Repurposed Aluminum Foil Box

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Gina

Map-Box-2In honor of Earth Day I thought I would share some of my reuse projects to show how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle and also my favorite…Repurpose. As many of you may already know about my style is that I love to repurpose items to incorporate into my designs. When I think of Earth Day, it makes me want to reuse and recreate things normally discarded into something useful and unexpected. I think that is the charm of project made with reused items is that it invites you to take a second look and makes you think about how it was created. This design I created from an aluminum foil box and added ocean elements to give it a nautical, earthy look. This project uses the same technique as my Plastic Wrap Gift Box design.

I will be posting some of my repurposed designs all month to celebrate Earth Day. If you have any you would like to share, please send me some pictures and I will post them on my blog.

Materials

Map-Box-Materials

  • Foil or Plastic Wrap Box
  • Duct Tape
  • Maps
  • Shells
  • Sea Glass
  • Natural Twine
  • Craft Glue

pw1Step 1: Remove the metal blade from the box. Be careful not to cut yourself or tear the box.

Map-Box-5

Step 2: Wrap pieces of duct tape around the box. Cover entire top, sides and bottom. This will made the box very sturdy so it can be reused to hold keepsakes.

Step 3: Trim the side pieces of duct tape to match the shape of the box. It is easier to do this once the tape is already on the box.

Map-Box-4

Step 4: Cut a piece of the map the size to fit around the entire box. Cover the box with the the piece of map and attach with craft glue.

Map-Box-3

Step 5: Cut four pieces of twine the length of the top of the box. Put two pieces of twine together and tie knots on each side of the twine about 1/2 inch from the ends. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Map-Box-2

Step 6: Attach the knotted twine on the top of the box with craft glue. Position the shells on top of the twine and glue.

Step 7: Glue the sea glass on the front  of the box to simulate a latch. Let dry.

Map-Box

This box is perfect for holding odd and ends or placed on a desk for writing instruments. It can be a great gift box and then reused as a functional yet decorative box. I don’t think anyone would know it originally held plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

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Earth Day

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Gina

LTLI stopped by Let’s Talk Live this morning to show how to reuse household items to make fun and beautiful crafts. It is amazing what you can create when you raid your recycle bin! Love our Earth by trying to reuse whenever possible…Happy Earth Day!

Flowers

Here I am teaching the hosts of Let’s Talk Live how to make my Water Bottle Flowers. The hosts are amazing. They love to just dive right into any crafting project I bring to the station.

Watch the Video Below.Video

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Handmade Seeded Paper

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Gina

Seeded-paper-new1

Spring is finally here! Everything is starting to grow and turn green. In the spirit of this glorious season, I created seeded paper made from junk mail, scraps of paper and natural elements. I embedded flower petals, leaves and flower seeds into each page. It is so versatile that it can be used for note cards, birthday cards or anything else where you want to use natural paper. This is the ultimate in reuse project. It transforms waste paper into something beautiful that can be recycled again by planting it in the ground…that is if you want to part with the beautiful paper.

To make your paper, you first need to make a screen which also acts as the form for the paper. This can easily be done with things you may already have on-hand. Once the screen is made, you can quickly and easily make paper whenever you want.  This paper is a very kid friendly craft as well…I made the paper shown above with my six year old.

Click here for instructions on how to make seeded paper

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Easter Decorations and Spring Crafts

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Gina

Easter-WBAL-cover

I stopped by WBAL this morning to show some of my Easter and Spring decorations using mostly household items. Most of the designs I created have are made from reused and household items.

Click here to watch the video.

Here are a few hightlights from the segment.

Gina

Minutes before I went on live TV.

bottles1

Beer bottles painted with glass metalic paint to make these beautiful Easter Vases.

brownies

My triple chocolate brownies in my bunny ear platter.
cookies

My cookies barely made it on the set when everyone found out I had them. I had to pile them high because some were already eaten before the show.

wreath

My spring wreath made from a reused piece of styrofoam for a base and real eggshells.

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Fun Easter Table Cards

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Gina

Strawberries

I love to entertain and make delicious food for all types of occasions. I found these super cute and FREE Easter Tent Card printables from BirthdayExpress.com. Labeling food helps take the guess work out of a family buffet so guests can easily decide which food items sounds irresistibly delicious. They also make your table look fun and festive.

Click here to download the FREE Easter Printables from BirthdayExpress.com

Here are some of the Easter Tent Cards I made for my Easter dessert platters.

chocolate-mac1 bunny-platter

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Painted Flowers

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Gina

painted-flowers3

I love fresh flowers and used to buy a bunch every week at a little stand at the Metro to decorate my apartment when I lived in Downtown Bethesda. I have been told that the longer you live in the DC area, the worse your allergies will become. Whether this is a documented fact or not, it seems to be the case with me. Now if I put fresh flowers in my house, I soon will get a sinus headache and the vase ends up in the garage. My alternative is displaying fabric flowers and I also incorporated them into many of my designs. Fabric flowers can get expensive and do not always come in the colors I would like. I really wanted to display some coral colored blooms for Easter so I thought I would try painting them myself. I bought some white lilies from the dollar store, mixed some colors together and just began to paint. They came out exactly how I wanted them to look. I am so pleased my new technique that I will be buying inexpensive flowers and painting them more often.

The butterflies are also from the dollar store and I painted the brown plastic bodies the same coral color.

Materials

  • Inexpensive White Fabric Flowers
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Small Paint Brush
  • Glass Vase or cardboard cylinder
  • Scrapbooking Paper
  • Beads
  • Small Piece of Fabric or Ribbon
  • Craft Glue

painted-flowers-paintI didn’t have coral colored paint so I mixed some pink, orange and a drop of white paint on a paper plate to get my desired color. I had to keep playing with the amount of pink and white I needed to get the hue that I wanted. My first batch was way too orange.

painted-flowers1

Step 1: Pull the fabric flowers off of the stem so they are easier to paint. Fabric flowers usually are easy to remove and reattach. Don’t remove them if they have to be cut off of the stem.

Step 2: Lightly dip the paint brush in the paint so you don’t have much on the brush. It is better to build the color gradually.

Step 3: Begin painting the center of the flower. The inside of the flower should be the darkest and fade out towards the ends.

Step 4: Fill a plastic cup with about 1/4 inch of water. Wet your paint brush and soften the color of the paint, blending it towards the end of each petal as shown above.

painted-flowers2

Step 5: Continue painting all of the flowers until you have finished your bouquet. Put the flowers back on the stem once they dry.

painted-flowers-beads

Step 6: Using craft glue, cover the glass vase with scrapbooking paper, use a piece of fabric or ribbon for a bow and add beads to different parts of the scrapbooking paper and bow to give the vase more texture and dimension.

painted-flowers4

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Easter Chicks

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Gina

Easter-ChicksI have always had a fascinating with reusing items that are normal discarded and turning them into something wonderful. When I was asked to create a whimsical Easter gift design for Nashville Wraps, I immediately thought of using cracked eggshells to create these adorable chicks hatching from their eggs.

Materials Used for the Easter Chicks Gift Designs

Easter-Chicks-Materials

1. Recycled Gloss Wrapping Paper
2. Chevron Ribbon
3. Raffia
4. Wired Pom Pom Cord
5. Mesh Ribbon
6. Egg Shells
7. White Glue
8. Acrylic Paint
9. Pom Poms
10. Fabric Spring Flowers
11. Orange Felt
12. Glue gun
13. Craft Glue
14. Double-Sided Tape
15. White Jewelry Boxes
16. Recycled White Gift Boxes

Instructions for the Easter Chicks Gift Design

Egg Shells

1. Prepare your egg shells for this design by washing and drying real eggs shells.

eggs1

2. Using a white glue, (any white glue will work) paint the outside and inside of the egg shell with the glue and let dry. This will stabilize the shells and also prime them for the paint.

eggs-paint

3. Paint the shells with acrylic paint to coordinate with the gift’s colors. Paint the inside and outside different colors to make them more playful.

Jewelry Box Design

pink

1. Wrap a box in Recycled Gloss Wrapping Paper.
pink-1

2. Wrap a piece of the Mesh Ribbon around the box, overlapping the ends on the bottle of the box. Use craft glue to secure.

3. Layer a piece of the Chevron Ribbon  over the Mesh Ribbon as shown and secure the ends on the bottom of the box with craft glue.
pink-2

4. Wrap the Raffia Ribbon  four times continuously around the box and tie together, leaving a few inches for tails. Trim the tails to matching lengths.
blue-chick

5. To make the baby chick, cut a triangle from the orange felt to make a beak and attach the eyes and the beak to the pom pom with craft glue.

pink

6. Using the glue gun, attach the eggs, baby chick and flowers to the front center of the gift box to finish your cute design.

Gift Box

purple

Instructions

purple-1

1. Wrap a box in Recycled Gloss Wrapping Paper.

2. Wrap a piece of the Mesh Ribbon around the box, overlapping the ends on the bottle of the box. Use craft glue to secure.

3. Layer a piece of the Chevron Ribbon  over the Mesh Ribbon as shown and secure the ends on the bottom of the box with craft glue.

purple-2

4. Wrap the Raffia Ribbon  four times continuously around the box and tie together, leaving a few inches for tails. Trim the tails to matching lengths.

pink-chick

5. To make the baby chick, cut a triangle from the orange felt to make a beak and attach the eyes and the beak to the pom pom with craft glue.

purple

4. Using the glue gun, attach the eggs, baby chick and flowers to the front center of the gift box to finish your Easter design.

Gift Box
yellow

Instructions

yellow1

1. Wrap a box in Recycled Gloss Wrapping Paper.

2. Wrap a piece of the Chevron Ribbon  around the box, overlapping the ends on the bottle of the box. Use craft glue to secure.

3. Layer a piece of the Wired Pom Pom Cord over the Chevron Ribbon as shown and secure the ends on the bottom of the box with craft glue.
yellow24. Using craft glue, outline the edges of the Chevron Ribbon with the Raffia Ribbon  as shown.
yellow3

5. Create two bows by looping the Raffia 20 times and tying the center of the loops with a separate piece of Raffia. Leave several inches for tails.
yellow4

6. Glue the two bows to the top of the gift box and trim the tails while still leaving them long and flowing.

yellow-chick

7. To make the baby chick, cut a triangle from the orange felt to make a beak and attach the eyes and the beak to the pom pom with craft glue.

yellow

5. Using the glue gun, attach the eggs, baby chick and flower to the front center of the gift box to finish your whimsical design.

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Easter Pail

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Gina

Easter-pail-paper

It’s finally spring and with Easter less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about Easter baskets. There are many different ways to make a stylish Easter basket but this one in particular is super cute and can also be used in place of a gift bag to give a hostess gift. I also like that can be used to hold flowers or loose items. This design is the spring version of my decorative pail.

Materials

Easter-Can-Materials

  • 1 28oz food can – paper removed and cleaned
  • White spray paint
  • Pink felt
  • Easter flower ornaments
  • Decorative ribbon
  • Thin green satin ribbon
  • 1 metal handle from a take-out container
  • Wine dork
  • Pink Shredded Paper

Instructions

Easter-Pail-Can

  1. Press together the top of the can with your hands to make the top into an oval shape.
  2. Draw marks on opposite sides of the can, about ¼ inch from the top, where the handle will be inserted.
  3. Place the can on a hard surface and hammer a nail into each of the marked areas to make a hole.
  4. Spray paint the can and cork white. Let dry.

    5.  
    Easter-pail-ribbon

  5. Cut a piece of the patterned and green ribbon the length to wrap around the can plus 1/2 inch for overlap. Attach it to the top rim of the can with craft glue.

    6.  
    Easter-pail-stem

  6. Attach small pieces of ribbon to the to the center front of the can to make the flower stems.
  7. With pliers, straighten the hook ends of the handle and insert the ends into the holes in the can. Bend the hooks back in to secure.

    8.  
    Easter-pail

  8. Make a cut in one long side of the cork and slide it onto the handle. Use craft glue to secure it in place and fill in the cut side with glue.
  9. Attach the flower ornaments to the top of the stems with craft glue. Make loops with small pieces of ribbon to make the leaves and attach with craft glue.

    10.  
    Easter-pail-felt

  10. Trace the bottom of the can onto the felt and cut out. Glue to the bottom of the can with craft glue.

    11.  
    Easter-pail-paper

  11. Fill the can with shredded tissue to complete your Easter Pail.
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Moss Covered Basket

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Gina

moss-basket-3

I have been seeing moss covered baskets everywhere this spring…at home and crafting stores, hardware stores and even at the grocery store. They are very pretty but even the plain ones carry a hefty price tag of at least $20. I thought I would try to make one myself using some household items and inexpensive materials.  I used an apple juice bottle and natural elements to create my rustic spring basket. The reused bottle created such an interesting shape for my basket. Because the inside is plastic, it would be easy to put a planter inside without worrying water damage. At first glance, I don’t think anyone would know that it was once a plastic bottle filled with apple juice.

Materials

Moss-basket-1

  • 64 ounce juice or water bottle
  • Moss cloth (available at craft stores – don’t forget to use a 40% off coupon!)
  • Thin twigs
  • Decorative vine with flowers
  • Natural filler (I used decorative Excelsior but any natural filler will work)
  • Decorative bird (I purchased one at the dollar store)
  • Glue gun

Instructions

basket-2

Step 1: Remove the label from the bottle. Don’t worry about cleaning any glue residue because the entire bottle will be covered with moss.

Step 2: Cut out the center front and back of the bottle with scissors. Leave the top, sides and bottom part of the bottle so it resembles a basket as shown above.

moss-basket-9

Step 3: Cut a piece of the moss cloth the size to wrap around the entire bottom part of the bottle.

moss-basket-8

Step 4: Using a glue gun, add glue to the moss, a few inches at a time, and attach to the bottom part of the bottle.

moss-basket-6

Step 5: Cut a piece of moss the size of the handle and attach with glue gun.

Step 6: Wrap the moss around the mouth of the bottle. Repeat on the other side and on the inside of the handle.

moss-basket-7

Step 7: Glue loose pieces of moss around the basket to fill in the holes.

moss-basket-10

Step 8: Using the glue gun, attach vines and twigs to the moss covered basket.

moss-basket-4moss-basket-5

Step 9: Fill the basket with natural fibers and a cute little bird to finish your design. This can be also be used as a spring decoration even after Easter is over.

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Decorated Plastic Eggs

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Gina

egg-carton

As most of you already know, I love to repurpose and make many of my crafts reusable. I realize that plastic Easter eggs are already reusable but why not have more of a reason to want to keep them by making them pretty. The fun thing about these decorated eggs is once they are filled with candy or a toy, they can decorate place settings at Easter dinner or used in Easter baskets. They can also be given to friends,  co-workers or teachers as a sweet Easter gift. This is such an easy craft to make and is a lot of fun to do with the kids. I like to find small pieces of ribbon, fabric, beads, buttons and anything else I have on-hand to create these little treasures.

supplies

Materials

For the Eggs

  • Plastic Easter Eggs (I like to use the kind with a pearl finish)
  • Pieces of Ribbon, Rick-Rack or Yarn
  • Paper Flowers or flowers cut from magazines
  • Beads, Buttons or Rhinestones
  • Quick Drying Craft Glue
  • Candy

To Display the Eggs

  • Egg Cups or Votive Candle Holders (this will work nicely at place settings)
  • Cleaned Egg Carton
  • Shredded Paper

eggs-jellybeans

Attached pieces of ribbon, beads and flowers onto the plastic eggs with craft glue. There are no rules so just be creative and make every egg look unique. You will be amazed how many little things you have around the house that can be used to decorate your eggs.

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