Halloween Oh and Recycling

Can I tell you how much I love the Holidays, I love them so much that I love the whole package of it all. Does that make sense, I love to decorate, I love to give gifts (yes even Halloween) the WHOLE THING I LOVE IT!!!!
Okay so this is just one project that I worked on and didn't realize that I was recycling yet again, yes I love the combo.
So while dropping my daughter off at school I glanced over at the recycling bin, ya that huge one that has magazines, newspaper and shredded paper. I said to Maddie run and grab me a bag of that shredded paper, with out a flinch she said "okay". So to be honest I really wasn't too sure what I would do but it looked cool just in that clear bag it was in. So off I went to creat something with it. Can I just tell you that I didn't even make a dent in the bag with these projects, about three hand fulls made three wreaths.
****Warning*** this project is a bit messy, BUT so much FUN!!!!

~So this is the shredded paper, looks cool to me just like this~


~So I tried different ways to glue it down, I think the glue gun was best (I won't go into the details of the other messy things I tried)



~So once you glue it down, press down so that it grips onto the wreath itself~



~Once it was glued down I spray painted it, my pic is hard to see that I gave it several coats, oh and you will have to give it a trim, just cut around and cut off those crazy ends.


~I wanted a shimmer so you can't forget the glitter any one color will do but I loved the way the irridecent worked.


~So here a few that I made, so much fun.


~Do you love my "Diva A La Gaga" laughed a bit while making her.~




~I love to load my wreaths up so this added texture and just made me smile,I'm crazy for the over the top stuff.~

So please tell me what you think. This again was fun and I have more ideas in mind for the Holidays coming so I will post once those are all done.

Besos,
Maggie

Repurpose, Reuse, Get Creative

So every Summer I have a "Girls Camp" that I host in my shop. Can I first tell you that I say it is for girls who want to make creative things, enjoy fellowship with other girls their own age or so. THEY enjoy it so much....truth is "I" get more enjoyment out of it. I love to teach them NEW things, I love to see the way they light up when they get their hands right into the project it's that whole creative thing in a hole different way. Showing them how to Re Purpose items that were once considered TRASH. Or show them that crocheting isn't for Grannies. Making fun jewelry that "they" made so that they can have such pride as they say that their fingers made it. Even working with cement (which is only consider to be a boy/man thing) to make beautiful stepping stones. I always start of the camp with a "What you learn this week just might stay with you for the rest of your life".

You see, I remember being a younger girl and my Abuelita(grandmother)as we called her "Wella"(which I realized later that she was my great grandmother)would teach me small things about gardening, sewing and crocheting. So let me be real, can I be REAL here she didn't "Teach" in the Martha Stewart way showing you step, by steps and leaning over ever so gently above over my shoulder. No she was a bit brass with somethings, but to be honest I laugh at it all now and I believe it has created such patience in my world. We grow, we learn and we improve that is how I see things. I loved that things were never wasted, re purpose was a way of LIFE NOT a so call craft or something that was created to not fill up our landfill. The very same way we have evolved to better life like bottle water and throw away plastic anything, is the very same way we will drown ourselves in our own waste. So bringing my old and my new I try my very best to again get Recycle,Re Purpose, Get Creative motto that I have for some of my creations.
So we are a family of 5 (I believe two boys should count as two each, if only "they" counted them like that..lol as they eat so much) so lets think about this a family of 5 well I'm no whiz at this stuff but we have tons of waste. We go through gallons of milk, juice and so on. So Minute Maid (my kids love this) has a cute pink jug that has the fruit punch that we buy and my brain was at it again. As I drove from my drive way looking at the recycling bin I went back to pull them out, yes you read right "I pulled out of my own trash" now that's crazy...lol. So off I went creative several things out of these jugs. Here is one creation:
Again let me tell you I'm very new to this whole thing so on the right you have some pics as I will explain how I came up with it all.
1. The jug had two very nice circles near the base so I followed the guide that was already in place (simple scissors did the trick).
2.I then took a wire and punched holes very small ones to around the brim of the outer circle just far enough apart so that weaving a wire would do just fine.
3. I then weaved the wire to start my process of adding each bead then weave to each hole, in a whip stitch type pattern. Any bead works great just make sure the hole is large enough to fit your wire. 19 gauge is what I used for this project. Repeat on each side.
4. Make a handle for the top and for it's hanging purpose, get creative with this one, do keep the cap as you don't want your bird food to get wet.
I love how they came out as they would also make cute table center piece if you wished, so many possibilities. I also made a butterfly out of the same jug style that is adorable. I think the girls are going to have fun making this one.
I hope to blog more about many more ideas, if I can just get to figure it all out more.
I hope you enjoyed this one, tell me what you think.