Chandelier Earring Refashion

Tags

beads, chandelier earrings, craft, crystal beads, jewelry, jewelry crafts, jewelry making, postaday2011, repurpose, repurposing

It’s been half a month since my last blog post, that’s all of July! We had a houseful of visitors for the first week of July and then we had a few days to get back to work on our house. That didn’t last long, since the third day back I ended up in the ER with horrible chest pains and shortness of breathe! Hubster did a great job taking care of me. I have half a week left of all my meds and hopefully I’ll be feeling like myself again. I feel horrible when I’m not able to cook/bake, craft/create, blog and not do anything but sleep.

We had a cousin’s wedding to attend yesterday and I spent 10 mins making something for me. Without an ounce of energy left in me, I needed something to still make me feel beautiful. Earrings are always my solution…. even if I sat down through the entire reception (so not me!).

I bought a pair or earrings when Hubster and I started dating and quickly lost one. I held onto the mate hoping to find it hidden somewhere in my life. Eventually the time comes where you have to toss it or refashion it into a new pair. I love the new earrings I made, but I was hoping to find two more teal crystal beads, one for the top of each earring (the second bead under the hook).

Lovely But Lonely

The Happy New Couple

What do you think of my earring refashion?

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Earth Day 2011

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craft, Earth Day, garden, kitchen, postaday2011, recycle, reduce, repurposing, reuse, seasonal, Spring, upcycled

Spring. As the earth awakens and rejuvenates, mother nature reminds us of all the life teeming around us. What better season to celebrate Earth Day (that is, if you’re in the same hemisphere as me)?

Beside the obvious “plant a tree” or “pick up litter”, how do you honor our planet on Earth Day? Thankfully many people have already been making changes like switching to low-flow faucets or giving away old items on Freecycle. Last year, I shared a few ideas for green crafts (from reusable shopping bags to wine bottle torches) that were on my to-do list.. Yesterday Hubster and I took a long walk to enjoy the cool spring air, as I pondered what ideas to share this year… I decided to touch upon my three personalities, the outdoors woman/gardener, the crafter/clothing girl and the chef/homemaker…

Blue Butterfly Bliss

For the garden:
First of all, go organic, no pesticides or fertilizers, especially if it’s an edible garden. Do not make raised beds out of treated wood, the chemicals will leach out into the soil. If you don’t already own one, build a compost tumbler for quicker and easier compost. Create & attach a rain barrel to a downspout to help with water conservation. If you haven’t already, start your seedlings by nesting them in newspaper cups.

For clothing or scrap fabrics:
Preused or preloved clothing boutiques are becoming more popular. Many will resell your clothing, offering you a certain percentage towards store credit. Of course you could also donate it to Salvation Army, Purple Heart or another other charity shop.  Only donate clothing if it’s in good condition. If not, refashion it into something new, cut t-shirts into cleaning rags, or get creative and make something with your new fabric scraps. I like ow; softie, bean bags, dog chew toys, ruffle hedgehog softie… Possibilities are endless.

For the kitchen:
Reuse large mason jars to organize kitchen utensils and smaller ones to organize the dry pasta, rice, beans in the pantry. Use wine corks to make the trivet I mentioned in last year’s post. You can make recycled napkin rings out of scrap fabric, yarn, paper towel tubes and any embellishments you’d choose. Use old scraps of ribbon to weave placemats or sew scrap placemats. Or refashion a dress into an apron.

These are just as few ideas, but possibilities are endless. I hope you feel inspired in some way to go a little greener… Happy Earth Day everyone!

What is your favorite repurposing project?