Spring Time is Kite Time... Make your own

I remember heading to Woolworth's as a kid (that shows my age, sigh) and looking through all the cheap plastic kites... There were Spider-Man, Holly Hobbie, Dinosaurs, flowers...so many to choose from. This was a sure sign of spring time! 

Well, welcome to spring! And what a great way to get it started... making a kite from grocery bags or lunch sacks.  Here's how we did ours...

Grab a kid (if you choose too) and these items...

• Large brown paper grocery bag or lunch sack
• Strong string
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Masking tape
• School glue or paste
• Paint (any kind) (we used all natural dyes made from fruits and veggies)
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Paper streamers or crepe paper that you can cut into strips
• A few found objects (bits of paper, glitter, buttons — nothing too heavy)

1. Begin by taking the hole punch and making four holes in the top of the paper bag— one in each of the corners. Use masking tape at each hole. If you put it on after you punch, use a pencil to punch through the hole. This will ensure that your holes don't tear through.
2. Next, cut two lengths of string about 30" each.
3. Tie each end of the strings through a hole in the bag. The goal is to create two loops.
4. Next, cut another piece of string — again around 30". Loop this new piece of string through the two loops you created and tie in a knot. This piece of string will become the handle of your kite.
5. You are now ready to decorate the paper bag kite using paint, markers, or whatever else you desire. You can paint designs on the kite or turn the kite into a fish by adding eyes, gills, and fins. You can glue different items to the kite but be sure not to load the kite down with heavy items -- or it will have a hard time staying up in the air.
6. Use paper streamers as kite tails and glue them to the bottom of the paper bag. You can make your own streamers by cutting crepe paper, newspaper, tissue paper and even plastic bags into strips. 
7. Once the glue and paint is dry, the kite can fly. Hold on tightly to the string handle and run so that the wind catches the kite. When the bag fills with air it will float and flutter behind you.

Friend's Question and Prepping for the Drawing

Good morning everyone!!!! What a beautiful day here in Louisville! Hope everyone is getting out to enjoy it!  

We absolutely love when we get great questions on how to recycle or repurpose items. We know we have people really thinking! This morning I got an email from one of our friends asking what to do with glass candle holders with a little wax left and an assortment of old wax.  I suggested simmering the candles holders in a pot of water to melt the wax and to melt the other wax and combine them into one or more of the containers and add a wick to use as emergency candles. Do you have other suggestions? Please share in the comments! 

Right now, I am currently preparing for the drawing we are having since we hit 200 fans on Facebook, by writing everyone's names on paper and placing them in a bowl. There are three ways to enter between now and Noon. One - become a Facebook Fan, two - join as a follower of our email and I made a post on Facebook this morning. If you like it I'll add your name one more time to the drawing.  

Right now I'll have drawings for two sets of t-shirt shopping bags. During the course of the day... who knows what else I'll draw for! Depends on just how crafty I get during day! The winners will be posted here and on Facebook this evening. Good luck to everyone and thank you again for all your support. We are looking forward to opening the first and only Creative Reuse Center here in Louisville!

Celebrating Our Friends and Creating New Ones

T-shirt bag given away at DIY Louisville Ornament Swap

It's hard to believe that we have been at this already for nearly 4 months, but yet at the same time, it is hard to believe we have only been at this for nearly 4 months!!! In that time we have been out passing out brochures and business cards at  the Flea Off Market, Trolley Hops, the Bluegrass Bioneers event, the Mighty Kindness Festival and numerous other events and shops. We have had lots of coffees, some lunches and wonderful conversations. We have been able to meet some of the most amazing and talented people in Louisville and made lots of new friends along the way! We are very lucky! 

Today we hit 149 fans on Facebook! WOW is all I can say. But...I want to see now, how quickly we can hit 200! Please share our Facebook page and our Blog with all your friends and family and coworkers! We also would love to see you sign up to follow our blog. We will be posting lots of information here and as much as we love Facebook, it may not always get there and we would hate for anyone to miss out on all the great things happening with Louisville's first and only creative reuse center! All you have to do is enter your email address to the right of this post, confirm the email you receive and that is it!

Once we hit 200 Facebook fans we will be giving away a set (or two) of really cool t-shirt grocery bags and maybe a few other neat, repurposed items! If you also start following our blog you will have a second chance to win. We will announce the winner by the weekend after we hit the 200 fans! 

Photo courtesy of D.I.Y. Louisville 

Good Garbage Gab November 12, 2012

Everyone has a lot of old t-shirts. Some are favorite teams you just can't get rid of; Some are your old cleaning, painting, crafting shirts that no one else would want; Some are just plain ugly ones that someone got you as a gift and you can't get rid of them because Aunt Mae might just ask you to show off that t-shirt she brought you back from Looneyville, Texas (it's real, look it up). Well I have a couple great ideas to share with you for ALL those t-shirts.

I'm sure first thing that comes to mind is a rag... good use, but there are lots more. I mean, if the shirt is so badly gooped up then not even sure it would work for a rag. And then there's the t-shirt quilt which is a great thing and I am planning out one now, is pretty labor intensive. Good Garbage Gab is all about getting you thinking and giving you easy ways you can start reusing things around your house. So, no t-shirt quilt instructions here today.

The first thing I ever did with an old t-shirt was make a grocery bag. This is so simple. All you need is a sharp pair of scissors and the simplest of sewing machines. You can sew them by hand, it just takes a bit longer.

Turn the t-shirt inside out and lay it flat. Pin the bottom. Sew with a good tight stitch all the way across to close the bottom of the t-shirt. I generally line up and sew just at the seam for the original hem. 

Then cut the sleeves off at the seam. Then you can just eye the next part, or you can use a round plate or bowl to mark the rounded cut you will make at the neck. The part of the shoulder that is left are your handles.

marthastewart.com

Turn it right side out and there you have it. A reusable bag. I take these to the grocery, carry my lunch in them, and have even used one as a purse (vintage, way too small, I'm A Pepper t-shirt). I even took the sleeves and made little drawstring bags to store them in. 

I also made some scarves, even a no-sew one. But I have to find those pictures lost on another computer that is currently down. I will try to find the right thumb drive I have them backed up on and will post another time. Maybe as we get closer to Christmas and you are looking for a last minute gift for someone!