Eco Savvy Everywhere

This is an idea I found in for Women First, Feb 21 edition.  The idea is to cut off the top of a water (in this case soda) bottle,  and leave a 'collar' below the screw top.  Thread your open plastic bag through the neck of the bottle from the bottom up.  Fold the plastic bag over the neck screws and then screw the cap back on over the plastic of the bag.  The concept is that it provides a more air-tight seal than using a twist tie or other clip.  I love this. Not only is it supposed to extend the life of my frozen food, but it recycles a plastic bottle.

I needed a scoop to carry squirrel food out to the feeder in the back yard.  So I cut the bottom off a water bottle and left the cap screwed on.  I filled this 'scoop' and carried it out to the feeder.  It held just enough to fill the feeder and was very convenient.  I left the scoop in the bag for the next trip.

I would consider using a water bottle as a funnel to fill the window wash fluid reservoir in the car and in a pinch, I would probably use one (carefully) to fill the oil reservoir.  You can cut the bottle off at different lengths depending on the size 'funnel' you need.  Happy recycling!

Cheep Chic (or is it Cheap Chick?)

The wallet I've been decimating included a change purse.  I snipped it away from the remaining carcass of the wallet and used a couple of leftover bird stickers from the ones I used to embellish the blue picture frame (see second post).  It's just the right size to hold the quarter stash I keep on hand to play the claw game wherever I find them (I'm so addicted - and I have a nice little collection of stuffed toys to show for it!).

Eco-chic (Gezundheit!)

To be truly eco-chic, thread pop can tabs on a ribbon for a trendy necklace.  I'm going to wear this with my pink 'Recycling is Hot' T-shirt.  Just goes to show, everything is useful with some imagination.

Altered Altoids Box

This mini altoid box got a makeover today.  I once again used a piece of the violet wallet leather to top the box and then used blue scrapbook page embelishments to create a mosaic, leaving the leather to show at top and bottom.  I again used the same scrapbook monogram that I used for the luggage tag--the monogram sticker has a 3-d clear plastic 'gem' on top, so it is dimensional.  Now I have a great little pill box that cost very little and recycled the altoid box.  Altoids are distributed by Callard and Bowser, Inc.

My Upcycled Wedding Dress - A More Complex DIY

I had 2 months to put my wedding together (with great help from my now husband !).  There are three wedding shops in town, but most dresses had to be ordered and I didn't have time.  What to do, what to do!  My then fiance and I were regulars at our local flea market and a couple of wedding dresses were available.  I hoped I could find something I could 'tweak' but sadly, both dresses were circa 1980 crosses between Little-Bo-Peep and Lady Diana - voluminous, over-the-top and dated.  But I chose one, paying $50 for the dress that retailed at $1200 according to the tag.  I loved the beading and thought I would cut it up and embellish a simple white sheath dress I had in my closet.

When I pulled the dress from it's bag I nearly cried.  It had a 10 foot train, two tiers of stiff tulle underneath it all, and a huge bow with 3 baseball-sized ribbon roses on the back at the drop waistline.  The skirt would give any civil war southern bell a run for her money size-wise.  It would make the tiniest girl look 3 times her size!  What were they thinking!.

But I saw the potential.  The picture above is my end result, (sadly, I didn't take a before picture because I was certain it wouldn't work out!) with the addition of a short jacket that I made from the yardage of the train.   I viciously cut away the long, balloon sleeves and high illusion neckline, leaving just the beaded corset you see. Being my husband and I are both steampunk fans, I used an historic civil war jacket pattern embellished with lace cut from the original sleeves. I cut away the skirt from the corset and un-gathering a monstrous amount of fabric and removing all the tulle.  Then I began to reconstruct.  I first made a simple A-line skirt from the yardage but realized the material was too sheer.  So I shortened the top skirt and added an underskirt and made both of them with a final tea-length. It created a lovely double scalloped row of double sequins and lace at the bottom. To add interest at the back, I used the huge bow's tails folding them in half to create a waist band and left the angled ends to hang down the back.

You would never know that this streamlined dress was hiding in that garish monstrosity I purchased.  It was a lot of work, but in the end I had a good wedding dress and the story of how it came to be was a hit at the reception.  I 'said yes' to the DIY dress!