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Recycled Tin Cans....Endless Possibilities!

I am at it again! My collection of "should go in the recycling bin, but instead is stacked in my sewing room to be recycled into something crafty" is a little smaller now!  I have many boxes, containers and cardboard, but the tin cans now look like this:

I have seen many posts and ideas of covering tin cans, but never had the guts to try it.  Until now!! Tin cans are the perfect material to upcycle, because they are sturdy, easy to clean, and hold onto their new covering fabulously!!

This tutorial is about as easy as recycling/upcycling gets.  Ready?

Take your empty, clean and dry tin can (you don't want your house to smell like rotten food...yuck!!) I chose the magical fruit...BEANS!

 Pick your paper for the outside and inside. Lay the can down and mark where to cut.

 Draw your line all the way across

 CUT!!

 Tape, glue, mod podge (whichever you like) the paper to the can. Isn't it cute? I never knew a can of beans could look so cute. :)

 Here's the inside, all stripey!

 Then to cover up, well camoflauge the silver edge, I took my FAVORITE!!! buttons, and hot glued them to the top to make it even cuter.

 See! Much better! I also took some ribbon and glued it around the bottom of the can.

 Isn't it just oozing with cute-ness??

 A perfect holder for pens, pencils, tools, scissors, etc....anything that needs a place to collect!

After making one, I was on a roll and couldn't stop! So I make another with ribbon folded over the top. What do you think?

EASY PEASY!!

Thanks to Emily for sending me a link to another recycled organizer using cookie containers.  I'll have to get the link again, and post it for ya'll to see.

Happy Recycling!

~Heather

Recycled Card Organizer

I have a problem....

I can't throw anything away or even put it in the recycle bin!  Ok, so maybe that's a little exaggerated, but I seriously have the hardest time! Just ask my husband: any box, bowl, jar or container made of cardboard, plastic or glass must pass through my approval before it can be put it in the recycle bin.  Lately, I keep saying, "I'll make that into something"  "That's a nice container, I'm sure I could use that" "Oooo! I have the perfect thing to put in that"

Well, my "recycle" stash is getting VERY large! I almost need a new room to fill with all of my containers.  Despite the hoarding of recyclables...I do have to say, I've made some creative uses for them - I've even surprised myself with my creativity.

Here's one of my favorites:

A couple weeks ago, Rite-Aid had a coupon for $3 off 3 cards.  Well, you know me, Mrs. Frugalicious, I found another $1 off coupon to double the savings, bought the cheap-o cards, and basically walked away with cards for 40cents or less.  Let's just say the Rite-Aid employees know me by name just for that one week.  I would even go twice a day; on my way to work, and on the way back home. By the end of the week, I had accumulated quite a collection, and by collection I really mean COLLECTION of cards for all holidays and occasions.  So I needed an organizer to put them all in of course!!

So, I found an empty box of Kleenex in my stash (thanks to my husband's allergies) and my creative wheels started turning.

Classic, plain, BLAH Kleenex box

Cut into all 4 corners of the opening, then fold the flaps and tape them down.

Cover with pretty paper! Just measure (leave a few inches of extra), cut paper.  Then fold the extra flap over the edge and tape.

I didn't have enough to completely cover the edges... boo :p

 So, I found a cute polka dot paper to cover the edges.

 And Voila!! Isn't it cute?  But wait...you can't have a card organizer, and not have the inside covered too!

 But you don't have to cover the bottom, because who HONESTLY looks at the bottom of a box to see if it's perfectly covered??!! NOT ME!!

 So I used the same polka dot paper from the side, to cover the inside.

 Just put the paper in, measure (see my little pencil marking?) Then cut and tape!

Much better...perfectly lined.

 I ran out of blue polka dots, so I had to use another black polka dot pattern.  I think they need to make bigger sheets of paper, or maybe shrink Kleenex boxes! Don't they know covering a Kleenex box requires alot of paper? :)

 Fits all my cards perfectly!

  But you can't stop there.  All the cards need to be organized, so I made dividers for the different holidays and occasions.  I never knew working at a grocery store would be so beneficial to my recycling addiction.  I used the cardboard rectangles that the yogurt comes wrapped in between.  Two rectangles for every case of yogurt, so I only have to save 100 cases, and I'll get 200 cardboards! Ok, maybe not that much...but I do have quite the collection of yogurt cardboard. (I use them to make another recycled organizer....that post will be coming later)  Anyways, cut the cardboard (cereal boxes work great too!) into the length and height of the Kleenex box.  I wanted the dividers to be taller than the cards, so I could easily find the tabs and locate the correct card, so I measured a few inches more than the Kleenex height.

 Cut down to size - I used a box cutter (another benefit from work) but a razor blade works just the same.

 And there you have your lovely dividers. I just realized the first one is cut WAY out of whack! Just because I use fancy tools, doesn't mean I can cut straight. :z  Cut as many dividers as you need. It makes the organizer look nice and, well, organized.

 I used the rest of my Post-It tabs from a freebie giveaway to write on for the different sections.  I could take the time to make uniform, fancy dividers, but to quote Rhett Butler: "Frankly Scarlett, I don't give a .DANG." :) Ok, so maybe I do care, but this will only be used and seen by me. Sometimes FREE is better than absolutely perfect and uniform. Didn't you know?

Mix-matched is the new coordinated.

 A nice, organized collection of cards.

 And then I have to label my organizer, so I know what it is.  Just in case I suddenly forget what that beautiful covered box is. :)

I channeled my inner 16-year-old, writing cute artsy notes to my friends during class, and using state-of-the-art CRAYONS, made a cute label for my Card Organizer. Sometimes crayons are the greatest art tool. :)



Just about any box would work, just as long as you cards can fit in it.  I am so proud of my card box. It's recycled, organized and most importantly cute!

Today's Earth Day...are you doing anything special? I have alot more recycled/upcycled posts to come...

First Giveaway @ Cardigans and Cookie Dough

Yep, that's right!! I couldn't wait for 50 followers, so I had a giveaway over at one of my favorite fashion blogs, Cardigans and Cookie Dough!

I'm giving away any 1 items from my etsy shop.  So you could win:

I am so excited to be having my very first giveaway, and hoping it brings new friends and followers to my blog and etsy shop. 

So head on over HERE and enter to win

And if I make it to 50 followers thanks to Katri, I'll still have another giveaway. :) So start spreading the word and get all your peeps to come follow!

~Heather

Easter Decor - Peeps Bunny Bunting

I have lost my holiday decorating groove.  I seriously haven't decorated since Christmas!! I LOVE to decorate for holidays, but for some reason this year, I haven't had the energy to decorate.  I absolutely love Easter, and all the decor and Easter-ness. So I wanted to make something to get me in the decorating mood.

 I absolutely LOVE the month of April! Why you ask? Here's some reasons why:

~Spring! My favorite season (except for allergies)
~Easter
~Spring Cleaning (ok, cleaning might not be my most favorite thing, but getting organized is a good feeling)
~April is my middle name (hence the name "April Showers")
~And it's my birthday month!!!  This year, I am loving April and Easter even more because Easter is just 2 days before my birthday.  Growing up, I was always jealous of my little sister, because her birthday is on the 4th, and Easter is always at the beginning of April.  I finally have a "Easter" birthday.  I have never been so excited to have Easter!!

I found THIS adorable post of a Peeps Bunny Bunting over at MADE.  She creates the cutest crafts and decorations.  I was inspired to create my own Peeps Bunting, and I did! I was so happy with how it turned out. Check out the tutorial over at MADE...it's super easy!

What do you think? I think it's pretty adorable!  And how could it get better??? I didn't spend a penny! I used some of my never ending supply of felt, cut the eyes and nose with brown felt scraps, and ribbon from another never ending supply of ribbon. 

That's what I call a Frugalicious Easter Decoration!

I really want to do something to celebrate my birthday, on the 26th.  I might just do a giveaway...any ideas?

Here's some more pics of my bunting

Happy April!!

~Heather

Sunbeam Lesson #2 - Fishing Pole and Fish

I enjoyed making the felt fish for my Sunbeams to take home, but then realized I had nothing for them to do during out lesson!  I've always loved "fishing" with homemade fishing poles and paper fish.  So I decided to make my own!

I cut out fish from cardstock paper, using the template from Felt 'o Fish post HERE, and then hot glued a paper clip on the edge.

I started with a flexible straw, then cut a long piece of yarn and threaded it through the straw. Tape the yarn on the bottom of the straw, and then attach a "hook" on the long "fishing line".

I made two different "hooks".  The first was a magnetic "hook" - Hot glue three magnets together, and hot glue the yarn around the magnets.

Hook#2 (which I totally forgot to take a photo of) is a clothespin with the yarn hot glued on the edge. I even made a "reel", which I just pulled the yard out some, near the bottom of the straw where it's taped, and wrapped the yarn around a clothespin and then clamped. (confused yet?)  This allows you, when you pull the clothespin, to move the hook up and down-just like a real fishing pole!

 Here's the best shot I could get of the fishing pole:

The kids LOVED catching the fish, hooking them and then moving the fish over to our fishing net.  It was alot of fun, and a GREAT rainy day activity.

~Heather

Friday is my favorite day of the week!

I haven't been thrifting in awhile, and by awhile I mean a week or two.  I was having thrift withdrawals, so last Friday on my lunch hour at work, I snuck over to my FAVORITE thrift store, Eco Thrift!!!  Thank goodness it is only a few minutes away from work.  I have figured out how the system works.  Every Friday, they switch the color of the tags, and drop prices down.  And which ever color tag has too much surplus, they put that color tag at 50% off!!! So to my great delight, all Men's and Women's clothes with a yellow tag were 50% off!  Boy was I in heaven!  I've never been so anxious to find the color yellow on a piece of clothing.  My excuse for going (because I have plenty of clothes) was that I was going to "shop for my sister's birthday" (coming up on the 4th).  But as what usually happens,

1) I made the mistake of trying on the clothes when I got home

2) They "happen" to fit, and I loved how they looked SO much that

3) I decided to wear a few to church and

4) they all ended up hanging in my closet

:(

So I still need to find clothes for my sister's birthday, but on the bright side, I found some SUPER cute clothes!!

So here are my treasures for the week:

Black and White Bamboo Full Skirt
White tag - full price - but I'll pay full price when it's only $1.98!!!

Black Slacks
Yellow tag - $3.98 half off = $1.98!

Black and White Floral Top
Yellow tag - $1.98 half off = $.99!

This one was bought because I KNEW it would look so cute on my sis...too bad I wore it on Sunday, and totally fell in love with it!  We'll have to do a closet share sometime...



Blue Sweater (It's Banana Republic!!!)
Yellow tag - $3.98 half off = $1.98!



Patterened Dress
Yellow Tag - $9.98 half off = $4.99

I even went over to the Men's section and found a pair of shorts for my husband. (What a good wife I am! It was very hard, but I sacrificed my precious 20 minutes of time and flipped through the Men's section)

Khaki Shorts
Yellow tag - $1.98 half off = $.99!

Overall, I was very happy to find some great clothing (especially designer brands) for 50% off.  Definitely FRUGALICIOUS!

So sorry little sis for stealing all of your birthday clothes.  But don't worry, I found some today for you! And I'll make sure not to try them on, or they just might grow legs and walk into my closet. This is going to be the longest week and half of my life!

My mantra for the next 11 days:  "Must not try on the cute clothes!!! Must not try on Emily's birthday gifts!!!  Don't even put them close to your body!!! (Repeat every 30 minutes, or everytime you walk past the pile of ADORABLE clothes)

My husband wants to start a support group for me - Thrifter's Anonymous. Anyone want to join me? Our first meeting will be at Eco Thrift on Friday, 3pm.  Bring your reusable bags, and CASH! Any takers?

Anyone have any great thrifting trips this week?

~Heather