some of my compulsive collecting madness.  Of course the other way to manage the madness is to actually do something with all of the crap that I collect.  So without further delay here is my list of 10+ ways to upcycle and re-use dryer sheets.

1) I save them primarily to use as swifer floor dusters.  It takes two of the type of dryer sheet that I use to cover my sweeper but they still stay in place, work almost as well as the real thing and are much cheaper. 

Here s my sexy sweeper dressed in dryer sheet chic. :-)

 

2)  I also keep them on hand when I am painting small projects.  I have used them like paper towels to wipe my hands on dry my brushes and as a blotter to add texture to painted backgrounds.

3)  Today I was thinking about what else to do with these sheets and making flowers came to mind.  A quick Google search revealed that many have gone before me into this territory.

 Here are my favorites.

  

Dryer Sheet Rose- Tutorial from Katies Rose Cottage

There are also all kinds of fabric flower tutorials on-line many of which could use dryer sheets instead of fabric

4)  Here is another idea that I had, scented sachets. (Again not an original idea but lets face it not that many ideas really are original)

I liked this version the best from Inspired at Home

5) Perhaps no bride would ever want an upcycled wedding but I thought that used dryer sheets would make nice rice bags.  I didn't find any actual examples on line but I think this one is fairly self explanatory.

6) Or maybe some brides would like an upcycled wedding.  There are several google search results for "dryer sheet wedding dress" and before you poo poo the idea as completely tacky or wacky you should check out what these ladies were able to accomplish with their humble little dryer sheets.

Dress 1

Dress 2

Dress 3

7) I thought that maybe I had an original idea to use the dryer sheet as an over lay filter on a photo or picture, but again I was wrong here is a version of this technique.

8) I stumbled onto this idea during my google search.  You can use dryer sheets as small pieces of interfacing or as in this tutorial for applique.

9) Dryer sheets can be used as a blank canvas as this artist does. 

Or in mixed media projects like this one.

 

10) And lastly I have decided to make some drawer liners for a dresser. 

I will have to post the results later as the project is completely in my imagination at the moment. 

That's it for now.  More laundry awaits.  So I had best be on my way.

P.S. 

Here are some bonus uses from Unplgged

 

Post Consumer Fused Plastic Bag Purses - Upcycled

I had a nice visit with my sister the other day and thought I would share some more of her creations.

 

Brown Hobo Bag

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't realize this before but did you know that many of the recycling programs, like this one do not accept plastic bags?  So it is great to find other uses for them don't you think?

 

Like this pretty and stylish Black Purse.

 

  

Or this cute blue lunch bag.

 

 

 

Here is a nice bright spring-time yellow purse.

 

 

 
 

 

And last but not least a couple of elegant clutches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the gardening front:


It is supposed to be pretty nice weather this week so I am hoping to start my composting project.  

 

And look my first (and only) little seedling has sprouted!

 

 

 

The poor little thing has already been knocked over by the dogs and pawed at by the cats.  Only the very hearty survive in this house. 

 

I also have my own little upcycled purse project going on.  I hope to share it soon. 

 

I hope you have a delightful day.

 

 

OMG! Have you seen this? Upcycled plastic bottles

I have been thinking about decorating a plastic hand soap bottle to make a more permanent soap dispenser for my kitchen.  I am not sure exactly how to go about it.  

 

I want to make this

 

match my kitchen colors and be more decorative.

 

This lead me to the internet for some idea surfing and so, as often happens, I tumbled down the rabbit hole yesterday.  I admit it I am weak and sometimes I have trouble staying focused on the task at hand. 

 

I went to Google with good intentions and entered the search words "plastic bottle" but now Google searches are intuitive and try to anticipate what you are looking for before you enter the full search.  So one of the options that popped up was "plastic bottle island."

 

I couldn't resist. 

 

Do you blame me? 

 

I mean really who wouldn't be curious? 

 

An Island made from plastic bottles? 

 

What on earth (no pun intended) could they be talking about?

 

 The story starts here.

 

 

 

And if you want more info watch these.

 

 

 

  

 

 

And you can read the wikipedia version here.

 

I am sooo... fascinated by this project.  Isn't human ingenuity and creativity a marvel?  One last island video if you are still with me.

 

 

 

WOW!!!  The whole thing is kind of unbelievable.

 

And I thought I was I such a superstar when I figured out how to make this Lady Gaga Lobster Hat from a plastic bottle and some other trash.

 

Oh and here is my other plastic bottle mask project.  But I it is a little anti-climatic after the whole island thing.

 

 

 

 I guess I had better get to work on my soap dispenser project but my head is still spinning.  I want to build a plastic bottle island.  I know it's crazy that's what I love about it I think.  Anyway I live in one ot the most land locked areas of the country so there isn't much need for island building.  I guess I will stick to my tiny little bottle project.

 

 

 

for now :)

 

Ties Ties and more Neckties

 

Since I have recently acquired a kazillion neck ties, I have been looking for ways to use them in my upcycling projects.  Here a few ideas and designs that I like.

Wrap Around Necktie Skirt

Long Necktie skirt

Necktie Tree Skirt (tablecloth)

Woven Chair Seats

Necktie Dress

Wallets

 

Spring Fever

The sun is out this morning but it is still quite cold here and I find my self fantasizing about spring. 

I do have to venture out into the cold day shorty but for now I will picture all the fun outdoorsy project I will do once the weather changes. 

As you may already know I have this old wok that I want to turn into a bird bath.  I am picturing it in this wild garden space on the side of our house that grows completly on it's own.  Which honestly is the only way that anything can grow around me.  I set out with good intentions but I do not have a very green thumb.  I do enjoy beautiful gardens though and I sometimes even dare to think that I might learn to grow a vegetable or an herb.

There is a big untamed rose vine in my secretgarden.  I like to call it that since l hope to someday follow in Mary Lennox's footsteps and unlock the tangled mess to reveal a beautiful garden space.  Maybe I will make a cute upcycled teacup birdfeeders to go with my birdbath like one of these from Krelly Designs & Company.

Or this one from Village Garden Web.

By the way and completely off subject, when I was looking for some examples of teacup bird feeders in Google Image search as soon as I entered teacup Google brought up images of teacup pigs.  Now I have never heard of teacup pigs but I am easily distracted by anything plump, furry or cute so I ventured down the rabbit hole a bit.

Don't you just want to go get you one (or two or ten?)  Oh my gracious I think they are cute!!  You can read all about them at Zooillogix Miniature Pigs: Pets of the Future

Anyway back to my garden tale.  I also liked this coffee can idea from Best Green Homes Six Ways to repurpose common household items.

And I love this idea from The Magic Onion on making garden markers. 

I would love to linger and find some other fun spring time upcycling projects to share with you but alas it is time to face the winter weather.

Upcycling Eye Candy (more t-shirt inspiration)

If you like to see the before and after photos on upcycling projects check out this link.  Most of the items are in keeping with the t-shirt theme that we have been on for the last few days.

My little project took a happy turn yesterday so I think the shaky unknown part may be over.  I need to get some work done today and then I will have a better idea.  I am trying to be a little more fearless with this project so we will see how it stack up to my previous t-shirt skirts.

Here are a couple more links that I thought were inspiring.

Patchwork Skirt

Angela Johnson  Take some time and look around this site.  

Time to go sew!! 

More magic with fused plastic

I love to surf the web to see what others are doing in the craft and particulary the upcycled craft world.  Here are a few examples of what other Etsy shop owners are doing with their fused plastic projects. 

Messenger Bag 1

Messenger Bag 2 

Necklace

Valentine Banner

Bibs

Earrings

Hair Clip

Flag

I hope you enjoyed this little tour.

All for now.