Old Blue Jeans

Hum, everyone has them.  What do we usually do with them?  Of course the most popular is to take the jeans to Goodwill or sell them in a garage sale.  That works really will with the jeans that are still in good shape and wearable.  Our kids outgrow them so quickly that the supply is almost unending.  What do we do with ones that are not in good condition.  AND I am not talking about the ragged torn and shredded jeans that young people are wearing now-a-days?  My husband had a pair that the seat had gotten ripped out of.  Repairing them was really out of the question.  I could not just throw them out .... 

I had been wanting something to put by the bedside to hold the TV remote and other items that keep getting misplaced or lost under the bed.  These torn jeans suddenly became the answer.  It just so happens that my puppy took the opportunity to shred the pillow she was using for her bed and redecorate her crate with all of the stuffing!  So, my little granddaughter and I cut one of the legs off of the ruined jeans, restuffed the pillow innards into the pant leg and sewed up both ends.  Viola, Rovette had a new pillow with slightly more durable material.  

That left me with the seat part, which I sewed the legs shut, strung some cording I had bought through the belt loops and here was the bedside storage I was looking for.  It is now possible to keep the remote, glasses case, pens, book, or whatever else I want to keep handy all right there.  This still leaves the bedside table clear and uncluttered.  

There was still one pant let still left unaccounted for.  Which after some consideration I was able to turn into an apron.  With the help of some leftover fabric for trim and a ruffle I now have the cutest blue jean apron that can be used for garden work.  The 8 or so inches that I cut off the end of the pant leg was used to make pockets for the apron.  That made the whole pair of pants accounted for.  

Now, hopefully we will not have another pair to deal with for a while, but if we do I am certain there are plenty of ways that the jeans can be used.  I think that if we are going to repurpose items, we have to learn to think outside the ordinary and put our ideas to work.  Even it our project does not turn out, at least we know what NOT to do.  Keep trying.  Keep thinking.  

I have always heard "Necessity is the mother of invention".  For me that is true.  I am and have had to learn to make do with what I have.  Now, with so many people out of work (as am I) or dealing with cuts in their salary, I know there is not enough funds available for spending on items that are not absolutely necessary.  That makes repurposing even more necessary.  

After hanging the apron on the window at my kitchen door I wish I had more old jeans to repurpose.  These would make gorgeous curtains in my kitchen.  Love that idea. 

The Beginning - Cake Stands

I have always loved to do something, anything creative.  I love crafts, painting, cake decorating, photography... It is hard to pinpoint just one item I like the most.  The times that I find I am stressing and feeling frustrated and overwhelmed I eventually realize that it has been a while since any creativity has passed through my brain.  Then it is time to do something so I paint, make something, fix something else, etc.  I also love to make something "new" out of something old, or repurpose it for a different and even better use.  I dislike throwing things away that may could be reused for something else.  :) 

Being out of work for almost 2 years and really needing to find something has been very distressing for me and I find a release in my crafting. (which is probably why I have done so much crafting lately.)  

For Christmas I crafted my gifts for my family members.  This is something that has been done for years and I love it.  (We can go into that more later)  This year I crafted cake plates and candy bowls for the girls of the family, meaning my daughters and nieces.  This was the funnest and simplest item I have done so far!

CAKE  PLATE   OR   CANDY  BOWL

This plate base was a martini 

glass turned upside down. 

All I did here was take some old plates which I had acquired from auctions and garage sales, and any kind of something to make a pedestal.  I used crystal candlesticks, glass balls, ceramic tiles, martini glasses, old sugar bowls.  Really, anything!  The idea is to build up something to set the plate on.  So, I started stacking ... round candle holders onto upside-down sugar bowls just to see how it would look together.  When I was satisfied with the outcome I used E6000 glue to glue the glass pieces together.  Then this pedestal I just created was glued to the center back of the plate I had chosen.  WOW!  It was that simple.  I even glued a very pretty cut glass bowl onto a stack of (what looked like glass hockey pucks) glass candle holders that I had painted bright colors in the part that holds the candle.  Viola, a candy dish!

I am sure that everyone has some kind of candlesticks or old vases that are just lying around the house collecting dust or space.  Think before you throw it out, "Could this be repurposed?"

I wish I had take some pictures of the items that I made so that I could give you an idea of what they looked like, but there is a website that you could check out for the video tutorial. (which is what I did)  It is found at yourhomebasedmom.com

 Today, I am going to try and make a necklace out of some chandelier crystals that I bought several months ago.  I have wanted to do this for a while, but was not sure how I wanted to do it.  Now with an idea in hand and the materials I need, I am going to try it.  This I will take a picture of and post it.

So, until then.....  think repurpose.