Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today is Friday, so it's time for another great recycled find! This week's find is this beautiful

Vintage Memories Mosaic Mirror

by artfulaccents on Etsy who is based in Michigan. Here is what the seller has to say about this item:

"Every time you look at this beautiful mosaic mirror, you will see something different in its collection of vintage broken china, buttons, jewelry, glass tiles, a key, a spoon, and pieces of a miniature tea set.

The pieces of china are among the most beautiful in my collection. Included are some pieces of china with reproductions of paintings from Fragonard, one of my favorite artists of the 18th Century.

Overall dimensions are 11" wide x 12 1/2"high.

This has to be the prettiest mosaic I have ever seen and so uniquely created with recycled "stuff"!

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today's Fabulous Friday Recycled Find is this colorful bracelet made by GoGoGirlz on Etsy and based out of College Station Texas.

This bracelet is made from soda and energy drink can tabs and even the flowers are made from aluminum cans. I have seen stuff made from cans before but this is by far the most colorful and interesting piece I've seen in awhile.
Here is what GoGoGirlz has to say about the item:

"This bright and colorful trashion fashion bracelet is made from recycled energy and soda drink can tabs.

The eco-friendly, 4-layered flower is made from pink, yellow and orange cans. The bottom flower is backed with foam for strength and comfort. The chain is made from can tabs woven together with flexible, colored wire. It measures approximately 8.25 inches and fastens with a lobster clasp. If you have a larger wrist, this is the bracelet for you! Custom sizes and colors can be created at your request. Convo us.

This unique, attention-getting bracelet will turn heads and get you wonderful compliments".

This bracelet is $15.00 with free shipping. Awesome deal for such a unique piece of art/jewelry.

Besides this awesome colorful bracelet, GoGoGirls also offers a selection of other interesting goodies made from recycled items such as book marks, earrings, hair clips, scrapbook embellishments and pendants. Also offered in the shop are beaded bracelets and other jewelry. (I love the cowgirl bling!)

This shop is on my favorites!

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today's Fabulous Friday Recycled find is an Upcycled Capri Sun Wallet

How cool is this? My daughter drinks Capri Sun like there is no tomorrow and it never dawned on me that the pouches could be made into something else. I stumbled upon the creator of this wallet, You've Been Upcycled on Facebook and knew that I wanted to feature one of her creations for today's feature.

Here is what the seller had to say:
"I love this wallet - it's small & fits right into your pocket!

Has pockets for 2 cards & some cash, or 3 cards & some cash (depending on how much cash you have of course).

Would also fit business cards..."

Belts made from Capri Sun pouches are also available as well as bowls made from records and even a cuff bracelet also made from a record.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

This week's Fabulous Friday Find is an adorable Scandinavian style dress and sunhat made with a recycled vintage tablecloth.

This can be found on Etsy in a lovely shop based out of Sweden, KajaDesign
Here is what the seller had to say about the dress:

"This is a dress from what I like to refer to as my "Table cloth collection". Vintage fabric, mostly from the 60's and 70's. Very retro and very eco friendly!

This one has some of our most beloved summer flowers, so I combined it with lavender blue lining and a matching seam binding.

The pattern is my own and has a very good fit, and is superpractical. Especially for small children, since you don't have to pull it over the head. Just slip it over the bottom and button it up over the shoulders. Perfect over a tee or a onesie!

This is a complete set with a sunhat. This model was very popular in the 50's here in Scandivia. It is tied under the cheek and has two holes, which was used to pull out the pony tails or pig tails through for older children."

I am always amazed at what I find when looking for recycled items. The possibilities are endless. This is one more item that will not be in a landfill for a very long time.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

There are a lot of great items that have been made from something that would have ended up in the trash. I have found most, if not all of them on Etsy. However, I recently discovered a great website(from the Etsy forums of course), Greenwala, which is a "green" social network. Here is a little blurb about them taken from the website: "Greenwala is a For Profit Philanthropic company focused on harnessing the power of a community to create opportunity for people to "Go Green" and improve their lives. We believe that every individual has the power to foster change and it is through that belief that we feel that the Greenwala community will be the destination for those wishing not to just Green their lives but to improve the lives of those around them."
Greenwala is currently running a few contests, one in particular that I love is a contest sponsored by HP which the entrants submit photos of things they have created from something that would have been thrown away. The person that gets the most votes for their creation will win an eco friendly laptop and printer. While it would be nice to win a new laptop as mine recently died and now renting one, I am not too lucky with contests but entered my recycled paper snowman ornaments anyways.
What I would like everyone to do that reads this is to vote not only for me but for at least 4 other entrants as well. It only takes a couple of seconds and you don't have to join the site to vote-that is as far as I know. All of the creations are fabulous and just think that stuff would have ended up in the trash. I love them all.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Happy Friday everyone! This week went by really fast. This week I will feature one of my own recycled creations, so here we go:

This week's fabulous recycled find is a set of 4 magnets made with recycled bottlecaps featuring a recycle theme.
These were made by me with recycled bottle caps and the recycle theme fits the purpose of them perfectly. I glued a rare earth/neodymium magnet to the back for a super strong hold to a metal surface. These would look great on a refrigerator, file cabinet, school locker, or any other metal surface.
These can be found in my shop on ArtFire
along with a ring and a bracelet that were also made with recycled bottle caps.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

I have been featuring handmade items on Fridays that are made from recycled materials. It's always amazing to me the things that can be made from something that would have ended up in a landfill somewhere. Purses from plastic bags, bowls from old dish towels, windchimes from odds and ends from the kitchen. I also make items from recycled stuff from time to time. I made a ring and bracelet from recycled bottle caps, which can be found on my Artfire shop: Ring Bracelet I forgot to mention my bottle cap magnets, too.

Anyway, so here is this week's Fabulous Recycled Find:
Set of 5 Christmas ornaments made with recycled juice can lids

These cute ornaments were made by ScrappinCorner on Etsy.

Here is what the seller had to say about them: "I love how these cute ornaments turned out! I cut out a vintage image and decorated the front and back of these lids! They are perfect for stocking stuffers, tie them on a gift, or give as a teachers gift!

If you need more or less, let me know and I can set up a special order for you!"

...and shipping is free for this item as well.

What a great way to recycle!

Fabulous Friday Recyled Find

Happy Friday! I found a lot of great recycled items this week and was hard choosing just one. I may have to start featuring two at a time! So, here is this weeks find!
Black, White and Red Fabric Coiled Basket
This is a basket made with dishcloth scraps and was made by klosti,based out of Illinois and on Etsy. Here is a clip from the listing: "The great texture of this catchall is created by wrapping a variety of torn red, black and white dish towel fabric strips around cotton clothesline and stitching it by machine. It measures 6 1/2" across the bottom, 8 1/2" across the top and 2 3/4" tall."
Sunny yellow trivets are also available using the same method. Klosti also offers adorable dresses to "dress" up your kitchen also made with dishtowels. What a unique shop! I will not look at dishtowels in the same way again. :)

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today's Fabulous Friday Recycled Find is Hey Copper, a fabulous recycled copper teapot turned into a wind chime! Hey Copper was made by Sharon of Studio Musings on Etsy.com based out of California.
Here is what Sharon had to say in her listing: "Anyone longing for spring?
Made from a found, vintage copper tea pot, this chime will brighten up any corner of the garden! It has copper tubes for the chimes, along with beads in orange, green and yellow.
I painted the wooden lid knob a bright green and attached an old metal flower to it.
Although I cleaned it thoroughly, I left the natural patina on the pot.
It is on a swivel and will rotate with the breeze.
Great for indoor or outdoor hanging."

I love this wind chime. Great use for an unloved tea pot! Besides wind chimes, Sharon also creates beautiful mosaics and wall masks made with recycled items.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Good Friday morning! Things are starting to mellow out a bit. BF is doing fine, he's already complaining that he's bored. Looks like he'll get to come home on Saturday. Yay!

So, on to this week's recycled find! Last week I put out a call on the Etsy forums for recycled items and had a great response, so I chose from this forum thread again for this week's feature:
Recycled Diet Pepsi soda can earrings by KimTetmeyerJewelry

Here are a pair of earrings that were created using a Diet Pepsi soda can. These are so cool and free shipping, too! Here is what Kim wrote in her listing:

Looking for recycled 'green' jewelry? Or maybe(like me) you just can't live without you daily caffeine fix. If so..These fun and funky earrings are for you. They are made out of a recycled Diet Pepsi can! There are no sharp edges...I promise! There is a ring that matches this necklace ...Check it out http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24557944 Feel free to convo. me if you would like this item made out of a different beverage can.

These red, white,and Blue earrings are perfect for all the upcomming summer holidays(4th of July, Memorial Day, etc..)

Besides these great recycled earrings, Kim has other interesting items in her shop including wire wrapped jewelry, "mermaid" glass jewelry items, and even yummy candy resin pendants.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today is Friday, so here is my recycled find! I had a lot of great items to choose from this week and was hard to pick only one!!

Today's pick is Recolored Crayons by TalkTagz on Etsy.com

So what's a recolored crayon?? Here's a description from the listing:
What do you do with the broken crayons in the bottom of that crayon box? You recycle them of course....This set of WE LOVE HEARTS have turned into little pieces of art that are ready to create again....

Each Recolored Crayon measures approx. 2 1/2" tall by approx. 2 1/2" wide x 1/2" thick. Perfect jumbo size for little fingers. Kids love to be suprised by the different colors they find inside.

This is a great way to recycle, I love this idea. Be sure to stop by TalkTagz's shop for other great items including recycled coasters, scrapbooking tags and cute ponytail holders.

Fabulous Friday Recycled Find

Today's Fabulous Friday Recycled Etsy find is an

Upcycled White and Yellow Plarn Tote Bag

by debs1967

Here is an awesome bag made with "plarn". What's plarn you ask?
"Plarn is made by cutting strips of plastic bags that are turned into a 'Yarn'."

Debs1967 made this bag by tightly crocheting together plastic grocery bags and light green string.
Tight stitches add to the strength and durability, leaving "no holes" that your change could fall through.
Also has a double layered handle.
It's lightweight and versatile enough to use for the store or as a purse, the beach, for the library, or anything else you can think of.

Debs1967 is based out of Melbourne Florida and has her shop open since April of 2008. Besides recycled bags, she also offers other beautiful crocheted items such as kitchen scrubbies and towels, appliques and even crocheted doughnuts! She is offering free shipping on selected items as well as a free gift with your purchase.

My newest project-fused plastic coin purse

Okay, so I am unemployed and nearly broke, so I am trying really hard to keep myself amused these days. Yesterday I decided to make a little coin purse from plastic grocery bags that I fused together. I used yellow bags and hand sewed it together with black thread and sewed on a black button. This took me nearly all evening, as my sewing skills are really bad...I think I may take some sewing lessons once I go back to work....Anyways, it was a fun project and I am now using it in my purse to hold my loose change. I also made more shipping envelopes. They are working out great, but take forever to make. Just a little less plastic bags in the landfil....

So, what do YOU use plastic grocery bags for???

I never gave it much thought until I read a tutorial on Etsy for fusing plastic bags. http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/howTos/article/fusing-plastic-bags-with-the-etsy-labs/1098/

I normally just use them to line my small trash cans. I have used them also for adding padding to shipping boxes.

Anyways, while looking through the tutorial, I was amazed that fused plastic could be used for things like wallets and handbags. Wow! A few hours later I had an epiphany...and thought I could make shipping envelopes from fused plastic grocry bags, so this am I got out a huge pile of bags, my iron, some scissors and a sheet of parchment paper and started cutting and ironing. It took me all morning, but I made 3 different sizes. Small ones, medium ones and sorta medium ones. They seem to be pretty darn sturdy, so I think I will try them out for my next shipment and see what happens.

New recycled paper projects and zipper pulls

I have been a little busy with new stuff. I made a few bottle cap zipper pulls. I also made a new batch of paper "pulp" and made a bunch more easter eggs that will be magnets. I also made a couple of flowers that will also be magnets, a big heart that I think will be for display for my upcoming shows and made another pencil holder. I need to get some glaze so I can finish it. Oh and I got real creative and made a saguaro cactus...kinda reminds me of a pickle, though. LOL This will probably be a magnet as well. I need to get more magnets too. I have more ideas for decorating pencil holders other than painting flowers on them, which by the way is the ONLY thing I can draw. I can only make one at a time because I am using a heavy glass container as a mold and it takes forever to dry, like a week. I am looking for plastic things to use instead, but haven't found anything yet. My photos show the stuff that I have done already, just waiting for the rest of the eggs, flowers and beads to dry. Ho hum...