My Junk Inspired Life Friends Challenge

Hello and welcome. If you are visiting via Love2Upcycle thanks for clicking over. If you found me via a referral thanks for typing out my long URL!! As a thank you for visiting I'm having a reader challenge from now through next Friday with the prize being my little junk frame featured in the story below. This challenge is easy...become my friend. That's it!

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Become a follower through Google Friends link. 2. If I find 50 friends I'll gift the cute little junk frame. 3. If I find 100 friends I'll gift the frame and include the clear mini cake stand seen in photo. 3a.If I make 200 new friends I'll do two drawings with the 2nd gift to a second recipient being the recycled brown t shirt hat you see in my banner! 4. Challenge ends at 12:01 am Saturday morning April 23. 5. Using random number selecter I'll pick a winner and post the winning new friend here. 6. I'm hoping I'll need to do two drawings! Thanks,again,for visiting. I appreciate your comments, too!

Keep scrolling to read the tutorial on how I made this frame.

Junk Art Frame DIY From Costume Jewelry

Hello!

I made a recycled, junk art frame to share with you today.  With a bag of junk jewelry, a glue gun, and a pair of pliers I made this little frame in about an hour.  Maybe more (time) because I fuss with my projects...but if you are aggressive you can complete your own in no time at all.

This was my original bag of costume jewelry and blank picture frame.  I selected a thrift store frame that I acquired for .25 that is metal covered with paper.  A wooden frame would work, too. 

The frame's original state was pretty worn but it came with glass and the photo easel back so it worked fine for this little project.  Size is 4"x6". 

• Remove glass and easel back.
• Glue your crown or focal point on first.

• Next add pieces along the bottom of the frame for visual balance.  Because the crowning piece was so large I needed elements to anchor the project.

• Next start to fill in the sides and bottom of the frame.  It was at this point that I decided to incorporate silver junk jewelry because the gold (only) was looking garish (garish on a junk art frame??)

Notice that I balanced the silver elements in a visual triangle to encourage eye movement along the frame.

Here is the frame totally filled in with costume jewelry.  Even though I had plenty of recycled pieces in my original goody bag the sizes weren't working for this frame so I went to my backup stash and brought some of them into the equation.  Those items were the gold buttons, plastic flowers, silver snap, silver button, live love laugh charm...well about half of the frame came from something other than the first baggie but I'll use the leftovers for some new "unthought of" project down the road. (To be honest, too, I used a couple new Making Memories Foil sequins...but all other elements are recycled.)

• Tilt pieces, fill in holes with beads, etc. and don't be afraid to overlap...its OK to conceal part of a broach or button, etc. because your eye will fill-in the missing part of the zebra's feet, etc.

• Crop your desired photograph, clean glass, add all to completed frame.  In looking at this picture, now, I think a white mat from Dollar Tree and a smaller picture behind the mat would be cute, but I'm OK with my adopted ancestors from an old French post card just as you see them here.





• Proudly display your little frame where it will get lots of sunlight or artificial light so all of your elements sparkle! 

I hope you enjoyed today's project.  If you have a junk art picture frame you've made from recycled costume jewelry please let me know.  I would love to feature similar projects!

Bye for now.  Cynthia

Green is good.  Junk is good.



P.S. I made the little glass stand from an old clear saucer and recycled candle holder.  They are glued together with super-duper all surface glue - can't remember which - but the equivalent of Super Glue.

Post script added 4.15.11  After being featured on Love2Upcycle I decided to add a readers challenge.  Be sure to participate.  Its easy...just become a friend.
http://myjunkinspiredlife.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-junk-inspired-life-friends-challenge.html

Recycled T Shirt Hats

Using recycled t shirts to create vintage style hats has been my little passion for the last few months.  I decided today I would post some of the hats I've created so far...



cynthia and co. | recycled t shirt hat





The first hat I am calling Pvt. Benjamin.  I used a recycled army green t shirt, with waffle weave, and made the yellow daisy like flower from recycled t shirts as well.



cynthia and co. | recycled t shirt hat



This little sun hat is done in Southern University colors and is reminiscent of an old cloche.

cynthia and co. | recycled t shirt hat



The pink hat is softer and more girly...its from an old beret pattern.

cynthia and co. | recycled t shirt hat

The red beret is a personal favorite.  I like to wear red and black so this suits my style.  In the end I may keep this hat for myself...we'll see.

If you want to start recycling your old t shirts - or want to go on the look out for t shirts at thrift stores here are some tips about which old shirts work best:

• 100% cotton is best - blends with spandex and polyester tend to make the hat stretch out
• the heavier the tee shirt (higher thread count) the stiffer your finished hat will be
• look for pillage - seems obvious but I have brought hats home because I liked the color only to find the shirt was a little too worn - the pills show on the finished product
• recycled t shirts with writing, logos, etc. are fun to use because you can incorporate the shirt imagery into the hat for a one of a kind statement, however, if the shirt has imagery on both front and back you won't have enough plain material for visual relief in your finished bonnet
• look for striped t shirts or patterned shirts - some of the cutest hats I have made are made from old striped tee's.

I am working on a pattern to post for those of you who want to make a little recycled t shirt hat of your own.  Be looking for it in the next couple days.  Also, I am going to post eight different styles I have created in a page titled My Hats.

Happy sewing.  Bye for now, Cynthia

Green is good.  Junk is good.