30 Days of DIY: Day 28 ~ Upcycled Butter Container Planters

Hi lovelies!  I've been trying to really reduce waste and challenge myself to come up with new ideas for things that would normally be thrown away.  If you've been following my 30 Days of DIY series, you would be familiar with some of the projects like this.  These are old butter plastic tubs that I painted and (once I go and get soil) will be planting some of my plants in!

I spread out some newspaper outside and collected my spraypaint and scissors.

Take the scissors and cut out a few drainage holes in the bottom of the tub.

Here's what I did.  I also add rocks to the bottom of all my pots as well to assist with drainage, so I didn't make the holes too big.

I spraypainted the tubs black.  It took about two coats.  I also applied a thin coat to the inside, a little heavier on the top, so that the look was more uniform.

Then I took some white acrylic paint, and decorated my tubs.

 

These would look lovely spraypainted white and then decorated with more colorful paints. 

Yes, I set the plants in their little green pots inside these for the purpose of the picture.  I need to get some soil :)  What do you think of this?  Is this something you will do?  I want to find more tubs now!! 

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 26 ~ Upcycled Portable Chalkboards

Sorry I've been out of the posting loop lately.  I've been a busy bee searching for jobs, and I had an interview yesterday as well!  Fingers crossed....  Anywho, I realized I need to seriously catch up on my 30 days of DIYs since today is April 30!  Well don't count me out yet!  Here's a quick and easy project I did with the kids the other day. 
I found some new baking sheets on clearance with the Easter stuff at Target for $5 each, and of course I picked them up.  So the question was what to do with the old ones?  Well, I picked up some chalkboard paint and some white acrylic paint and set the kids to work!

First they painted the back of the old pans white to cover up all the yuckiness.  It took about three coats.

I sat them outside on their picnic table covered with newspaper, poured the paint onto a paper plate, and gave them each a foam paintbrush.  Tip: when waiting for the coats to dry, put the paintbrushes with the paint still on them in a plastic baggy and put it in the fridge.  They won't dry out and will be ready to go again!

They had such a blast!

Finally, they flipped over the pans and painted the front side with the black chalkboard paint.  It took only one coat to achieve great coverage.  We let that dry, rinsed out the brushes really good, and cleaned up the mess.

Finished product!  Since they are metal too, you could use magnets to attach a little pouch to hold chalk and an eraser.

They came up with the idea of using their Easter sidewalk chalk :) 
I think this is great, especially for my daughter when doing her math homework.  Instead of wasting paper to do some of her exercises, she can do them on this! 
I really love coming up with ideas to reuse old things that would normally be thrown away, and I have a TON more ideas!!!  Stay tuned! 

xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 22 ~ Our Easter Tree!

So the kids and I decided we needed an Easter centerpiece, and we challenged ourselves to using things around the house (and outside it!)

The kids gathered sticks and rocks.

I spray painted them white.  It took 2 coats per side to achieve a rustic look.

Next I used some cardboard and made an vertically elongated trapezoid, cut it out, and traced it three more times.  These will make up the vase.  I then measured the short side and cut out a square that length for the bottom.

Once those were all cut out, I gathered my bright pink duck tape!

I started by attaching the bottoms of each side to the square using the duck tape on the outside.

All four sides attached!

This is what the other side looks like.  This will be the outside of mine.

Fold the sides up and tape the edges together.

Cover the whole thing in duck tape, including about an inch or so down on the inside, since the rocks won't go all the way to the top.

I filled the bottom with unpainted rocks, and put the white rocks on top.  Before adding the rocks, take the long sticks and hold them in place in the vase while adding the rocks.  Save the short sticks aside and heat up your glue gun!

Glue the smaller sticks to the larger ones to create branches.  Allow to dry for at least an hour or so.

We took some extra plastic eggs and I threaded some clear beading thread through the holes in the top of the egg which created the loop to hang the eggs by. 

Cute, easy, recycled, and all other items were on hand!  The kids loved making this and thought it was so cool to recycle things to make something unexpected.  Hope you had a happy happy easter if you celebrate it, if not, I hope you had an awesome weekend!
xxooxoxo
Lia

30 Days of DIY: Day 5 ~ Upcycled Bright Oversize Geometric Earrings

Oversized jewelry is so hot right now.  Combine that with other jewelry trends, such as silicone, bright colors, geometric shapes, and it's a total win.  Here's where the upcycling comes in.  I get my prescriptions from Target, and there are these rubber colored rings around the neck of the bottle.  I chose mine to be purple.  So I have been saving them for a while, waiting for the perfect project to scream at me.  Well it did!

Materials:

• 8 rubber rings from Target prescription bottles
• 8 large jump rings
• 2 small jump rings
• 2 earring hooks
• jewelry pliers

Use a large jump ring and connect two rubber rings.  I am able to open and close these using just my fingers.  Take another large jump ring and connect another rubber ring to the bottom of the connected ones.  Repeat once more for the fourth.

This should be what you have.  Now make another one.

You now have two.  Good work :)

Attach a small jump ring to each of the earring hooks.

Take a large jump ring, and attach it to one end rubber ring and the small jump ring.  Repeat for the other one.

Et voila!  You now have some amazing on trend earrings, for nothing!  Wear them and enjoy all the jealous side glances, I know I will!  I can't wait to wear these with a plain t-shirt and flowing skirt, so that the earrings can be the focus of the outfit.  What would you wear these with?
Oh, and the smaller yellow rubber ring?  (Came from my son's liquid antibiotics bottle).  It fits my thumb perfectly as a thumb ring :)

Love my modeling skills!  I wanted to show just how long the earrings are.  If these are too much for you, just use fewer rubber rings.  Make it your own!

xxooxoxo

Lia

Pockets Full of Sunshine Easy Peasy DIY

I was about to throw away a too small pair of my daughter's old jeans, but I'm so glad I didn't!  I always carry my pink inspiration journal in my purse, and my purple marble notebook is full of my work stuff.  But I can *never* find a pen....

You will need:

• an old pair of jeans with the back pockets still intact 
• glue gun and glue sticks
• scissors
• notebook or something you want to attach a pocket to

Cut out the pocket from the jeans, cutting *around* the seams so as to keep the back material attached:

You will be gluing this down, so it's imperative to keep it!

Repeat with the other pocket.  Now you have two! 

Using your glue gun, glue as close to the edge of the *back* of the pocket, around the entire perimeter as well as some in the middle too.

Now turn your pocket over and press it firmly against the desired spot on your notebook.  Do the same with the other pocket.

Et voila!  Super simple, this took about 5 minutes, start to finish, and since I had all the materials on hand, cost me nothing!  I could only find one pen, so my big notebook is modeling scissors :)

Sorry I've been out of the loop lately, not posing or tweeting.  I have inflammatory arthritis in my knees and I've been in agony lately.  Work has been crazy busy too, and my unorganized butt has not had time to do anything.  Well that is going to change!  Stay tuned!

xxooxoxo
Lia