CRAFTY, LAST MINUTE VALENTINES.

Handmade valentines are a great alternative to store-bought cards. And, if you're looking for a last minute craft for Valentines' Day, this is for you. And the simple heart-on-heart valentine card highlighted here carries your special message. And they look so pretty hung up just about anywhere or worn with your words of love to your friends and family.

Best of all, you probably have most, if not all, the materials on hand or can buy what you need in a quick rush to the dollar store. So, you can put these together on the spur of the moment, even the at the last minute - if the spirit moves you to do so. And, if you do any type of scrap booking, this craft will be super easy to do. Kids can do their version of this card, too.



Handmade hearts carry your own special messages.

All you need is some thin colored card to cut up, some bright colored yarn, and some small textured materials. I used tiny preglued felt hearts. Here, the heart on heart is given extra interest with a tiny bit of yarn that is tied in the front. The yarn I used was from my leftover stash.

Creating a small mountain of these valentines was an all day adventure and one that I truly enjoyed. And, as you'll find out, they're not at all hard to make! The possibilities are endless. No way to go wrong here!

Materials

Recycled greeting cards to cut up.
Tiny shapes - can be made from felt or other fabrics. (Preglued materials are easiest to work with.)
Bright colored yarn
Wavy cut scissors or regular ones.
Tiny or regular hole punch
Upholstery needle
Seam ripper (to perforate the cardboard for the small yarn tie).
Two permanent markers - one pink or red (medium) and one black (thin).

Instructions

Make a four-inch (or larger) heart out of heavy cardboard to serve as your stencil. Then use your stencil to cut out hearts using recycled greeting cards.  Once you have the hearts you need, stick one or more small figures on the hearts, centered on the front. Use the seam ripper and the upholstery needle to make holes for the front decorative ties.

Write or draw (black pen) your message of love to each of your friends and family members. Use the pink or red pen to make a decorative edge.

Punch a hole at the top and add the longer yarn tie that allows the valentine to be hung up somewhere.

You can also add a straight or safety pen so that the valentine can be worn.

MAKE A BEADED PAGE HOLDER FOR A FAVORITE BOOK

My last post was for a 3-strand, beaded necklace. I realize that, for some people, that kind of necklace may be a little complicated. So, if you’re still looking for a craft item that, with just a few skills, works up fast, then a beaded bookmark might be precisely what you want.
Your bookmark can be folk-inspired - like the beaded one described here - or made with a bit of glassy razzle-dazzle. Either way, it’s guaranteed to be a smart-look page holder and one that will add appeal to that book sitting on your bedside table. These markers are also quick gifts to put together and can be customized to include initials or themed charms for special occasions.

Everyone has the need for an extra bookmark. They also can be gift toppers on small or medium-size packages. Best of all, you can make your marker with whatever you have on hand in the way of scraps – any kind of bead and cloth, paper, ribbon, cord, etc. After you’ve planned your bead design, it should take you less than a half-hour to complete your work.

Things you'll need
Scissors
Heavy nylon cord (optionally, could be another material like a narrow ribbon or a cloth strip)
Beading needle (may not be necessary)
Wood or other beads that have an opening wide enough for threading
Metal or wood spacers, optional
Clear nail polish
Masking tape

Instructions
- Cut a 25-inch length of cord. Could be more or less length depending on the size of the book and the number of beads you want to add.
- Put nail polish on one end of the cord to allow for easier threading. Tape one end to a work desk using masking tape. Just beyond the taped down part, make a surgeons knot.
- Thread all the desired beads and spacers on the cord in the order that your design calls for.
- For one end, make simple, tight knots before and after all or most beads or spacers depending on the "look" you have in mind on one end.
- Leave enough cord in-between so that the bookmark ends will extend a bit beyond the cover of your book.
- Do the same knotting and placing of beads on the other end. Usually the two sides do not match, and one end has some larger, heavier beads. The fancier end will be the topside of the bookmark.
- When all the beads are placed, fasten the other end with a surgeon's knot.
-Trim away the excess cord on ends.
- Put nail polish on the end knots and final bit of cord so nothing comes loose or unravels.

All that done, and you're ready to admire your work. Just open your current book to the place you want to read the next time. The marker should be laid out close to the spine of the book. That way there's no damage to the book, and the beads are nicely displayed outside of the cover.

Related posts
DECORATE A T-SHIRT WITH CROCHET AND BEAD CHAINS
A FRAMED PICTURE COLLAGE MAKES AN EYE-CATCHING WALL DISPLAY
MAKE A FAMILY MEMORY BOX
A GIFT IDEA FOR A “CLOTHESLINE” WALL-HANGING MADE FOR A CHILD
DOING HANDICRAFTS IS USEFUL AND FUN
MAKING HEART-SHAPED PILLOWS FOR LITTLE GIRLS
MAKE BEAUTIFUL BEADS FROM RECYCLED PAPER
CREATE A PERSONALIZED, EMBROIDERED PICTURE FOR A CHILD

A RIBBON DECKED, TIE QUILTED PILLOWCASE AND A PILLOW HEADBOARD

As we enter the early spring, at least by the warm temperature at this latitude - at the TX/MX border – I begin to think about my annual trip to the north to see my two sons, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and other relatives. And as always, I’ve got to make some handmade gifts for my dear ones. Those are usually knitted clothing items or decorations for the rooms of my grandchildren and something from the kitchen for the adults – candy, cookies, jars of jams, etc. This year I’ve come up with the idea to make my two grand daughters faux headboards for their twin beds made from pillows. So, my task - as is the subject of this post - was to come up with a design for some brightly colored, quilted pillowcases that are the focus of this project.

I decided to make two tie quilted pillowcases for each girl – one for the wall and a matching one for the bed. I’ll travel by plane or bus carrying the quilted pillowcases. It will be up to my son and daughter-in-law to provide the pillows and the decorative rods and help me put the rods on the wall. (I hope they won’t mind too much the way I get them to do extra work completing “my projects”.)

Why pillow headboards are popular
Nothing catches the attention more in a bedroom than an attractive headboard. But not all beds come with headboards, and the formal ones that can be purchased or made by a skilled carpenter are expensive. So, we have the option of creating our own informal wall treatments (faux headboards) that, colorfully done, can liven up the decor of any bedroom.

Some faux headboards include curtain rods or other horizontal tubes fixed on the wall above the bed where various attractive things can be hung. And there are several simple methods for making this type of headboard. Here, we focus on the pillow headboard. You won’t need much design talent and only rudimentary carpentry skills to make this one. And a hanging pillow headboard gives any bedroom a comfy, informal look.

More than just attractive, the hanging pillows serve an important purpose. It’s a perfect place to keep extra pillows that, otherwise, are inevitably on the floor in the morning. Beyond that, what with a longer rod, multiple hanging pillows and a round bolster, a regular twin bed can do daytime duty as a daybed.

Tie-quilted pillowcases give your bedroom a country look

About this project
With some pillowcases, ribbon, a nicely designed fabric for the quilted part, quilt backing, needle and thread and a decorative rod, you can manage to nicely display your extra pillows and find them in place (on the wall) every morning. The best part is that you may already have most of the makings for this project in or around your home.

After researching this topic on the Internet, I realized that the main problem with most of these pillow hanging projects was that they were not sturdy enough for small children and would end soon with ripped pillow cases and rods pulled off the wall. That’s why I decided to use both a top and bottom hanging rods with the hardware firmly attached to the wall by anchors or toggle bolts, along with four ribbon loops and buttons on the pillowcase.

Try out this project. You’ll be happy to know that it can be made with inexpensive materials and quickly completed with a minimum of hand sewing. According to my calculations, the approximate cost for each ribbon decked, quilted pillowcase is $20 and about $15 for the matching one for the bed. That, of course, doesn’t include rods or pillows. And you may already have extra pillowcases and fabric or find these items at the thrift store, so you might not have to spend so much at all.

Pattern for a pillow headboard and two quilted pillowcases
Materials
- 2 decorative rods - as wide or a little wider than the bed with their hardware. For economy sake, these rods could also be pipes, dowels, or even small cleaned-up tree limbs for a rustic cabin look. And, instead of commercial rod brackets, you could use industrial sized eye hooks. Open hooks might pose a hazard for children.
- 2 standard-size pillows, not the deluxe or overstuffed kind – one for the bed and the other for the wall.
- 2 standard pillowcases in a solid color
- 6 yards of 1” grosgrain ribbons in one or two colors- that’s about 42” for each of 4 ribbon rounds. (Grosgrain ribbon is relatively expensive and can be substituted with some other kind of ribbon or fabric strips that were the proper size.).
- One yard of plaid or repeating pattern cotton cloth that coordinates with the color of the pillowcases (That’s a half-yard for each pillowcase. Same for padding below.)
- One yard of fleece or other soft fabric for quilt backing. This easily could be something recycled - like an old adult-sized sweatshirt
- 8 medium-sized buttons - can be in coordinating or contrasting colors - for the wall pillow. Having buttons on a bed pillow, while perhaps attractive, isn’t a very practical option.
- Sewing needle and heavy cotton or nylon thread (for the buttons)
- Scissors
- Straight pins and large safety pins
- Measuring tape
- Drill
- Wall anchors or toggle bolts
- Crochet thread and upholstery needle
-  Soft sport-weight yarn for the ties

Instructions
Lay out the two pieces of fabric on a table. Be sure that the batting layer is slightly smaller, maybe a ¼" on all four sides, than the top fabric. Measure all sides to make sure the placement is centered correctly. Pin quilting piece in place.

Fasten safety pins where the ties are to go. It’s a lot easier to adjust the placement of safety pins than to have to try to remove a bunch of ties. Make the ties of all three layers – decorative fabric, batting, and top of pillowcase. You’ll probably need to put a piece of cardboard inside the case to make sure you don’t pin (or tie) the backside to the front side. Then make the 20 ties or the number you want to join the pieces.

Using crochet thread, blanket-stitch the quilted piece in place on the front side of the case.  (I use large, obvious blanket stitches with embroidery thread in a bright color to add even more handmade decoration.)

Put the pillowcase face side down on the worktable. Cut four pieces of 42"-long ribbon. Place each ribbon in position as shown in the picture. Fold the ribbon in such a way that the seam where the two ends meet is exactly in the back of the pillow. There should be 2 inches of ribbon, doubled, extending to accommodate the top rod and another 2 inches, doubled, at the bottom for the bottom rod. Pin the ribbon in place every 4 inches down the front and back from the side of the case. Using fabric glue, attach the ribbons to the case. Hand-sew the two ends to the backside of the case. Repeat with the other three ribbons. (The length of the ribbon extensions might have to be llonger depending on the diameter of the tube you’re using.)

Take care to sew on the buttons, as shown in the picture, through both front and back of the ribbons and pillowcase. Correctly attached buttons will help prevent ribbon slippage and case ripping.

Rod placement should be 4" more than the height of the pillow when it’s flat against the wall above the bed and centered over the bed. Attach the second rod under the first and 2" above the bed. Drill and screw the brackets or other type hooks to the wall using wall anchors or toggle bolts.

Insert a pillow into the case and hang the pillow from the curtain rod. Put the rod on the wall. Run the second rod through the ribbon at the bottom of the case and put it in place.

When your pillow creation is hung up over the bed, everyone will admire your smart handiwork. And your quilted pillow headboard can be the inspiration to do even more country–style decoration.

ROUND IN CIRCLES AGAIN: THE CROCHETED ROUND RUG REVISITED

More than two years ago, I wrote a post on crocheting the round rug - also called the circle rug. That post was a celebration for  having finished my first round rug. (See related post below.) Having made what I thought was a good effort and spent time in what seemed to be endless hours of rounds of crocheted and pulled out stitches, my first rug was quite nice. Since then, somewhat embarrassed to say, I’ve not made any more rugs like that. There are some reasons for that. The first is the fact that I’m much more of a knitter than a crocheter. The second is the rather unfortunate conclusion that my stash of leftover yarn, none of which was wool rug yarn, produced an initially nice-looking rug but one that captured every speck of dirt and lint on the floor and didn’t wear well under foot steps either. I removed it from the floor and later repositioned it on the back of the bench that sits at my dining room table. It looks pretty there. On the other hand, there are two benches at my table, so one is cheerfully decorated with a rug and the other one isn’t.


A round rug will look good any where in your home.

It was the unadorned bench that inspired me to make another circle rug and it’s also the theme of this post. Having spent too much time stressing on knitting better mittens, I was in the mood to do a simple crochet project, so I decided to make a round rug out of a several hunks of leftover yarn. Basically, I didn't follow any written pattern, I just used my K hook, and half-double crocheted in rounds until I had a rug the same size as the other one that’s in our dining room. I’ve learned a few things about crochet over the past months and, happily, my experience with crocheting the current rug is different. So, I wanted to share some ideas that have come to me in the process of making my new rug.

These rustic-looking rugs hold some secrets
What goes around and around (like the rows of this kind of rug) comes around. That’s the story of the circle rug. Ever since the US colonies (and before no doubt), almost every home had one or more round or oval rugs, made from wool yarn or rags, depending on the financial situation of the household. I remember back in the fifties, that the round rug was a popular floor covering for what were the first family rooms – back then we called them “rec-rooms".

Since that time, the handmade round rug has dwindled in popularity and is more associated with grandmas than with the younger generations. Still sometimes they are found as an element of down-home style in a bedroom or sitting room. And there are still plenty of modern-type craftspeople that produce all kinds of crocheted rugs –both room-size, floor rugs and mini-rugs that serve as hot-mats and table covers. The mini-versions make well-appreciated gifts and sell well at craft fairs. Also, many of these round rugs are made from rags or repurposed/leftover yarn, and as such represent the true spirit of trash-to-treasure projects.

Beyond all that and on a more mystical note, it’s said that the old handmade circle rug was symbolic of a never-ending journey and, for the meditative types, the crocheting of each succesive row could be part of a prayer daisy chain (mandala-effect).

Why round rugs are, at first, bothersome to make
A lot of people think that crocheting rugs is a real chore that takes too many hours and calls for expert hooking skills. Well, yes, and no. There are a few common problems that are seen with these projects. First, be prepared to spend a lot of hours learning how to make even looking stitches. Second, sometimes, in the middle of making the rows (really concentric circles), a kind of ripple forms at the outer edges. If that happens, you've used too much yardage. You’ll need to unravel some rows until the rug lies flat and re-do the stitches. You can do one of two things to prevent this situation – usually after the first “disaster” - make fewer extra stitches as you increase or use a tighter tension in all the stitches. Third, if you see a sort of big bubble forming somewhere, then your outer rows have too little yardage. You’ll need to correct the problem by ripping out some rows and then using a looser tension or making additional stitches. All in all, you don’t have to see exact circles or absolute flatness as you crochet your rug. You can overcome minor variations from “perfection” by washing the finished item and letting it dry flat.

Having experience all of the above bothersome moments, I offer here a simple patterns and some hints about what I’ve learned while making two crocheted round rugs. Here's the pattern for this rug. You'll see that this one varies a bit from the one described in a previous post.

Pattern for a 39″ crocheted round rug
Materials
Size 10.5 or K crochet hook
About 8 large skeins of rug yarn or the equivalent in a variety of leftover, worsted weight yarns
Darning needle
Measuring tape (a gauge for width of concentric circles and to let you know when you've finished)
Scissors

Instructions
Use a double strand of yarn throughout. It’s easier if you take the trouble to wind both strands of yarn into balls. This helps in maintaining even tension in your stitches.

- To make the center ring, attach the strands of yarn to the hook with a slipstitch and chain five stitches. Join the chain to create a circle. Pull tight into something of a knot.

- For the second row, insert the hook into the stitches of the center ring instead of into the outer part of the stitches and single crochet.

- Make half double crochet stitches with a few increases at equal distance in successive rows and chain one stitch (upwards) to start new rows.

- Keep adding rows until your rug reaches 39 inches or the width you decide to make it.

- For the final row, single crochet all stitches for a tighter edge. When the last row is complete join the yarn to the first stitch in the next to last row with a slipstitch. Cut off about 5 inches of remaining yarn and fasten off by pulling the yarn through the last loops on the hook. Finish off the rug by pulling all loose threads toward the back. Use the darning needle to weave the ends into the stitches.

- You can stop there with what’s sure to be a nice-looking rug or adorn it more by adding a fringe made up of strands of all the colors in your rug or only with the color of the last rows. Or you can make a looped edge (single crochet paired with two chains) to finish off your rug.

Notes
If at the end you discover something of a loose hole in the exact middle of your rug, you can chain stitch an even smaller circle (with just a few stitches) and “plug up’ the hole by sewing the smaller one inside the larger.

When yarn rugs get dusty, just take them outside and beat them. When really dirty, small rugs can be cleaned in the washing machine on gentle cycle and line dried. Larger rugs should be sent to the dry cleaners.

I never use a stitch marker and continue row on row making my color changes visible. This gives the rug a bit of a spiral look instead of exact circles. I also don’t worry about differences in number of rows with each color since one of my goals is to use up my yarn stash. I like these little variations because they give the product a more ‘artistic” or folksy look. You can be careful with these details if you wish. If you do, your rug will look more “traditional” than mine.

Note:
While I said (above) that you would need only 2 strands of worsted weight, I might have been wrong. As I continued crocheting my rug, I found that some of the yarn that was supposed to be worsted weight was lighter than what I started with and ended up using 3 strands in order to make it match in thickness. So, if you're using different weight yarns, like I was, you'll probably need to make the same kind of adjustments.

Related posts
Crochet a round rug
UNRAVEL OLD SWEATERS AND KNIT NEW THINGS.
DOING HANDICRAFTS IS USEFUL AND FUN
EMBRACE A SIMPLE HOME
LEARN TO MAKE SMART, THRIFTY AND EVER SO USEFUL TIE QUILTS
CHECK OUT THIS QUILTED TABLE RUNNER IN BRIGHT SUMMER COLORS

REPURPOSE OLD & DAMAGED PLATES INTO DECORATIVE PLAQUES.

Of the three GREEN-Rs — REDUCE, REPURPOSE, AND RECYCLE, repurposing is more fun and brings the most satisfaction. And in my opinion, it’s also the greenest of the greens – because it requiresonly a tiny bit of energy for its reprocessing and eliminates the need to buy a new product. When an item can’t really be remodeled in any way so that it can be used for its original purpose, you can sometimes use your design skills to adapt it to another need. Thus the same product can serve us for more years in different uses or serve other people a long time before becoming recycled or - please not this- be tossed as another piece of trash into our already bulging landfills.

So what’s behind the repurposing fever? First, our society is running short of many costly resources and, second, the huge volume of products being disposed of everyday is no longer sustainable. And that’s exactly where design come in – finding new solutions by transforming an original item into something else, thus extending the products’ longevity. That’s the heart of the trash-to-treasure movement. You have an everyday item that no longer is useful in its first form, but with creativity and a bit of work, you find an attractive reuse that can be useful in your home or given as a gift to someone else.

When you transform an item into something with a new purpose, you reduce the environmental impact of the product’s industrial cost and postpone its moment of disposal as trash. This allows the “repurposer” to have the satisfaction of taking no longer used items and  thrift store-finds and transforming them into original artworks packed with both futurist vision and sentimental value.

That’s the trash-to-treasure principle that GrandmaS so happily spends time thinking about and, after some trial and error, shares with her readers. So, here goes one such project. Everybody has or comes across a beautiful plate that has a great color and design but now has a fairly visible chip or crack. Those plates don’t have to be thrown away and can easily be repurposed as decorative plaques.

How to convert an old plate into a decorative plaque.

Materials
A chipped or cracked plate with a charming design
Small mosaic tiles that coordinate (or contrast) with the colors in the plate
Tile nippers
A board cut to size as a plaque (with a cut-to-size circle if an entire plate is to be displayed.)
Mosaic tile adhesive
Premixed grout
Grout trowel
Tile and grout sealer
Safety goggles
Hammer
Work gloves

Instructions
You have choices. You can fix up the crack or chip with a bit of ceramic glue and/or acrylic paint color and keep the entire plate with a mosaic tile background. Or you can break the plate into smaller pieces with a hammer and not have to worry about any chips or cracks. The pieces don’t have to be all the same size, just be sure that most are about one-inch square or larger. (It's also possible to display the whole plate, as is, and not worry about trying to fix up small cracks or chips - giving your product more of a "shabby-chic" look.)

Be sure to protect yourself when you break the plate. Wear safety goggles or place some heavy fabric on the top before hammering. Also it’s a good idea to use some gloves when handling the sharp pieces of plate and for tile cutting.

Then take your plate or plate pieces and move them to the precut board. Create the design you like with plate pieces and tiles without applying glue. You will probably have to do some tile nipping to get the right fit. The plate or plate pieces will typically be in the middle with tiles around it, but you could also make a spiral, triangle, or some other geometric pattern. Use a notched trowel to apply tile adhesive to the board and rough up the adhesive with the trowel. This will help the pieces bond to the board.

Carefully set, not slide, the broken pieces and tiles into the adhesive using a slight twisting motion. Let the plaque dry according to the adhesive instructions.

After the adhesive has dried, fill the gaps between the broken pieces with grout. Remove excess grout with a damp sponge. Let the grout dry, then wipe off the surface again with the sponge. Make sure that the plaque is clean and dry, then apply the sealer.

Display your creation on a shelf or hang it on the wall. You’ll want to make more than one. These plaques make lovely holiday gifts.

Related posts
A FRAMED PICTURE COLLAGE MAKES AN EYE-CATCHING WALL DISPLAY
LIVING IT UP WITH LESS: DECORATION IN A SIMPLE HOME
A GIFT IDEA FOR A “CLOTHESLINE” WALL-HANGING MADE FOR A CHILD
CREATE A PERSONALIZED, EMBROIDERED PICTURE FOR A CHILD
FENG SHUI CAN HELP ENERGIZE YOUR FRONT DOOR AND ENTRYWAY
RECYCLE A PICTURE FRAME AS A BARNYARD-STYLE CALENDAR
MAKE YOUR OWN JAPANESE CURTAIN
MAKE A FAMILY MEMORY BOX
DOING HANDICRAFTS IS USEFUL AND FUN
MAKING HEART-SHAPED PILLOWS FOR LITTLE GIRLS

A FRAMED PICTURE COLLAGE MAKES AN EYE-CATCHING WALL DISPLAY

Do you have an empty wall that really needs something to dress it up with? A picture collage display is an easy way to spruce up a wall without a total redo involving paint or wallpaper. Your picture frame collage lets you mix and match photos of your pics with family and friends pics and special moments in an organized way. And it works well for a formal living room, a hallway, a bedroom or just about anywhere is the house.

There’s always some wall in the house that could use a brightener, and a photo frame collage has the design impact you’re looking for. A collage of framed photos can also be a wonderful gift to celebrate an anniversary, birthday or any other special occasion. When planning to do any photo collage, first decide on the general theme for the display. Whether it’s to capture a moment in time or to create a visual archive, a collage of your own photos and frames will be your original creation. It’s entirely affordable and you are guaranteed a unique item for your wall or for gift giving.

Consider doing a photo collage for a dear child or multiple ones for all your special children. As parents and grandparents, we want to create a highly positive environment for our children and show them all our love and emotional support. One way to do that is by creating a “Loving Wall Display” for your children. It can contain pictures of family members, close school friends, teachers, and others interacting with the children. The pics can show special occasions or just capture the warmth of being together in an every day moment. This kind of display lets a  child know how many people believe in them, thus promoting their self-esteem.

The inspiration for my photo wall display

Just recently, I noticed that my bedroom walls were a little bare. Of course, I am (or try to be) something of a minimalist. Nevertheless, I thought that a colorful wall display would look good over my plain wood headboard. And having one or two things on the wall isn’t such a far stretch for minimalism, at least as far as I know.  But I wanted my wall decoration to have impact. That meant bigger rather than smaller. As usual, one of my concerns was how much I could possibly spend in materials. Being budget-wise is a high priority of mine – and only a little behind being Earth-friendly. So, I decided to try to make a collage of picture frames and photos that would be a bright addition to one of my bedroom walls.

Now, of course, I wanted my wall display to be something creative and personal, a bit different than most of the commercial picture collage displays and certainly more colorful. My overall design, as you can see, was a montage of four wood frames painted white and super glued together, to create the look of one “piece of art”. (See update note below.)

I’ve rather arbitrarily decided that my efforts at home accessorizing can’t be more than $25 a project. So I went to the thrift store and bought three wood picture frames with glass fronts. (I already had one at home awaiting a new project. The materials and costs of my project were: $15 total for the 3 frames, white spray paint to make all the frames white - $3 at a big box store, four colorful mats on sale at the craft store –$ 8, and black and white prints of 4 special photos that I’d been saving back. The photos were all interesting landscapes from a recent vacation trip that my husband and I made to New Mexico. To get the “look” fast and do it on-the-cheap, I just resized and ink-jet printed the photos as black and whites on good grade office paper. Later on, with a bit more money in my pocket (I’m nothing if not optimistic), I’ll upgrade my landscapes with commercial photo prints.

How to get started with your photo/frame collage

Find a few picture frames in similar or different materials. It doesn’t matter. The frames might be simple black wood frames, white frames or even colors and/or polished metal frames or some combination if you like a bold look. Different frame sizes will create more visual interest. And if your pictures are matted, you can make the display more fun by using colored mats or by writing dates or comments on them.

To get started, gather all your cherished photos and select the ones you want to display. In a minimalist or modern setting, black and white photos have dramatic appeal. Keep in mind the scale of each photo, and try to keep things similar – very small photos tend to get lost next to large ones. Stick to a color pallet for frames – all colors in a coordinated scheme (soothing feeling) or contrasting colors (dramatic mood) or black and white or monochrome (artsy look). If your photo collage is all black and white or sepia photos, you can paint the frames or use mats in vivid or muted colors. But if your mats are in different colors, it's best to have all the frames the same color.  You want the collage to feel like one art piece, not a confused collection of things that you can’t focus on, even when you try.

Once you chosen a few of your favorite photos, you’re ready to convert them into a beautiful wall display. Continue by laying out your frames and photos on the floor. Measure out the wall area that you are planning to use for your project. Your collage will have more design pizzazz if you make a tiny, almost invisible, pencil line through the middle of the collage and work your way up and down from it. By playing around with different configurations, you’ll find some arrangement that pleases you. Try to keep the frames no more than 2 inches apart so that they all "speak to each other" (or do like I did and super glue the frames together). Remember to edit your work. Less is often more - of what you’re looking for. Ask for somebody else’s opinion of what you’ve done. Once you’re sure of your selection, take a digital photo of the layout. That way you'll be sure to transfer your “perfect” arrangement” to the wall. Hang your collage frames with two nails or screws instead of just one and use a level to make lines that guide your picture hangings. You’ll be pleased to put up your collage, knowing that your unique “art work’ will be enjoyed for many months or even years. Your framed picture collage will keep some sweet memories close to your heart and give you many moments of pleasure. Update your collage by frame moves (if they're not glued together) or photo changes whenever you choose And once you start making framed collages, you’ll find plenty of reasons to make more for your home and as gifts for family and friends.

Update notes (8-20-11)

My husband really liked the collage and ask me if we could put it up in the living room. I somewhat reluctantly agreed to the venue change. As it turned out, the collage as described above, turned out to be too very heavy.  My husband said that my project could only be hung up as four separate frames, and I followed his advice (since he's the official wall display hanger at our house). I kept to the same general design but left about two inches between the frames. So, if you want to try to super glue some frames together, they probably should be somewhat smaller than those shown in the illustration and have plastic in the front instead of glass. 

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CHECK OUT THIS PATTERN FOR A QUILTED TABLE RUNNER IN BRIGHT SUMMER COLORS

Summer is definitely here, and warm weather makes us want to lighten up our mood and decorate our homes with bright summer colors. While not all of us have a budget for repainting or buying new furnishings, we still have the option of using colorful pillow covers, tablecloths, curtains, and bedspreads to spruce up our homes.  And we have the option to make or repurpose what we already have instead of buying commercial home decoration items.

So, an easy-to-make, quilted table runner – a bit of summer grandeur - might be the perfect project for you. The quilting is a little bit thicker than your regular tablecloth, and this adds extra color and dimension to your dining space. An attractive runner looks good on top of any solid color tablecloth you already have. And if your table has a nice top, you can use the runner with place mats and no tablecloth at all - very much in keeping with hot-weather informality.

You can make your table runner with whatever fabrics you like, but stick to deeper shades of summer colors and small print designs. These will hide minor food stains better.  I also recommend that you use a larger quilt pattern rather than sewing a lot of small pieces together. The decorative effect is about the same, and the time necessary to complete the project is much less. Also your quilt patterns should only involve straight seams - easier to work with and hold up better through frequent washings.  With only basic sewing skills, you can make a simple quilted tablecloth to dress up your summertime table for informal family meals and social get-togethers. Best of all, this kind of project can be completed in just a few hours. That's the inspiration for another one of GrandmaS' trash-to-treasure projects:  a quick-to-make table runner with the punch of vibrant summer colors.

Pattern for a quilted table runner
A table runner is a strip of fabric from 12" to 18" wide that runs down the center of the table. The quilt pattern that you choose should include enough blocks to cover the length of the table and just hang down from 6" - 8" at the sides. Longer runners will require more material and probably won't add much to the decorative effect, anyway. Of course, the drop portion can vary according to your taste, and whatever length you choose will still look attractive. You've probably noticed that many table runners are reversible and can be used on either side.

This pattern is for a one-sided table runner. The bright colors and pattern are on the front. I chose five summer colors for the runner - sunshine yellow, bright pink, coral, lime green, and a jewel-tone blue. I 'm sure you'll agree with me that these colors shout out *SUMMER* and really look great together. The backing is made from an old cotton mattress cover cut to size. If you don't have an old one, they can usually be found at thrift stores for just a dollar or two. Old faded quilts with a hole or two in them can also be used - just use the better parts. So, the back is only utilitarian and won't be seen at all once the runner is placed on the table. The fabric for the quilt pieces should be all cotton because it washes better and doesn't tear up despite years of use. You can also use recycled cotton fabric from old dresses and shirts, if you can find them in colors and patterns you like.

Materials
- Cotton fabrics for quilt pieces, in at least four bright colors – solids or with a small print
- Backing fabric, in this case a cut-to-size piece of a mattress pad or old faded quilt. (Mark and cut the backing a tiny bit larger than your runner size.) If the pad isn't long enough, just sew two sections together. If you want to have some color on the back of your runner, you can dye the pad piece before starting the quilting project.
- Hand sewing needles or a sewing machine
- Ruler
- Marking pen
- Coordinating thread
- 1/2” double-fold bias tape in a contrasting color (Iron-on tape is a little more expensive but makes any binding job a lot easier.)
- Straight pins and large safety pins

Make the runner front
My runner was 12” wide and 72” long plus two 8” long triangles that hang over the edge of my table. All the fabric pieces have a tiny pattern in coordinating color.  The inner pieces are two squares and eight right triangles. The ends of the runner are isosceles triangles as wide as the width of the runner. Each square is 12’ X 12”,  and the right triangles have a 12” base. If your table is a different length, you’ll have to add or subtract squares or adjust their size.   I suggest that you cut out lightweight cardboard shapes to size and use them as patterns. That way you’ll be sure that your fabric is cut out correctly. Sew all the pieces of your runner together according to your pattern.  Pin pieces right sides together on one long edge and sew with a straight seam and a 3/8-inch seam allowance. Be sure to knot or backstitch at the begining and end of every seam. When the entire front is sewn together, iron open the seams.

Quilt the runner front to the pad
Lay the mattress pad on a flat surface. It can be a table or a clean floor. Put the runner front right side up on top of the pad. Trim up the excess pad so it is the same size as the front. Start straightening and pinning with safety pins – at least five pins per square, 4 pins per triangle (sides and center), beginning at the upper left corner of the runner. Continue until all the quilted pieces are pinned. Sew each quilt piece to the pad, following the seam lines and quilt about 1/4" inside the seams. The two squares will need an extra line of quilting along the diagonal. This time begin quilting in the center and continue outward, square by square to the ends. Don't sew the outline seams of the quilt pieces at the edges of the runner. This is done altogether in one long sewing line around the runner. Remove pins as you sew.

To apply the binding, start on the lower right-hand side of the runner and place one side on the back of the runner, making sure the fold of the tape is even with the edges. Pin in place. Fold the tape carefully at each corner and continue until all of the runner back has bias tape pinned to it. Iron in place. If tape is holding well, you can remove the pins. If you're not using iron-on tape or if it's not holding securely after ironing, you'll need to baste the tape in place before removing the pins. Fold the binding over onto the front of the runner and pin into place. Make sure that the corners fold neatly. Iron first and remove pins. Again basting may be necessary. Finally, sew the binding through all layers with a straight stitch and a 1/4" seam allowance. You’ll need to wash, dry and iron the runner.

Don’t wait for an “occasion". Use the quilted runner right away and celebrate your new creation with a center vase of summer flowers. Your table is sure to get lots of compliments.

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CREATE A PERSONALIZED, EMBROIDERED PICTURE FOR A CHILD.

My inspiration
Working on gifts for my two little granddaughters is something that gives me a lot of satisfaction. I found ideas for making a personalized, embroidered picture on a couple of different blogsites. Because I wanted these gifts to be truly one-of-a-kind, I decided to make my own design.

The pictures I made for the girls are entirely handmade. They include only simple quilting and embroidery. I used scrap gingham fabric: dark red for one girl and blue for the other. The blue material came from an old dress that was found long-abandoned in a family member’s basement and the red fabric was a remnant from a thrift store. The embroidery floss in several different colors was also a thrift store find. The initials for the girls are “M” (for Myra) and “I” (for Iris). So, the words on one picture are: “ I is for ice skates … and for Iris.” I embroidered a girls on ice skates on this picture. The words in the other picture are: “M is for music … and for Myra.” A cartoon singing face and musical notes are embroidered on this picture. 

Pattern
This is a really simple gift to make and it takes only about one day to finish. The picture is made up of just a few pieces. Four quilted rectangles of a tiny print fabric (your choice of design) form the “mat” with an embroidered square in the middle. The embroidery is done on white cotton cloth. The child’s initial is also cutout from the fabric and sewn to the center square. All the rest of the design is hand embroidery. The “mat” pieces and the initial are sewn to the background fabric with intentionally uneven stitches, using floss that’s the same color as the fabric. The picture requires cotton embroidery floss  in whatever colors you want to use. I used three strands of floss on the needle and embroidered the entire picture with straight stitches.


Things you'll need
-- Computer clipart, photos or drawings of the initial of the first name of the child and a simplified (cartoon-type) picture of a child doing an activity that begins with the same letter
-- Fabric for quilt pieces (remember to cut an extra 1/2 inch for quilt hems)
-- Tracing paper
-- Washable fabric pen
-- 7-inch embroidery hoop
-- Small sharp scissors
-- Embroidery thread
-- Embroidery needle
-- Straight pins
-- Photo frame with a removable backboard that holds a 11 x 14-inch picture.
-- Light weight cardboard the same size as the backboard.
-- 12 x 15 inch piece of plain fabric as a back for the quilting.

Making and transferring the design to the cloth
If you use a design from clipart, you may want to use photo editing or graphic design software on your computer. That way you can shrink or enlarge the picture to the size that you want the finished pattern to be. Print the image for your pattern in black and white. Or you can use a standard copy machine to reproduce a photo from a magazine, book or a line drawing. It’s best to go over the outline of your design with a marker so that you have traceable outlines to work with. You may want to use tracing paper. Follow the instructions given on the package of tracing paper. Be sure to run over the lines of the design with a marker and draw thin lines - that way your stitches will cover up any marks that didn’t wash out. Also, remember to leave at least an inch allowance at the edge of the embroidery hoop. (It’s hard to stitch close to the edge of the hoop.)

Embroidering the picture
Place the marked fabric in the embroidery hoop and begin embroidering. Simple straight stitch outlines work well for simple designs like these. Then, you can then fill in the outline, if you like. When the embroidery is finished, attach the other pieces to the picture. (I made rather obvious, uneven stitches to give the quilting what I considered an informal, country look.) Finally, rinse the line markings out of the picture, let it dry, and carefully iron out any wrinkles.

Framing the picture
Place the finished picture on the cardboard. Fold the sides (about 1/2-inch of fabric) over the cardboard, keep the fabric taut and hold everything together with straight pins. Use the main color embroidery floss to make small straight stitches to sew the layers of the fabric – both front and back - to the sides of the board.  Remove the pins, insert your work in the picture frame and secure the backing. Your personalized picture is ready for gift-wrapping.

Note: Although it's not shown in the drawing above, a nice addition to the picture would be four little flowers, one each embroidered in the four corners of the white square. I originally included this in my design but ran out of time and didn't get it done in the gifts that I made.  I'm really slow at embroidery.

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LIVING IT UP WITH LESS: DECORATION IN A SIMPLE HOME

To live a greener life and respect our relationship with the Earth, we need all kinds of ways to be frugal and fight our consumer impulses. The best place to start is in our homes. And, as I’ve mentioned many times in these pages, that means living it up with less in a simple home. It's the easiest way to have a smaller carbon footprint – fewer square feet, fewer furnishings and accessories, lower energy bill, less cleaning needs, etc.

And, of course, the main rule for creating a simple home is to cut your possessions back to only the true essentials. Whether considering your furniture or accessories, the few things in your simple home should reflect high quality, sentimental value, or day-to-day personal utility. If you've accumulated more than what you really need, you'll have to find the strength of spirit to edit and eliminate a lot of items.

You probably know or intuit what should be on your floors. That’s right - only your furniture! Nothing should clutter the floor in the form of stacked or stored objects. That means no room-size carpets, although it's useful to have a little rug for your feet at the door or a mat beside the bath tub. The same idea goes for flat surfaces, but an exception may be made here. You may choose to display one or two simple decorations, especially if they have a great deal of usefulness to you or are "treasures" that just about anyone would be pleased to see (often). A potted plant or a vase of fresh flowers are always good decorations.

So, now we come to the walls. You’ll prefer plain, solid-colored walls – with perhaps a subdued texture. Avoid visual clutter on the walls associated with complex patterns such as flowers, spots, stripes, or checkers. You’ll also want basic window treatments or even bare windows.

And, of course, your simple home won’t have all kinds of stuff hanging on the walls. Like the surfaces, your walls should be pretty much clear. Some walls should be completely unadorned. To keep a room from being boring, you can put up one or two pieces of artwork such as paintings, drawings, or photos. Some super-useful, large items can also be tastefully hung-up on the walls. A wall mounted TV, a coat rack, or uncluttered bookshelves are good examples of such things.

Instructions for a DIY wall-art calendar 

Here’s a do-it-yourself wall-art calendar  that’s useful and will be a great addition to your simple home.

You already know the value of getting yourself organized with a calendar, but what about a nice wall-hung calendar? Maybe you don’t consider a nailed-up calendar to be a very tasteful wall decoration. But here’s one that you’ll like - it’s a wall-hung calendar that fits in well with minimalist decor.

You won’t need to do a lot of work to make this calendar. Just buy a corkboard, new or used, that already has a nice frame around it. (I bought mine at a thrift shop for a dollar.) Paint the frame a bright color. If you want to personalize your project a bit more, you can even choose a nice picture frame and cut out corkboard to fit it.

Next, find a commercial calendar or print one out using word-processing software or a calendar template from the Internet. Tack your calendar on the corkboard. Then put colorful scrapbook paper or grosgrain ribbon around (or around and behind) the calendar to fill the gap between the calendar and the frame. Attach everything with large upholstery tacks or self-fastening strips.

Write in birthdays, appointments, bills to pay, and other to-do lists on the calendar. Use colored-stickers, highlight pens, or stamps to visually code different kinds of events during the month.

Then decide where you want to hang your calendar. Will it be more useful in the kitchen or over your desk or somewhere near a front or side door? Find a logical place for your calendar and put it up just as you would a framed picture. Then enjoy your useful and attractive DIY wall decoration.

RECYCLE A PICTURE FRAME AS A BARNYARD-STYLE CALENDAR

Almost everyone has one or more large old picture frames that have sat in the back of the closet awaiting to be used as wall art in some undetermined future. (The one I'm working on is 14 X 24 inches, but any good-sized rectangular frame will do.) If you don't have an extra picture frame, make a trip to the thrift store. The frame doesn't need to be in good condition. On the contrary, if your frame isn't already sufficiently distressed, you'll have to beat it up a bit to make this rustic, 2011 calendar. This is a simple and cheap recycling project. It will be great as a Christmas gift for someone special. Plan to make two barnyard-style calendars - one to give to a friend or family member and another one for your home.

After distressing your picture frame as much as you like, paint it with a thin wash of your choice of white, cream-colored, or pale green paint. This gives the frame a look of being old and weather-beaten. You'll need enough chicken wire to cut a frame-sized rectangle and staple it flat to the back of your frame - with no wire showing on the front. There's no backing on this calendar, so you'll see the wall behind the chicken wire.

You'll need 12 small, thin oval or rectangular wood pieces (medallion-style, available at craft stores) for the months of the year and 31 smaller - but different-sized round wood pieces - for the days of the months. Use a stencil and markers to write the months and the days on the pieces of wood. Numbers and letters can be different sizes to further the rustic motif. You'll probably want a few extra circular, oval or square pieces of wood to add as decorative hangers. The decorations should represent traditional barnyard symbols like roosters, pigs, cows, etc. Amish signs also are also appropriate. You can hand draw, stencil or glue on cutout pictures for your decorations.

A light semi-gloss varnish will make your natural wood pieces prettier and easier to keep clean. Drill a tiny hole in each piece. String through and tie a light-weight cord (any color that you like) to each piece - like Christmas tree ornaments.

Once the chicken wire is in place and the wood pieces are assembled, place a paper behind the frame to provide a pattern that will divide your frame into 7 rows of numbers and text. Use wooden clothespins to clip the pieces to the chicken wire. Hang the month in the middle over the first row. Then skip a row. You arrange the 31 days of January on the next five rows (seven-day weeks). Allow the days to hang in a casual style with each day slightly above or below the rows as marked on your paper. The uneven numbers add to the calendar's rustic look. Decorative wood pieces can be added wherever you like. If this is to be a Christmas gift, attach some seasonal cards or photos using extra wooden clothespins.

The calendar owner will recreate the following months with additional seasonal items according to his or her own artistic criteria.

GIVE AN OLD T-SHIRT A NEW LIFE AS A SHOPPING BAG

When you think that the average family returns from the grocery store with 10 or more plastic bags, that’s a lot of plastic. It’s bad for our environment and ends up adding more costs to the food budget. (You are, of course, paying for those bags – they’re aren’t gifts!) The same plastic shopping bags are used about 30 minutes from the store to the home, and then they’re stashed somewhere, and usually end up in landfills. Even with recycle bins at the big stores, only about 1% ever get recycled.

Plastic bags are a big source of pollution, and in some areas of the country, they have even prohibited their distribution at grocery stores. Reusable bags don’t contribute to pollution. For this reasons, many stores sell the reusable cloth bags at a cost of $.50 to $1.00. But, of course, to help the environment, you need to be organized enough to have and carry your reusable bag or bags when you go shopping.

The good news is that you can your make your own shopping bag from a recycled t-shirt with almost no money and with just a couple of hours of work. It’s a great way to use t-shirts from a previous year. So, here I include instructions on how to re-purpose an unwanted t-shirt into a reusable shopping bag.

Your shopping bag will be the exact same size as the recycled t-shirt, and any good-sized t-shirt will do fine. Your need for sewing skills are negligible. With some cutting and just two seams – hand or machine sown – you’ll create your bag. The part left where you removed the sleeves and the scooped out neck will fashion the handles for your bag and the bottom part will hold your groceries. You’ll use it for grocery shopping, but it also can be a tote bag for all kinds of things like library books, cleaning supplies or anything else you need to carry around. The plus is that your t-shirt bag will be strong and totally washable!

You’ll need only a few tools and materials:
Heavy-weight cotton T-shirt
Pins
Sewing machine or hand sewing needles
Thread
Large mixing bowl (to help trace out the circles to be cut)
Water-erasable marking pen
Scissors

Here's how to make your t-shirt bag:

(If your not sure whether your t-shirt is clean or not, put it in the wash before you begin this project.)

First, turn the T-shirt inside out. Line up the bottom hem of the shirt, use pins to hold the front and backsides together, and sew the bottom edges together. All the sewing is done with the shirt inside out. To have stronger seams that hold up better, add an extra line of stitching. You may also want to box-in the corners. You can do this by sewing a triangle across the corners at the bottom of the bag.

Next, flip the shirt right side out and lay it flat on table. Make sure all the seams are lined up and place the mixing bowl below the neck hole. Using the marking pen, trace the edge of the bowl. Cut along the outline. This is the opening to your bag. Make sure that the scoop that you cut out is large enough to fit the groceries into the bag.

Then, line up the hems on the sleeves and cut off both arms, including the sleeve seams. Use pins to hold the edges together while you make the cuts. These will form the handles for your shopping bag. For extra strength, you can reinforce the handles of your bag by stitching across the shoulder seam once or twice.

Luckily, most t-shirts are made of knit-jersey and don’t usually fray, but, if you like, you can hem the edges of the t-shirt bag - that will give it a more finished look. (I crocheted a simple chain stitch all around the edges to give it a more finished look).

Turn the bag right side out again and your ready to go shopping.

There are all kinds of variations that you can do to have a more attractive bag. You can:

Fashion your bag so that an interesting logo is displayed on the front of your bag.

Decorate your bag with embroidery or a crocheted edge. (I single-crocheted an edge around the entire bag including the handles. It took about 5 hours, but the result was attractive and it made the bag much stronger.)

Use pens to write a “get green’ slogan on your bag – something like: “ I used to be a t-shirt.” or “I’m not your usual plastic bag!”

Add two pockets to the bag using the material from the t-shirt sleeves. Make the pockets as deep as possible so that they can hold a lot of small items.

RECYCLE PLASTIC BAGS INTO USEFUL ITEMS.

Even though you may be carefully carrying your own eco-friendly bags when you shop, in some mysterious way or another, plastic bags always find their way into your home. So, wanted or not, you probably have a stash of plastic shopping bags somewhere in your home. This form of trash takes up a lot of space and, if kept in any other than a perfectly dry place, can become an unsanitary mess for the growth of bacteria and a home for cockroaches.

You really don’t want all those plastic bags taking up semi-permanent residence in your home. So, of course, you try to remember to carry your bags to the large grocery stores that will recycle them. Obviously, the recycling bin is the right place for most of them. But there is another thing you can to do: you can recycle a part of your plastic bags at home by making them into crafts. These turn-your-trash-into-art projects are eco-friendly, fun for you and entertaining for your children.

Plastic bags become useful material for your craft projects when they are converted into what is called: “plarn”, a kind of string or rope that’s made from plastic bags. You can make plarn by knitting, crocheting or braiding strips of plastic bags together. Unfortunately, the bags we usually get are white, and those aren’t the most interesting ones for our crafts. You want to look around for the best colors. (Ask family members and neighbors to save their nicest-colored bags for you.) Also, to get a sturdy plarn, you want to choose a medium weight bags – not the really light weight thin ones that tear as they are cut or the very heavy ones that will be difficult to work with.

The colors that I could more easily find were beige and gray, so I combined those colors with some onmipresent whites bags to make my first 2 easy projects.

Here’s what I did.

I cut up the plastic shopping bags in continuous strips, starting with the largest rectangle that I could make, having cut along the side and bottom seams. Then I cut one continuous strip starting at an edge and spiraling around the bag. I cut the strip yo be about an inch and a quarter thick.

There is no problem for a bit thicker or thinner strips - these differences just make it a bit nubby and don’t detract from the overall appearance of the final product. Just don’t let the strips get any thinner than about ¾ inch because then they tend to break apart when you’re working with them. You can also tie the strip from one bag to that of the next without any problem and then roll the resulting long strip into a big ball of plarn.

To form the plarn for my projects, I single-chained the plastic strips using a size “I” crochet hook and rolled it into balls. With the three large balls of plarn –white, beige and gray, I made these 2 decorative items.

PLARN-COVERED CLOTHES HANGER

With plarn from just 4 white bags, I made my first project. (I had more bags of this color than I needed so I didn’t have to worry about waste from any mistakes.) I began on one side and knotted the crocheted plarn around a plastic clothes hanger. Starting at the base of the hook, I tied on the plarn and continuously knotted the plarn around the hanger, pushing the knotted loops as closely together as I could. When I got back to the base of the hanger on the other side, I tied off the plarn, leaving the hook of the hanger as it was without any adornment. The resulting plarn-covered clothes hanger looks fairly attractive - and clothes don't slip off. After I knotted the plastic around the hanger, it still didn't look very decorative. To spruce it up a bit, I crocheted regular yarn in a bright green color around the edge of the knotted plarn. (This same project can also be done successfully with 2 wire hangers taped together. So, use those wirehangers if you have them - so you don't have any excuse for buying more plastic hangers.)

PLARN-STRING WALL HANGING

I used the beige and gray plarn from 8 bags to make the strings for a beaded wall hanging. I began with a thin strip of wood, 2-feet long for the top of the hanging. I tied on 3.5-foot strings of plarn, alternating the beige and gray colors, and placed them 2 inches apart. To decorate the hanging strings, I used colorful paper beads and tiny flowers - these last cut out from the flat tops of colored Styrofoam plastic egg cartons - and strung them on the hanging plarn. I knotted the plarn after adding each piece of decoration and tied small wooden round beads on the ends of the plarn to help weight them down.

I used unpainted egg carton material for this project but it could also be painted with acrylic paints. The paper beads were made of strips of colored magazine pages that were rolled around a crochet hook. See my earlier blog for general instructions on how to make the paper beads.

A similar plarn, paper bead and egg carton project can be done for a child’s room, using flowers, birds, stars, small truck shapes or any other motif that you like. With a little encouragement and help, older children can use these materials to design and make their own wall hangings. Just as a reminder, the tops of plastic egg cartons should always be washed before use as craft material.

MAKE BEAUTIFUL BEADS FROM RECYCLED PAPER.

Jewelry beads, handmade at home from recycled paper, are beautiful, easy to make, and a great green idea. Here’s how you can make your first paper beads in just a couple of hours. You’re sure to be delighted with the results, and soon you'll be making beads in all shapes and sizes for different projects.

MAKE YOUR BEADS
You don’t need a lot of materials, just pull out these things that you’re sure to have at home:

- Full color pages from magazines, junk mail or thin paper posters
- Scissors (regular ones or use wavy cut craft scissors for even more attractive beads)
- Regular black ballpoint pen
- Ruler
- Needle or plastic toothpick
- Paper glue
- Clear varnish, even clear nail polish or watered down white glue (2 parts water to 1 part glue) can be used
- Small paint brush, like the kind used for watercolors
- Fishing wire or plastic thread

To begin, take out some of your full color pages. The colors in your pages will be the same for your beads, so go for a predetermined color theme or let the beads be just any random combination - this, of course, according to your patience and supply of color pages.

Next, put the paper you’ve chosen on a flat surface and take out your ballpoint pen and ruler. Place the page vertically, like you were going to read it. Mark a long thin triangle this way - 1 inch-long base in the top corner of your page and a half inch-long point along in the bottom. Take your ruler and draw the 2 lines that connect the base and point. The triangles that you draw will be regular ones (the two sides have exactly the same length). The next triangle will have a 1 inch base at the bottom of the page and a half inch point at the top of the page. Continue making these triangles until you fill up the entire page. This way you will use all the paper and have only a minimum of waste. Cut out the triangles and lay them out flat.

OR: Forget all this measuring, make your first triangle, cut it out, and roll it. If you like the result, make a heavy carboard template of the same triangle for all the rest of them. That's what I finally had to do because I ran out of patience. If you don't like the shape of the first one, try making another triangle with different dimensions. The one that looks best for the project you have in mind will be your template.

The beads that you make with these triangles will be oval shaped and slim. If you want a longer oval bead, simply increase the length of the base of the triangle to 1 and a quarter inches or more. For a smaller bead, decrease the base of the triangle to 3/4 inch. If you want a small rounder bead, you need to draw the width of the base and point to be 1/2 and 1/4 inch, respectively. (The smaller beads are harder to roll.) You can choose any combination of widths for the ends of your triangle strips, just remember that they'll look better if the base and point differ by at least a quarter inch. (Tube beads can be made using completely rectangular strips, instead of triangular ones).

Start rolling the paper strip tightly around the needle or toothpick beginning with the base of the triangle. Use your nails to hold the paper firmly as you roll. Put a tiny bit of paper glue at the end of the rolled strip. (A little brush might help you to avoid too much glue, which can have bad results.) Hold the end of the strip firm for a few seconds to dry the glue. Make as many beads as you need for your project.

The final step to the process is stringing and varnishing the beads. String your beads on the wire or thread. Once fully strung, start varnishing carefully with the little brush and give them at least two coats of varnish. Be sure that the varnish doesn’t leak in and block up the holes. Leave the beads drying for a day or two.

Use your paper beads to make some beautiful pieces of jewelry. You can find lots of interesting bead projects with an Internet search. These projects tend to be simple and are great for gifts.

A SIMPLE PAPER BEAD PROJECT
The first project that I did was to make a beaded safety pin brooch. Here's how I did it. All you need for a brooch is one large-scale metal safety pin (usually called blanket pins), some smaller safety pins, a few dozen small paper beads, needle-nose pliers and a flat-head screwdriver.

Depending on the size of the large safety pin, you may need 8 - 10 or more smaller, beaded safety pins. (For variety, I used the beads first mentioned above in a mostly beige and yellow color and some shorter ones in a black, green and red motif. I cut out the shorter beads with the same template as the longer ones, using the same point but a truncated base and starting with the page in a horizontal rather than a vertical position.)

Open a small pin, slip all the beads on - whatever number that fits, and close the safety pin. Use the needle-nose pliers to pinch the end of the safety pin so it will not pop open later. Keep doing this until all the safety pins are beaded. (I alternated the longer beads with the shorter ones).

Now you are ready to put your beaded pins on the larger safety pin. Open the large safety pin and use the screwdriver to pry open the coils at the end of the pin.

Slip the loop of the first beaded safety pin onto the large one. Pull it down to the loop at the base of the large pin. Pull it around the loop and up the backside of the pin. Repeat this until all the beaded pins are in place.

Use your pliers to tightly close up the loop. You can now fasten your beaded safety pin onto your shirt, hat, purse, etc.

I use my safety pin brooch to hold together the front and backsides of my over-sized shopping bag. By the way, I made my own reusable shopping bag and carry it with me in almost all my outings. That way I'm not tempted to come home with plastic bags. The shopping bag is another easy handmade project that I’ll tell you about at a later date.