#freefromtrash WILD CARD

Day 31: Wild Card
I would guess a lot of my thrifting and recycling comes from growing up around antique dealers. As a result. I have more "recycled" furniture than new in my house.

 from kitchen cabinets to TV stand/ entertainment center
It came from my great grandma's "summer kitchen." Before they tore it down, my Papaw moved a lot of the cabinets to his workshop and storage shed. I didn't like the top, so I had my dad make a top out of metal for it.

from mail carts to toy boxes
I found two of these bins at a garage sale. They fit perfect under a table in our entry way/ living room and hide most of the toys.

A rubber band bouncy ball
The idea came from my Mamaw. Papaw subscribes to a lot of newspapers. She has several giant rubber band balls that the boys like to play with when we visit. Ours pales in comparison and isn't near as much fun.

from keys to necklace
When Michael's granddad passed away, I asked for a bunch of old keys he had. I really wanted to make some wind chimes out of them, but when my mom told me about a necklace she had seen made from keys, I asked her to make me one. I had some other various charms she added to it too. It made an extra special keepsake, especially since she found one of his dog tags in the box with the keys. There are still enough keys to make a wind chime... some day.

from clarinet to lamp
My mom gets credit for this one too. I was in band for ten years. I played clarinet for about nine of them. She found someone that makes old music instruments into lamps! It isn't my because I saved mine in case one of my kids wants to become a band geek too.

Most of my recycle projects are clothing.

 From Cargo Pants and tie down strap to treasure bags... I lined the inside with PUL to make them easier to wipe clean.

 from XXL sweatshirt to yoga pants
(they look horribly unflattering in the picture!)

 from pillowcase to skirt

 from pillowcase to shirt or it could be a dress for a little girl

And finally, from men's briefs... to sports bra! I was searching to see if I could find a good pattern to make my own. I saw a description of "How to make a sports bra out of men's underwear."  I started laughing and it got even worse when I saw the cheesy video! 

Of course, I couldn't resist and had to try it out for myself! I trimmed the raw edges with a t-shirt knit bias tape. I couldn't sew a straight line because I was giggling. I'm not going to model it because it fits, but not well. I really need a size small and the pair Michael gave me were mediums.

#freefromtrash Sweater

 Day 21: Sweater

I have used scraps from a felted wool sweater to patch holes in the boys' jeans (the pair on the right).

I have made longies and soakers out of wool sweaters.

Mayer had some felted wool leggings. They were my favorite. (Ignore the giant Twizzlers lol)

These and Alisa Burke's embellished socks (Also the chance to use my new sewing machine) were the inspiration for my leg warmers.

The stitching on the inside of my cowboy boots bother my legs, so I wear them with men's tall athletic socks (very attractive). The leggings I have worn them with are now pilled where the threads have rubbed on them. 

 I used an XL felted wool sweater and a piece that I had cut out to make a soaker for Tate, but it was "too scratchy."

 The sleeves were a bit large. I cut 2" off the top and made a band around the top. Of course it is similar to a waistband which I have issues with. I measured just below my kneecap and made the band 1/2" longer to account for the seam allowance. I thought it was still pretty wide while I was sewing. Then I remembered I was supposed to make the band about 1" smaller than the length I wanted. Too bad I couldn't use FOE (fold over elastic), it makes things so much simpler. ;)

It's still pretty big, even if I want to slouch them down over a pair of leggings.
I apologize for not modeling them with my cowboy boots, but it IS 100+ degrees outside!

Even though they aren't exactly what I wanted, I will still wear them. On my next pair, I will make a few changes. I'm thinking I need some with lace on the top.

#freefromtrash T-shirt sleeve

Day 26: T-shirt sleeve
I have been running lately... I will give those of you that know me a minute to recover... OK, I have been running and none of my recycled t-shirt yoga pants have pockets. I need some way to carry my phone other than sticking it under my sports bra strap. The only reason I take my phone is because I have an app, Map My Run, that keeps track of the amount I run and my pace.
I have seen people running with armbands for their iPods, etc. I have lots of leftover t-shirt sleeves from making my yoga pants. What better way to make an armband than by using the arm of a t-shirt?!

 Materials: t-shirt sleeve, t-shirt pocket, fold over elastic (FOE) and a piece of regular elastic

 I sewed the pocket on the sleeve. Then I added the FOE around the top and thought I was finished. It couldn't be that simple... it wasn't. The armband was gigantic; Michael said it would have fit Arnold schwarzenegger. My bulging bicep at 10 inches was too small, so I had to go back to the drawing... or cutting board.

 I cut 3" off the length. I could have done more, but I was afraid of cutting off too much. (Update after testing: I should have cut more off. The top slides down while I'm running.)

 This is it looked like this before I started sewing. I did level off the top a little too so it was more of a rectangle.

 I sewed the FOE around the top and bottom. I also sewed some elastic on the inside of the pocket to make the phone more secure.

 Not a very good shot, but that's what it looks like on.

My new phone armband.
 I don't like it as well as I thought I would. :( It isn't easy to pull the phone out and put it back.

#freefromtrash Denim

Day 20: Denim
I had a perfectly good denim project I could have used for this challenge and posted it on time.

 From a jean skirt I found at a thrift store to a purse.

 The back

The inside is line with a button down shirt.

I also made a new clothespin bag out from the pant leg of a pair of jeans. 

**Side note** My milk jug clothespin holder has held up surprisingly well!

In all honesty, I been waiting for my new sewing machine. I have been waiting several months (for the machine and for this project) and now that I got my new machine, I have been super excited to make these:

 

When I first saw the picture on Pinterest, it was just a link to the class. As I was linking the picture to their site, I noticed that now you can send an email for the pattern and instructions and they will email them to you for free. Part of the fun and challenge for me is seeing if I can recreate something I see without help. If I can, then it really is my own. I did it... well, sort of...

If you have been a regular reader, you know that my boys have incredibly thick feet! I was afraid that I would make them too small and not have enough denim left to make a new pair. As a result, I was extra generous with the seam allowances and measurements. That's why I say, "I did it... well, sort of..." I was successful in making a shoe, it just happens to be ginormous! I don't think I've ever said that referring to shoes and either of my boys! I kind of like this custom footwear. Thankfully I cut everything so each boy would have a pair, but I only completed one shoe. I wanted to make sure it was going to work before I finished a pair.I will post an update and picture when I get a pair finished.
I was SuPeR excited while making them! I had completely forgotten that my Great Grandma Boltin had made denim shoes for my uncle one summer, until my mom reminded me. This is also one of the first projects I have made with my new machine so I am still learning about all its features. Now I'm just hoping I have enough to make a pair for me too because they are so awesome!!
I was thinking of adding some leather to the bottom to make them more sturdy for outdoor use, but I was too excited to make them and I didn't want to make a special trip to Hobby Lobby to find some. After trying to find a pair of flip-flops for myself last weekend, I'm considering trying to make a pair of those too. I wear a size 10. I only saw ONE PAIR of flip-flops in that size and we went to multiple stores in the Kansas City area! So frustrating! My new sewing machine has an awesome buttonhole feature that would work really well for a pair of flip-flops... hmmm... a plan is formulating now! :)

#freefromtrash CD & Lid

Day 17 & 18: Lid & CD
I LOVE music! My taste is rather eclectic. Not many people could listen to my iTunes on random because it will go from something like Mozart and the next song will be from Metallica. Classical, Country, Oldies, Rock, Hip-Hop, Alternative, Inde, Show Tunes... I don't discriminate. I got my first CD player for my 15th birthday and the collection grew over fifteen years. I would buy a CD just for one song. When Michael and I got married, his CD collection was rather large too and surprisingly, there weren't a lot of duplicates. Needless to say, though most have been transferred to our digital library, we still have a TON of CDs!
The inspiration for this project came from two different children's books. My mom and the boys found a space craft book at the library.

The other book is Aliens Love Underpants. The Wild about Outer Space book uses recycled materials for all of the craft projects. One is an alien necklace made from a lid. I liked the idea, but Tate already has so many homemade necklaces that he never wears. I was originally going to use the lid on a moon or Mars rover. I had saved some CDs for a Pinterest project I had seen. The printables ended up larger than the CD, so I scrapped the project for the time being. When we read Aliens Love Underpants and I saw the illustrations of their spaceships, an idea popped into my head.

 An alien spaceship!

I used aluminum tape to attach the coffee creamer lid, but some sort of duct tape would work too. There are about 5 CDs super glued together.

#freefromtrash Grocery Bag and K-cup

I got behind last week in posting. It was a crazy week and now I'm playing catch up! I skipped 14 & 15 for now because I haven't finished the projects. 
Day 16 and 25: Grocery bag and K-cup
To honor the upcoming anniversary of the moon landing (July 20th), I made a command module ready for splashdown. I usually try to take my own bags to the grocery store. Michael finds it a hassle to take them, so we always manage to accumulate quite a few. I have no idea what a K-cup is, so I used pudding cups. I prefer the pre-made sugar free Jell-o pudding to making my own, due to the aspartame in the dry mix. (I'm picky about my artificial sweeteners!!)

 Materials: grocery bag, plastic (or paper) cup, thread, scissors and something sharp to poke holes in the cup

I made 3 parachutes since the command modules deployed 3 before splashdown, but it would work much better with just one large one. The treads get all tangled and it results in disastrous consequences for the astronauts inside! :)

#freefromtrash Glass Jar

Day 13: Glass Jar
I bought a bunch of glass jars for canning. I really want to learn can my own dill pickles. So far our garden doesn't like to produce enough cucumbers at a time to make it worth learning the process. Hopefully, some day we can produce enough because I LOVE dill pickles!

 In the meantime, the jars are collecting dust in the basement.

 I swiped one to make an elastic storage pin cushion.

 I filled some fabric with cotton balls to make the cushion. 

 I have seen a lot of glow jars on Pinterest, but they are just temporary because they use glow sticks or highlighter ink. I wanted to see if I could make something a little more permanent. I painted the inside of my jar with a clear glow-in-the-dark fabric paint.

 In honor of the anniversary of the moon landing coming up, I wanted to make the Earth and moon inside. I colored a pink bouncy ball with a blue sharpie and it turned into a metallic purple. I painted the continents with green glow-in-the-dark paint.

  I liked swirls on the multicolored bouncy ball, so I just painted it with the clear glow-in-the-dark paint. I stuck a straight pin in them and attached some thread to the pinhead and a paper clip. I decided just to tape them to the lid in case we want to add the rest of the planets in out solar system later.

I took this picture in the dark, but you can't tell that it's glowing. I know the best way to photograph that is with a black light, which I don't have... yet! I want to get one for Tate's birthday party because I think glow-in-the-dark cupcakes are totally awesome for a space themed birthday party!