Meet Aunt Agnus

Happy Monday Everyone. Today we have a special guest with us. I am happy to introduce Aunt Agnus to you. It is amazing what you can do with an old pair of panty hose. To make Aunt Agnus was a challenge. I started by hunting down clothing for her. I wanted the perfect suit, gloves, purse and hat.


Next she needed the perfect shoes.


Once I had all my supplies I started on her head. Using an old pair of nylons I stuffed away until I had something similar to the shape of a head. Next was the hardest part, her face. I had to keep starting over, but with practice I finally made a face. The hairdo was fun, I laid stuffing out on cardboard and spray painted it silver. Then I attached it to her head for hair and added some to her face for eyebrows.


The hands were not hard at all. I just stuffed an old pair of gloves.



I posed her hands around her purse. Aunt Agnus always has her purse on her lap. I wonder what she has it there that is so important??? It certainly isn't money.


Her legs and ankles were a bit difficult, but I just kept playing with them until I finally had a pair I liked. I wanted her ankles to be swollen and puffy for an authentic look.


The kids think she is creepy, but I like her. Since her torso is just pillows I can put her in a box when I am sick of her. When I get lonely I bring her back out and set her up for another visit. I sometimes forget she is visiting and am startled to walk in the living room and find her sitting in her chair. I have to go now, Aunt Agnus is calling. If she keeps this up I will be cutting her visit short.



Have a great week.

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse.......................

Keep On Junking

Nora

Circuit Board Birdhouse

Happy Monday Everyone... All the snow in my yard has melted. Yippee.... In celebration I am sharing a circuit board birdhouse.



I started with a thrift store birdhouse. My son helped me dismantle an old satellite receiver box and salvage the circuit board. I traced the birdhouse front, back and sides on a piece of paper to get my pattern. I taped my pattern on the circuit board and cut out all my pieces and glued them to the birdhouse. After the glue had dried completely, I taped all edges with copper foil tape. Finally, I used my trusty (not) soldering gun and soldered all edges. My soldering skills are sad, but with practice I think this could be a really cool project...



Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Have a great week...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Repurposed Gloves, Wreath & Metal Tray

Happy Monday Everyone. Today I am sharing a couple of quick projects. Let's start off with a thrift store pair of gloves. I lightly stuffed the inside of each glove and posed one on top of the other to my liking. I stitched here and there making sure they would keep the pose when hung upright. Next using my trusty hot glue gun I added tulle, ribbon and flowers. I added a heavy coat of tea stain and a wire hanger. I love the way they look displayed next to my vintage plate.

For my second quick project I wired a decorative metal tray to a thrift store wreath. Place the wreath face down on you work surface. Place the tray face down on top of the wreath. Hook your wire to the top back of the wreath. Run the wire down the back of the tray and connect to the bottom back of the wreath. Repeat one more time attaching at the sides. What could be easier?





Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Have a great week...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Mosaic Jewelry Box

Happy Monday Everyone. This is a project I did a while back. The top of this jewelry box had seen better days and was a perfect candidate for a mosaic project. Sometimes referred to as Pique Assiette, using broken pottery shards to make a mosaic project is fun and not all that complicated.

Supplies
dishes (try to find smaller ceramic plates with flower motifs)
tile nippers
large clear plastic bag
clear silicone caulk and caulk gun
Popsicle sticks
rags
sanded grout
plastic bowl
rubber spatula
sponge
rubber gloves


I don't like to smash my dishes with a hammer because you don't have any control over how the pieces break. I place my dish inside a large plastic bag and use my tile nippers to start nipping the plate down. When I first used the nippers I was clumsy, but with practice I learned how to point and hold the nippers on the plate to get the nip in the direction I wanted. I suggest nipping on a practice dish first to get an idea of what you are doing before you start nipping your heirloom china. My first nip is an attempt to get the plate to nip in half. I remove one half and keep the other half in the bag. I continue to nip and remove pieces until I have a manageable size to start nipping into tiles. I continue to nip, dry fitting my pieces as I go until I have covered my surface to my liking. Next, I use the clear silicone to glue all of my pieces. This is messy so keep a damp rag handy to clean and goofs as you work. I use a caulk gun and place a generous amount of silicone on a paper plate. I use a Popsicle stick to butter the back of my tile and place it on my surface. When I have completely covered my surface with my tiles I clean off and excess caulk and let it dry. I like to wait 48 hours before I grout the piece. The grouting process is fun, but again very messy. Completely cover your work area with newspaper. It is hard to gauge how much grout you will need for a project. I prefer to mix more than I will need as opposed to not mixing enough. I use an old plastic bowl to mix my grout in. I add enough water to get the consistency of cake batter. Once the grout is mixed you need to let it sit for ten minutes. I use this time to gather any additional supplies I might need. I apply the grout using a rubber spatula, making sure I get in every groove, scraping my spatula in different angles and directions. After the grout has been applied, I wait an additional ten minutes to let the grout sit up. Then, I use a damp sponge to start cleaning off the excess grout from the tiles. Next I use a dry paper towel to clean off the top of the tiles. Once the grout has completely cured seal the grout with a grout sealer. Now sit back and admire your new work of art.

Oh, one more thing, I wanted to tell you I have been featured on another blog. I am so very honored. Please visit, read the post and comment here.

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Keep On Junking
Nora

Junk Le Bells February Project

This is my February Project for Junk Le Bells. To find out more about "Junk Le Bells All Year Long" and join in on the fun visit Jill Ruth & Co. here.

This is a quick easy project that would be fun to do with kids. I used heavy weight cardboard for my bird base and wings. I decoupaged music paper to the bird base. I added a little cinnamon to my decoupage medium to give my bird a vintage look. I used a heavy coat of red glitter on the wings and attached them to the bird. I attached a red sequin for the eye. As a finishing touch I outlined the bird with a coat of silver glitter. I love the way it sparkles and can't wait to see it on my Christmas Tree in December. Well, I guess I can wait... I am ready for spring....

Have A Great Week.....

Keep On Junking
Nora

Thrift Store Tins

Happy Monday Everyone. I have a small collection of some unique tins and have been looking for a way to reuse them. I don't like to store items inside as I need my junk visible. These tins are widely available at my local thrift store and very inexpensive. Imagine my surprise when I found this upcycled treasure at Good Will. What a great way to repurpose your favorite or vintage tin and showcase some of your delicate keepsakes. I immediately purchased the tin and have been studying and examining in hopes to eventually craft my own version. I wish I knew who the original creator of this project was, whoever you are wonderful job.

For starters, wadded up paper (like a brown grocery bag) was placed inside the tin and then covered with a heavy weight fabric. The lid was attached and supported with the help of the sturdy paper and heavy weight fabric.



Trim was attached around the outer edge of the tin.



Finally, keepsakes were added such as a ceramic boot, small lace doily, tatting thread, embroidery floss, pocket watch, vintage perfume bottle, buttons and glass beads, lace, tea stained glove and some floral accents.





I hope this gives you the jest of the project and has inspired you to create your own....

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Keep On Junking
Nora

Meet Tyler

I want to introduce you to Tyler, my new crafty friend. Tyler is a 19 year old college student who enjoys several different craft techniques. I ran across Tyler in the Etsy forums. She was looking for upcycled items to feature in an article for her blog. I replied to her post and was very honored she selected my monopoly purse as one of the items for the article.



Click here to view the full article. She has several pictures of upcycled projects and a few tutorials as well.

Have a good weekend...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Blue Jean Quilt

Happy Monday Everyone... I have always loved the look of frayed quilts. I finally made one for my daughter. I love the fact that the quilt does not need to be lined. I made a four inch square template from cardboard. I traced around the template on my vintage flower fabrics and old blue jeans. The squares do NOT have to be perfect since the final seam allowance is frayed and a bit forgiving. I sandwiched one flower square and one jean square wrong sides together and sewed an "X " through both layers. Next I assembled rows from my sandwiched squares using a generous seam allowance. I used a fleece throw to gauge how many squares I would need in each row and how many rows I would need to complete the quilt. Once the quilt was assembled I sewed approximately one inch from the outside edge of the quilt. I clipped all my seam allowances and laundered the quilt which frays the edges. I love the look of the vintage flower fabrics with the blue jeans. Tracing and cutting the squares is time-consuming, but once the squares are cut the quilt assembles very quickly. You can make your square template larger or smaller than four inches, just don't make it too small as you need a hefty seam allowance for the fray process. This makes a very warm quilt and is a good use for scrap jeans.....

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Keep On Junking...
Nora

Organization Helpers

If you are in need of some quick shelves to display or hold supplies think about using some old discarded drawers. I always snatch up mismatched ones from garage sales and thrift stores. I love the way they display my Hodge Podge collections. I seem to be drawn to the little animal figurines lately. I can't quite put my finger why... Do you ever wonder why you are intrigued with some of the things you hoard and collect?? I know my buttons are not very handy stored in the glass containers, but I think they look so pretty. I have learned to deal with the slight inconvenience.....

Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Have a wonderful weekend.

Keep On Junking
Nora

Burned Fabric Flowers

Happy Monday Everyone. I seen this on Jill's blog and decided to give it a whirl. What fun. To make the flowers you cut out various sized circles from fabric, burn the edges of the fabric, sew the circles together and add a decorative button to the center. So simple... I used a candle to burn the fabric and tongs to hold the fabric. I had a wet rag handy to extinguish the flames. It is fun to experiment with different types of fabric, some just melt while others are very flammable, so be careful. I used 14 circles of fabric for each flower. Make your first fabric circle around 4 inches. Cut additional circles of fabric slightly smaller than the previous circle. Have fun...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Kids...

Kids, you gotta love em. No, really, I read somewhere that you are required to love your children. I love my kids, most days. Okay, Okay, just kidding. I love my kids every day. Having children has been the most demanding, terrifying, yet rewarding experience of my life. Demanding because I am overwhelmed with the day to day struggles. Terrifying because I age five years every time they are hurt or sick. Rewarding because I am overjoyed when they succeed... So many things change when you have kids. Like did you ever wonder what happened to all your stuff. All the things that have come up missing over the years. Let's use silverware as one example. A very long time ago, before kids, you know you had a full set of bright shinny silverware. One day you just happen to realize you are missing one spoon. Well, isn't that the strangest thing. I mean how do you lose a spoon? After a while, you notice a few more spoons are missing and a fork as well. By this time you really don't find it unusual. As parents you are slowly becoming accustomed to the fact that everything you own has depreciated since the kids came along. You are well-aware that by the time they are grown and gone you will be lucky to salvage any of your beloved treasures. My best guess, my missing silverware is most likely buried out in my yard somewhere... Have you ever been dusting (something I avoid as much as possible) and pick up your prized possession only to have it crumble in your hands? You instantly wonder "when" did this happen, and "who" did this? If your dusting schedule is done on a regular basis you can narrow down the "when" rather quickly. If your dusting schedule is like my schedule you might as well forget the "when" and concentrate on the "who". Good Luck with that. Let me know how it turns out for you. My personal favorite is "Yeah, I am pretty sure Dad broke it"... I can't begin to tell you how many times I have explained to them that the microwave is not self-cleaning. To please hang up their coat, pick up their clothes and take care of their dishes... We sure thought we had it made the year we gave them cell phones for Christmas. Oh boy, now we've got them. Finally, something to hold over their heads. We had the power back. Or so we thought. I very quickly realized giving them a cell phone gave me peace of mind. I only punished myself by taking away their phones. Naturally the kids figured this out as well. Our master plan and new found parenting tool faded away... Oh, and those teen years. What fun. When I say fun I mean fun like a scary carnival ride that last way too long... They push and push and then it happens. That golden moment of parenthood when you realize you just recited a phrase your mother used to say. Yeah, you know, the one you vowed you would never say to your children. Yikes! You begin to wonder "What has happened to me and when did I become my mother"? Funny how things change. How many times have you said: "I WILL NEVER,"or: "MY KIDS WILL NEVER," only to find out you were wrong. Yes, having children is like a circus most days, but I can't imagine life without them. Kids, you gotta love em.

Note...

My oldest is 29 years old. He is extremely intelligent with a sarcastic sense of humor.

Next is my 27 year old. She is very beautiful and exceptionally talented.

Next is my 16 year old. He is the artist of the family and my most respected critic.

Finally, we have my 14 year old. The apple of my eye. She is and always will be my baby...

And I love them all very much...

Keep On Junking
Nora

Chess Game Mirror

Happy Monday everyone. I love games, another one of my addictions at thrift stores and garage sales. In this project I have transformed a discarded chess game into a wall hanging. To start I attached a frame to the chess board. I spray painted the plastic white game pieces silver. Next, I lightly added glitter to the black and silver pieces. I glued the game pieces to the chess board. In the center of the chess board I added a small silver mirror. I embellished with trim, a tassel and some colored glass marbles. Finally, I attached a wire hanger to the back of the frame. I was very pleased with the way it turned out.


Recycle, Reimagine, Repurpose, Reuse...............

Keep On Junking
Nora