Recycled Paper Globe

Recycled Paper Globe

Have you ever received a gift that came in a really cute bag? I have. One day my Sister-In-Law gave me a gift that was in a great purple bag. I loved the gift, but I really liked the bag too. (Maybe that makes me weird). I couldn't bring myself to throw away the bag. I had to come up with an idea, something I could do with it, so it looked good, and not like a piece of garbage.

I decided to turn it into a globe. I just tore the bag into small pieces of paper and basically glued it onto a styrofoam ball. Once the ball was completely covered, I sprayed it with clear spray to protect it. This globe has been sitting in my livingroom for a couple of years now. You would be surprised how many comments I get about it. Plus it's recycled.

Bow Tie Angel

Bow Tie Angel

Here's a quick and easy project that anyone can make. All you really need is a box of Bow Tie Pasta, a couple of small pom-pom's, some paint, a small piece of wire (strip a bread tie, if you don't have wire laying around your house) and a pin back.

Paint a piece of pasta white, you can add glitter if you want, I did. Glue the pom-pom onto the top for the head. fashion a loop in one end of the piece of wire, this will be the halo. It will look kind of like a lasso when you're finished. dip the loop into glue and then glitter. Glue the wire and pin back to the back of the pasta with hot glue. (position the halo above the head, you can cut off the excess wire if it's too long.) I made these little angels one year for mother's day, they were so easy and inexpensive that I gave one to every mother I know.

Under the Sea Bedroom Idea

Under the Sea Bedroom Idea

When my children were younger, I wanted to do something fun with their room. Since we were renting the house we were living in, painting the walls in wild designs and colors was out of the question. After some thought I came up with this idea. I think the plants look pretty realistic and more importantly, everything you see on the wall is completely removable.

By the way, the bench that you're looking at is made from a pallet, and the table is made from recycled wood. Inside of the table is a puzzle that my husband and I put together and epoxied to the top.

Back to the wall...

All you need to make these plants is contact paper! I bought a couple of rolls of white contact paper and painted it with green paint (keep some of it white for later). Keep in mind that these are plants, do not paint it solid green, just paint the paper with one or two strokes (keep the direction the same. for instance either paint up and down or left to right, don't do both). Once the paint is dry, then just cut the paper into wavy strips, and then begin arranging them on the wall. Since contact paper is made to be removed, it is completely repositionable.

The fish are cut out of fabric. I just cut around the outline of the fish and sprayed the back with spray glue. (Be very careful to use one that is not perminate! Do not put the glue on the wall, only spray the back of the fabric... This will keep it a temporary bond allowing you to remove it when the time comes.)

I added bubbles in different sizes above the fish's mouthes and dotted around the room. These bubbles were just circles cut out of the white paper you set aside earlier.

Reader's Digest Revamp

Reader's Digest Revamp

If you're like the rest of us, you have millions of magazines laying around the house. I have no idea what to do with the old magazines that I buy, but I don't want to throw them away either. I have a great way to use up those old reader's Digest magazines that would make a great gift.

Take the magazine and open it to the middle. Glue the pages together on each side of the book, making sure to roll a couple of the corners up. Once the glue is dry, paint the book gold, and attach a poem or romantic saying. If you put it on a book stand, it looks great and best of all you have done your part in the recycling game.

Bread Dough Clay

Bread Dough "Clay"

Don't throw away that stale bread, turn it into a masterpiece!
If you take a piece of stale white bread, take the crust off i and tear it into small pieces, then add a tablespoon of white glue to it, you can have a pretty great clay of sorts.
When you're mixing the glue into the bread, it looks pretty gooey and sticky, but if you keep mixing, it gets more solid and clay like, at this point you can add a few drops of paint to change the color. You can make just about anything with this clay that you can make with any other clay. Give it a try, if nothing else, you've learned a new craft technique.