August Creative Craft Challenge: Cans

This month the Creative Craft link up challenges you to recycle/upcycle CANS! Have you made something from those ordinary cans? Bring them to us!

We've been invited to join Hometalk as group features... so hashtag those posts and social media  #CreativeCraftChallenge to share even more! 

In the meantime... take a look at last month's challenge of "Nature Crafts".

Here are my Nature Crafts features you've got to see in case you missed them during the July link up. 

Coastal Sea Shell Wreath 

by My Pinadventures 

Duck Dynasty Tablescape

by Grandparents Plus 

Seashell Hurricane Votive Knockoff 

by Purple Hues and Me 

Tabletop Woodland Garden 

by Grandparents Plus 

Rustic Woodland Centerpiece

by Making Our Sustainable Life 

Sand Dollar Candle Holder 

by Across the Blvd. 

So many awesome nature inspired creations were linked up last month. You can visit them here.
If you've been featured, be sure to grab your badge!



Now on to the new challenge! Here are your hostesses:

Kristina & Millie @ 2 Crochet Hooks
Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter

Darlene @ Let It Shine

Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter

Bonnie @ Our Secondhand House

Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter

Robin @ Redo It Yourself Inspirations
Pinterest/Facebook/Twitter

**Please follow your hostesses via your choice of social media. Not required but it is the nice thing to do and to keep up with our news! 

RULES:

1. Project must use the Challenge item (and any others needed to complete your project).

2. Project must be recycled/upcycled/repurposed!

3. You must have a fun time creating your Craft Challenge project!

4. Party runs through the end of the month, so come back often and link up new or old projects!

5. Please link up your own craft challenge projects (no round ups, sale/Etsy sites, etc.)  Inappropriate links will be removed.

CHALLENGE THEME SCHEDULE

January – soda bottle/milk jug

February – cereal/cardboard boxes

March – pair of blue jeans/clothing

April – paper bags/paper

May – silver or flatware/utensils

June – bathroom tissue/paper towel rolls

July – twigs/something from nature

August – vegetable/soup cans

September – dishes/glass/plastic/metal

October – broken jewelry

November – margarine/cool whip bowls

December – unique wreath

Remember, this link up will run throughout the month of August with the hostesses favorites featured at the end of the month, so you have PLENTY of time to find some upcycled inspiration and join the challenge!  

Check back often for new ideas and fun crafts to try and link up your own! If you want to host with us, we'd love to add you to the team, so just let us know! Grab our button and spread the challenge! 

NOW LET THE INSPIRATION BEGIN! 

IT'S RECYCLED CANS MONTH! 

YOU CAN LINK UP AS MANY AS YOU WANT ALL MONTH LONG! 

If you post on Hometalk, be sure to tag your creations as #CreativeCraftChallenge

An InLinkz Link-up

Thrift Store - Thrift Score Thursday

So I'm at it again.

Thrift shopping. I was supposed to get mulch. But on the way, I remembered a buffalo I saw last week and again earlier this week.

I had a crush on him. So I stopped at the thrift shop to find that he was still there... phew!! And luck has it he was a blue ticket and blue was ... half off! I love shades of blue and now even more so.
( huuuge smile!)

I also went in just real quick (really fast, because I'm supposed to do other things... rolling eyes) to scan racks for shower curtains and sheets to paint and make all awesome like for back drops. And some umbrellas to paint white... inside and out.

Why? Can you tell my photos and props are much better than when I was a new blogger last year? I'm learning some photography tricks to improve my blog. The sheets and shower curtains can be hung up behind photo subjects and the white umbrellas bounce the light I need for better photos.

But today... "I got none." I know I can get dollar store umbrellas, so it's not a biggie. I'll just keep a hawk eye out for the large flat sheets. However, there were some large drapes... but not what I was looking for in colors or designs and painting over them just isn't ideal. And... the price of $7.99 per panel... pass... other places like  "box stores" have better choices that are new on the shelves. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But hey, there are always other things available like the buffalo I really didn't need... and just in time before my phone to ran out of space for more photos.

I spy lamps. I went through them and snagged one for the work bench.

This is called "quick scan". You bounce around the best shelves and look from left to right, top to bottom.

I spy some red, white and blue cardboard star boxes. Nah... But I do need some clock parts ...passed on them too because they were too pricey. So I kept moving.

Silver plated stuff... nice. But none of it is needed right now.

Wait... look what's in the silverware box... a pretty grape spoon! Yup, I'll take that for forty-nine cents! It will make a nice ring! Or key ring!

Ha! An outhouse toilet tissue holder! Pass, but I do like those galvanized containers! Perfect for the workshop. They will add to the industrial look I'm doing.

I ran out of space on my phone camera and it was time to lickety split anyway. So I took my treasures and went back to the mulch chore. 

Then went through my scores of the day. 

So I got this awesome HGTV t shirt for working around the yard... But it's a large and a crew neck. So I redesigned it into a tank top.

By cutting the sleeves off,

and the crew neck snipped away into a scoop neck

it's now a tank top.

To make it look cute, I used some of the sleeve material to add little ties at the shoulders.

And here are the rest of the goodies of the day... brought home safely.

The galvanized containers for the shop will probably get stenciled with labels. Great for storing some furniture hardware.

The lamp will get painted black and then distressed. It will make a great task light on the workbench.

The leather belt was $3.99, but it was a blue ticket and half off, so I put it in my belt stash.
The pretty spoon will be a ring or key ring.

And that buffalo... he will stand proud in the western bedroom. He is my prize of the week for doing all that mulch work.  (wink)

How is your thrift shopping going? What did you score? I want to see and hear about it!

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Chair Makeover in Blue and Yellow Toile

It's another trash to treasure.
This curb rescue looked amazing at first. I thought it was a great den chair.
But after getting it home and giving it the look-over, it was inevitable that major work needed to be done to it.

It was missing parts and it had a gazillion nail tacks.
Two cups worth of nail tacks.
Take me a week to remove kind of nail tacks.
Just way too many of them.

Because one arm support was missing and the other side was cracked and falling loose, I decided to remove them altogether. A poor design structure meant it may continue unless I used steel straps. That was not happening on this one because I wasn't sure where it was going at the moment.

So I hacked off the arms.

Then I removed all of the old upholstery.
Glued on upholstery. Another painstaking undo.

And finally, I  decided what color and fabric to use.

So this baby got the blues... Midnight Sky blue.

Then a nice coat of pearl wax.
It gives just the right amount of sheen.

The fabric is a beautiful yellow and blue toile print.
My friend Millie from "2 Crochet Hooks" gave it to me.
She thought I could put some fabrics to good use and sent them over my way. (Love her!)
This was my favorite of the bunch and I couldn't wait to use it on the right piece.

It was saved for this chair... with just enough to do it.
Including the piping (I sewed the cloth over pvc clothesline, as I've done before here.)
To save a lot of photos, space and boredom, I won't repeat how to reupholster again, as I've many of them here on the blog. But I'll tell you I did the seat first (always the easiest). Then the the tricky back rest.

So here we are.

Meet Florence.

The whole time I worked on the fabric, it reminded me of my grandmother, Florence. She loved her linens and blues and yellows... and toile. She loved little blue glass hens and sported them about her home.  And she was always ironing. Always. Not just hers, but for others too. Her dining room table would be heaped with freshly laundered, ironed and folded linens.

I can still smell it.

I remember her bedroom and the little knick knacks that made her house a home. If she were here today, this chair would be hers.

So this is my Florence chair.

She would have pressed this fabric to perfection for me and made doilies to go with it.

The midnight blue looks amazing. 

I can just envision my grandmother sitting here with her apron on and a cup of tea at the table... just for a short break. She was like that when she visited. Then she would probably jump up to go back to work because she was a baker and had bread orders almost daily. That and domestic services. Sewing, laundering and the like. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she would make an apron to match this chair. She was like that too. Very busy and creative.

I know she would have loved this.

It's got her name all over it.

(big smile) 

I hope I inspired some yellow and blue toile to fit in a space for you. It's so bright and cheery!

Midnight Sky and Pearl Wax are made by Country Chic Paint 

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