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Showing posts from April, 2012

Just Like That, I am Back

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 If I said I was back, would you believe me? Blogging is complicated, and there are so many "get rich quick" blogging schemes that make it look like you are a lost cause if you are not currently earning money blogging. And why are you even blogging if you don't have multiple streams of income and entertainment. If you don't have a brand? I do have this website, but I do not have Instagram, Twitter, TikTok (you don't want to see me dance), or whatever is next.  Heck, I haven't even updated this since before the pandemic. So why am I here, writing about being back and then, probably ghosting for another two years? Life has been rough. It's been painful and overwhelming. I am so thankful for you my readers, or what is left of you. I am so thankful you are reading this post. I am so thankful that you are still committed to making the world a more exciting and more sustainable place.  Keep up-cycling my friends, and you never know, I might be back again with an

Exit Interview: Michka's Creative Solutions

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Hi! I am Michkas from Michka's Creative Solutions: I love the whole essence of this contest and was so thrilled to be part of it :). I only started my blog a few months ago and am terrible at posting on a regular basis.  However, with my postings as limited as they are at least you know you are getting the very best of what I do! (At least I hope so!) :P  I started my blog as an outlet for my creative side- as a place to share my ideas for any interested and to give my problem solving skills a creative challenge. I've always been big on being innovative and using what you have.  Also I'm super thrifty (cheap)(& a little poor$) and so upcycling is the best!!!  I don't have the best sewing skills but I'm very adventurous and am enjoying the opportunity to learn as I go. If I were stranded on an island the five crafting items I would take are:    A solar powered hot glue gun  My cutco scissors Mod podge I don't know what else?

Season Two Winner: Michka of Michka's Creative Solutions

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Congratulations to Michka! The winner of the second round of Project Recycled. Michka of Michka's Creative Solutions She will win a fabulous prize from: Stay tuned for her exit interview on Monday to learn a little bit more about her crafting journey.

Exit Interview: Christie from JoyFoolery

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So sad to see Christie go because I love her amazing work. Please be sure to check out her blog and enjoy more of her earth friendly crafting!   Christie of JoyFoolery My blog, Joyfoolery , is about my sewing journey and a little bit of fun and everyday stuff thrown in too.  The unique thing about Joyfoolery is that I never buy new fabrics (in fact I never have!).  Everything I sew comes from secondhand fabrics or clothing that I find in op shops (thrift stores).  I have such a good time scouring the op shops looking for goodies to upcycle or refashion.  Some of these items I even sell in my little Madeit store I started blogging 4 years ago to keep my parents in touch with my growing family, I'd throw in gardening and sewing posts and before I knew it, I had quite a few readers that weren't actually related to me! Haha.  So then I got blogging for real and just loved the online community I found and continue to find. I started upcycling clothe

Project Recycled Season Two Finale

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Can you believe that we are here. We are at the finale's. Congratulations to Michka and Lujica for making it this far. I am so excited to share the final two awesome entries that I can not wait to make for my little one! So enjoy and go ahead and vote your little heart out.   Lucija 's Dress Time For this challenge I wanted to make something for my sweet little daughter. As you can imagine, I have a one closet full of garments waiting to be re-purposed so I found this three items: And here is what I turned it into: First I made a pair of leggins and a Retro Baby Turban . Then I cut my husband´s shirt and with just a few stitches sewed this awesome tunic! It was simple and fast. I added little red buttons to make it more feminine. Well yes, she really was not in the mood for taking pictures. You see, I had this great idea for taking photos of this outfit by the lake but it is so cold here we still wear jacket, so this idea was off and I had to tak

Scout's Stitches Exit Interview

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It stinks saying goodbye to someone as incredibly talented as Zoe from Scout's Stitches , but sadly we had to this week. Here is a little more about Zoe to enjoy! Thank you so much for participating. It wouldn't be project recycled without you! Hello T-Shirt Diary Readers- Thanks for supporting me in Project Recycled and I hope you come check out Scout's Stitches . My name is Zoe and my blog is my own little place to share my projects, what's cooking in my kitchen and projects in my garden. I write about whatever strikes me at the time and what is happening in my life. I have serious craft ADD so you never know what you will get- embroidery, sewing, painting, decorating, or refinishing furniture.  But my hope is that you will be inspired when you check out my little page. I started blogging as a way to keep track of my crafting projects and eventually started posting recipes as well. When I discovered other craft blogs it just helped me want

Project Recycled: The $5 Challenge

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I LOVE this challenge. This week the entrants have to complete a crafty project using an item they purchased from a thrift store. The big drawback of being a crafty maiden is the fact that crafting is so darn expensive. When you look for inspiration and ideas from thrift stores you can really cut down on expenses and find give a new life to something that was destine for the trash. You are saving the world by crafting! So onto this weeks crafts: Take 2 I'm so thrilled to be continuing this challenging yet fulfilling contest! Honestly I hadn't been to many thrift stores before this challenge and after finding out about 99cent Mondays at a certain thrift store, I'm HOOKED! Now every time I go I find soooo(too) many items I want to makeover.  Hence my layer upon layer picture because I kept changing my mind what pieces I was going to use! I ended up using 2 jumpers I found and turned 1 into a vest (with only a hem job!) and the other into a trendy

Project Recycled Results: Week 2

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I hate to say goodbye to anyone. It stinks, just flat out stinks! Sadly this week we are saying goodbye to Zoe from Scout's Stitche s :(  Look forward to her exit interview on Wednesday. I want to congratulate Michka from Michka's Creative Solutions on winning the T-shirt challenge! Spy name = Michka Everyone fell in love with her petal skirt and she will be putting together a tutorial for it up on her blog shortly. Until then enjoy this mini tut on how to make your very own petal skirt: T-Shirt to Petal Skirt I'll have the full tutorial on my blog next week (after voting is done). I made a petal template from a cereal box and cut out 10 petals out of each color (10 white, 10 black).  I sewed the white and black petals together (right sides), clipped the curves, turned right side out, ironed, and sewed a decorative top-stitch. I thought the neck opening would be the perfect size for the top of the skirt (for my daughter), and the neck already h

Book Review: Lost and Found: One Woman's Story of Losing Her Money and Finding Her Life

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Awhile back someone mentioned the book, Women Food and God , I kind of brushed it off as something I might want to read, but definitely not a must check out now book.  Ironically enough I just finished reading, Lost and Found: One Woman's Story of Losing Her Money and Finding Her Life , by the same author Geneen Roth and I can not wait to run out pick up her other titles.  In Lost and Found , we read an honest, self-depreciating, tale of how she lost her all of her money in the Bernie Madoff scandal.  I was sucked in and found myself fascinated with how closely we as women reliquish control of our money, feigning it to just be over our head, and trusting it to someone just because it "sounds" like they know what they are talking about. She lost her life savings, thirty years of saving, in one fell swoop. As much as that experience could bury someone into the depths of depression she survived it and learned from it. I never really put any fa

Simple Salted Caramel Recipe

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All of a sudden I am craving Salted caramel like mad.I think it is because I was addicted to the Starbuck's Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates and now they no longer offer them :( So I have been meaning to make my own salted caramel for months and I finally did it. So simple, So easy and you only need two ingredients! One can sweetened condensed milk One teaspoon salt (I used sea salt because let's face it I felt fancy doing it)  So let's go.... Grab your sweetened condensed milk Peel off the label. Place it in a very full pan of water (you want at least one inch of water above the top of the can). Here is the hard part (well hard if you are like me and super impatient). You have to let the can sit in boiling water for two hours. Make sure that the can is always covered with at least one inch of water. If the can is not covered it may explode and like the great exploding honey incident of 2008 (I just don't want to talk about it) you could be tr

Season Two : The T-Shirt Challenge

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It's my favorite week! The T-shirt Challenge. Before we get to our awesome crafts let me send a big congratulations to the winner of last weeks Wild Card Round: ZOE from Scout's Stiches   with her men's shirt turned stylish cardigan. I want it for myself! And now for this weeks entries after the jump...

Spring Stashbust is Here!

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It is back in full force, the Spring Stashbust. I know I don't have a groovy mascot like stashbusting Sam from Stashbusting September He is cute!  Buy the rules are the same: Spring Stashbust blogs are voluntarily giving up buying crafting supplies for the month of April. They promise to: Link your blog (the main page please not an individual post) to the linky below. Craft for personal use only with items they have on hand. No buying new craft supplies, even if you are shopping at Goodwill or garage sales. It is all about busting your craft supply at hand and actually doing those projects you bought all the stash for in the first place. (Buying craft supplies for business use IS permitted) Think of unique and creative ways to use items they were thinking of throwing out (diaper boxes to fabric covered storage bins, pencil holders from soup cans, upcycled clothing, etc.) Think outside of the box. Try to make at least one upcycled craft item this month.