Triple Green Necklace - OMTWI

Week two of One Month to Win It is over.  Unfortunately, I won't be moving on.  I'm a little bummed but also a little relieved, it was so hard to keep my mind off it while waiting for the results all week!  Did you guess which one was mine?  I wish I had done a better job with the pictures but I've always struggled with getting good pictures of my jewelry designs.  I've researched and tried all different types of tricks and tips but my photography skills never do the piece justice.  Oh, well.  Good luck to the rest of the ladies out there who are continuing on!  Below is my project:

*     *     *     *     *

With the theme "Wear Green" there were a lot of directions I could have gone with this.  In fact, I actually started two other projects and pulled out lots of supplies for a few other other ideas!  Green to me is more than a color but reduce, reuse, recycle as well. Finally I decided I'd go the accessory route and dug into my stash.  Using left overs from past projects, a few beads from a broken bracelet and some polymer clay I set out to create a chunky triple strand necklace with multiple options.

Each strand can be worn separately; one is simply strung, one is bright  wooden beads knotted with ribbon and one is hand wrapped with shiny green wire. 

Magnetic clasps allow for versatility beyond St. Patrick's Day.  Layer two or three strands or twist them together for a super chunky look.

Peace be with you,

Go Vote for Green!

Have you checked out my competition over at On Month to Win It?  I am seriously nervous this week (ok, Marj and I were both nervous last week too).  This contest has some wickedly tallented people!  I just hope I set myself apart enough to make it to week three.

What are you waiting for?  Figure out which one is your favorite (mine) and vote for it!

Peace be with you,

Trash to Treasure - OMTWI

So, did you guess which one was me?  My dress form, Marj, and I will be moving on to week two!  I'm really excited.  The way I see it, I won either way, I got a dress form that matches me and cost only $12, a small fraction of what a real one would cost.  Plus, I saved some things from a landfill. 

If you didn't get a chance to meet Marj, let me introduce you:

Meet Marj

Mannequin: All Re-purposed Junk

What do you get when you cross 4 feet of foam, 3 empty juice bottles, 2 toilet paper tubes and 1 broken floor lamp?

A pile of junk, but dress it all up in a snug denim shirt, an itchy bra and a worn out belt and MARJ is ready to party!

I really wanted a dress form but they are pretty cost prohibitive. The trash to treasure challenge provided me the opportunity to upcycle these cast offs into something useful.

Using the juice bottles as a core, I added layers of foam to match my dimensions. Next came her undergarments: a bra I can't stand (stuffed with floral foam and plastic shopping bags) and a past it's prime belt to cinch her waist.

One look at the stained and preshrunk gap shirt at the thrift store and I knew it would be snug and unflattering on me... in other words: perfect!  I altered it slightly to act as Marj's skin.  Her shoulders were shaped last using toilet paper tubes half covered in more foam.

Finally I pinned her shut (so I can adjust her size should I change slightly in the future). I removed the electrical wires from the lamp and converted the top portion into a finial by hot gluing it to one of the juice bottle caps. The lamp pole simply slides through the spouts of the juice bottles and the finial is attached at the neck to hold it in place.

In total she cost $12: $6 for the foam and $2 for the shirt at the thrift store. $3 for a roll of duct tape and $1 for the floral foam shapes that fill out the bra. The additional piece of denim was left over from a reupholstering project and the bottles and tubes were in my recycling bins.  The bra and belt had been on their way to the trash.

The biggest deal is I now have a pin-able dress form that is exactly my size!  Time to make myself a new wardrobe!

Fitting the Pieces Together

I love buying remnants at the fabric store, to me they are all pieces of a puzzle.  Mix and match them to make something... anything!  However, there are some drawbacks to tons of remnants... not enough space for one thing (OK, that is really the only drawback I have come up with).

Some of my favorite bloggers are hosting de-stash challenges.  I'm totally on board!  I am constantly trying to get/keep my craft space in order but the reality is, I just have too much stuff for the space.  So I'll take all the de-stash challenges I can get.

Kojo Designs is going on now:

And later this month The T-Shirt Diaries will start and run until Earth Day (love that!), plus I'm going to be a guest blogger during this challenge (yeah me!).  As part of Robin's challenge I have to post pictures of my "stash."  I've ordered a new SD card for my camera in order to capture it all!  Watch for those in the next few days.

Since I really have a desire to move towards more upcycling projects, I'm definitely going to need to reduce my new fabric inventory.  I'm planning on reducing my upcycling inventory and my children's current closet inventory also (upcycle their overflowing hand-me-downs into a handmade/upcycled wardrobe).


I've used this pattern in the past to mix up some remnants.  I like the way it turns out even though it has a zipper and I really don't like dealing with zippers.  Here's a couple that were close to finished and I finally completed.  As usual, my girls like to mix and match (notice JuneBug's crazy lime green leggings)!

Also, don't forget to hop over to One Month to Win It and vote for your favorite Trash to Treasure project.  I'll be able to announce on Friday which one is mine!

Peace be with you,