Recent Altered Projects

When I am free and have a little time to do some crafting, I like to make small projects (like those appended below) with things that we have lying about the house. These projects are quite fun to do. :)

 Had an old photo frame which was destined for the dust-bin because my youngest daughter accidentally broke it.  However, after some "repairs" (consisting mainly of hot glue and masking tape), I managed to turn it into a pretty pincushion. It's really handy because I can put a lot of pins on it! :) 

Found a nice round piece of thick cardboard which I turned into a frame to hold scissors and also doubles up as a pincushion when necessary! :)

Got a couple of 2 inch square foam blocks leftover from previous school projects so decided to decorate them for fun. They came out so cute and gave them to each of my girls. :)

Had a tea party some time ago and had a few of these small paper plates leftover so decided to make small signboards with them. :)

Hope these little crafts will give you, dear readers, some inspiration to reuse and recycle! :D

My Latest Projects! :)

Had been busy sewing and darning for the past few weeks, which got me thinking if I could make a simple sewing tray from the odds and ends I found around my home. So here's one I made with an old plastic plate for the tray, biscuit tin cover for the pincushion and an old refreshner bottle for tape holder.

Redecorated an old and shabby wicker tray into a small pretty trinket holder.

These little trays are made from plastic plates. I liked the shape of the plates and the size was nice enough to serve as a small tray. These are handy for hair combs/brushes, stationery or handphones.

 

Had too much cardboard lying around so made a drawer box...

 

 ... And a cute little caddy for my eldest girl...

... And a note pad as well! 

I recycled  a damaged watch (belonging to youngest daughter) and used it as decoration.

 

 This cute holder was made from 2 juice boxes which I glued together. I thought using 2 different fabrics might create an interesting effect. :)

Last but not least, here are 2 vases that I had decoupaged. To complete the look, I added some crepe paper roses which I have made myself, and now it looks pretty! :D

This one is for my daughters' bedroom :)

New Pincushions

Had some free time and lots of fun making the following pincushions. Some of which were made for a few special friends and the others - for my pincushion collection. :)

Made from the lid of a round box and candy tin. The candy tin is a little sewing kit with a small pincushion attached to the underside of the lid.  I made this for a friend who travels frequently and was forever looking for her needles and thread! :D

Bought little Care Bear key-chains for my girls and got an extra one for myself but as I did not need a key-chain, I wanted to showcase my little bear on my work table, so I made it into a pincushion. It sits in a little container (made from margarine tub) to hold the necessary threads I need.

Made a little sewing kit from a sushi bamboo mat - 1 mat can make 2 kits. The first 2 kits I made were made entirely of lace. But for the rest, I decided to use those lovely Vintage Lady images that I have been collecting in my "Printing Ideas" Board on Pinterest.

These were very fun to make and were presents for my friends and sisters. :)

Altered Trays

 

Had 2 plastic trays which have been stored in the cupboard for a long time. Decided to alter them and make them useful.

 

 Turned the first one into a "telephone station".  Also altered an old and ugly notebook (which no one wanted).

                                      

Turned the second one into a vanity tray. Also altered a plastic box to hold my youngest daughter's hair clips and pins.

Made a small tray from carton box to display an old (and favourite) owl deco and a small tin trinket  box which was given by a good friend. (I embellished the cover with some trims and artificial flowers.)

 

Lace and Things

I really love lace - It is sweet, elegant and beautiful to look at. And when it's on sale, it's even better! I bought some nice lace and applique recently and had a nice time doing some things.

My youngest daughter's  good friend (who happens to be a Chocoholic!) celebrated her birthday recently and my girl wanted to make her something with chocolate theme. I covered a  plain notebook with pretty white/brown paper and overlaid with lace material. Made bookmarks and cover picture (please see my Pinterest board, "Printing Ideas" for the images). Also, made her many colourful tags to accompany the journal. Needless to say, she was very happy with her gift. :)

The weather has been so hot that I bought a couple of foldable fans and just for fun, decided to alter one with lace (with inspiration from my Pinterest board "Pretty Craft Ideas"). I covered it with some beige coloured lace material and embellished with trims, applique and a handmade flower.  I think it turned out quite nice but since it now cannot be folded,  I decided to glue on a strand of pearl beads behind and I use it as a wall hanging instead! I'm not sure if I want to alter the second one (as I have it in my handbag for hot days). But it was fun altering the fan!

I needed a container to hold my threads and I had this old lidded plastic container lying around for quite awhile. I decided to be a little frivolous with its design, so I made the cover with a very fancy lace ruffle. Made the top with a mini wooden spool covered around with a little trim and tassel made from coloured yarn.  It's fancy, handy and I love it. :)

Handmade Calendars 2014

Here are the calendars which I had made for some special ladies for Christmas presents.  The images on the calendars are from my Pinterest board "Printing Ideas".

Altered Projects

It's been hectic and tiring because of the start of a new school year! Timetables got all jumbled up because of new school and schedules.  Prior to that (just 2 weeks before school opened), had to get new textbooks and uniforms for my youngest girl, followed by wrapping of textbooks and altering (uniform).

At last, I've got time to continue from my last post - crafts from Christmas.  Here are some other stuff which I had altered and given away.

 Made this hanging letter holder from a brand new (and free) burlap shopping bag which the supermarket was giving out. The bag was quite big but the material was very rough. Really didn't like using it so I decided to cut it out and make this holder (for my hubby). He was forever complaining about letters and pamphlets lying around. Now, he complains no more! :)

To make this, I used the base portion of the bag and cut it into 3 pieces and layered them. Since I wanted something neat (and not too feminine), I just crocheted some motifs and   used  hot-glue to adhere everything together.

 Made these containers from a small wooden (and boring) bowl and a margarine tub. Wrapped them with the blue-grey yarn (that I have lots of and love using). Embellished with some (artificial) flowers. My sisters love them!!

 Made a couple of sewing baskets for 2 more sisters, complete with pincushion and scissors.

The baskets were made from cardboard and covered with some fabric and curtain material, embellished with handmade ribbon flowers. Pincushions were made from jelly moulds and fabric stuffed with poly fibre, embellished with ribbon flowers too. Made the tassel with fringe trim. 

If you want to make ribbon or fabric flowers, please check out my Pinterest board "Handmade Flowers". I learnt to make flowers from the tutorials there.

 

Lastly, this was a small wooden tray which my eldest daughter had for a long time (to keep her hair-clips and combs in). Since I have made her a new container, she didn't need this tray anymore but was reluctant to throw away. It had been painted and stickered and decoupaged many times so it has sentimental value to her.  I wanted to surprise her so I painted it white and covered it with fabric and embellished with lace trims and ribbons.  Bought these cute little hanging hooks and adhered to the tray, attached pearl strand to make a hanger. And now she has a sweet new hanging hook for her necklaces! She couldn't believe the complete transformation of her old tray. Needless to say, she loves her new necklace hanger very much!

I had a lot of fun and enjoyed making all these things. Next time, I will show you the new calendar which I made for my friends. Although it is now approaching time for the Chinese New Year, I haven't had the opportunity or time to visit my friends to hand them their new calendars. We have all been very busy! :-P

Til next time, dear readers, hope you will all have a happy and blissful week ahead! :)