Gift Ideas for the Little Man

I know we are cutting it close to get presents in time for the BIG day, but I can't help by browse Etsy with my little guy in mind. He may not get these in time for Christmas, but who says you need a holiday to buy a handmade gift for your little boy?

First off, this personalized guitar tote bag from Beachchik Designs. My little guy loves to travel with his cars, sometimes up to 8 of them, and he obviously, can't carry them all. We've tried getting him to use bags in the past, but with his new guitar obsession, I think this bag just might do the trick... plus, it has his name on it!!


Somewhere along the line, the inevitable happened, he discovered dinosaurs. I know, its a boy thing, all boys have to go through the dinosaur obsession. He's not quite obessed just yet, but he is showing interest. He also LOVES to color, he's my little Picasso. Hence, these Upcycled Dinosaur shaped crayons by ivylanedesigns!


Lastly, I think this I Spy Bag by bananabearboutique is adorable, perfect for my guy who I believe will always be obsessed with race cars. He may not be totally ready for it, but when he is, he'll get a big kick out of this one!


So, there you have it, a gift list for the 2.5 year old boy in your life. Guitars, cars, dinosaurs - what more does a little boy need?

Hemp Dish Scrubber

As you all know, I recently stumbled upon a yarn shop with some different and fun yarns called Darn Good Yarn. I made a great scarf from their recycled silk yarn and I also played with their hemp yarn.

I pictured the hemp yarn as a dish scrubber before I even got it, I just assumed it would be sturdy enough to really scrub out that stuck on gunk. And, I was right! I was surprised by how thin it was, so I had to go all the way down to an E hook, which for me, is pretty small. Here's a picture of the finished product:


I've been thinking of making coasters with this yarn as well and bordering each one with a different color of equally thin yarn - perhaps sock weight or even embroidery floss.

As I mentioned before, I also have the white recycled banana silk yarn waiting to be used as well. I just visited the website and now they have it in some really cool colors! This yarn is really chunky, so I can't wait to play with it, I think it will make a fabulous scarf.

PS - as a follow-up to the previous post on the recycled silk yarn, I talked to the Darn Good Yarn folks about the softness factor and found out this: "let the silk settle and break in... it gets really soft..." See? I was just too impatient!

Recycled Silk Scarf

I was surfing the net a while back looking to find some interesting new yarns to play around with. I was mostly looking for some organic cotton and bamboo (hopefully cheaper than it is in the craft stores), and instead I came across a fabulous yarn shop called Darn Good Yarn. The recycled silk yarn was quite intriguing and the shop owner is just sweet as pie. After much debate, I ordered me up some recycled silk, hemp and banana fiber yarns.

When the yarn arrived, it was thicker than I had anticipated, which I was very happy about, I love working with chunky yarns and big hooks. Being that it was silk, I expected it to be soft, its not, I was bummed, but the yarn itself is so cool, that I wasn't bummed for long. It was so much fun to work with, the colors changing and the thick and thin nature of the yarn. Here's my first finished project - a breezy and lightweight scarf.



I also had some time to work with the hemp yarn, so stay tuned for details on that!

Happy Shopping!
~Melissa~

Earth Day Sale!

Earth Day is April 22 - all dish cloths, wash cloths and eco friendly items will ship for FREE from now until April 22. Show your love for Mother Earth by reducing your waste and showing off how cool recycling can really be!

Washcloths, Dishcloths, Make-up Remover Pads:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=28859§ion_id=5165195



Don't see a color that matches your style? Shoot me an email or an Etsy conversation, custom orders placed before April 22 also ship for free.


Upcycled T-shirt bowl:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13851874



Upcycled Plastic Pendant:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22313597



Go Green!
~Melissa~

Awesome Recycling!

Inspiration tends to hit at the oddest moments. I was unpacking a new remote control car for my son and noticed these little plastic thingamagiggies that sit against the styrofoam with those annoying twist ties that hold every possible edge of the toy down. Now, I understand we want to make it hard for people to reach into the box and pluck out the toy and sneak out of the store, but gosh, have these people ever sat with an excited kid that just wants to play with their new toy?!?

Anyway, I had these three little pieces of plastic sitting on my table and noticed for the first time that they are pretty cool looking. I played around with them and finally decided that they would make an awesome layered pendant and I just happened to have blue and black satin cord in my supply stash. Voila! Recycling at its best!



Be sure to snatch this bad boy up before someone else does because I don't anticipate many new toys coming our way until my son's birthday in May!

Happy Shopping!
~Melissa~

Repurposed T-Shirts

I saw the idea a while back about cutting up old t-shirts into strips and making yarn from them. I thought, wow, I have TONS of t-shirts and I wear very few of them. That's a great idea, so much better than tossing them in the trash. Then life happened and although the idea stayed filed away in my brain, I never got around to doing anything about it.... until now!!

I had a lovely pink cotton sleep shirt that I simply don't wear anymore. Its soft and comfy and a very pretty color. So, I got the scissors and started cutting away!! I thought for sure I would mess it up somehow, but I didn't and I got a lovely continuous strand of roughly 1 inch wide "yarn". I also cut up a 3X grey t-shirt that I wore almost every day for the last 2 months of my pregnancy (I had that and a Yankee jersey that still fit over my belly).




Now time to think, what to do with it? I had wanted to make a large rug for my entrance foyer in my house. But that would take too long and I would be bored with it after a few weeks. Plus, my back hurt from sitting on the floor hunched over a t-shirt with a large pair of scissors. Hrm.... a hat? a scarf? wrist warmers? NO! Even better! Drum roll please.....



Ta-da! A bowl! This bowl would be perfect sitting on a foyer table holding keys, a kitchen counter holding keys or a cell phone, in a bathroom or bedroom filled with potpourri or sitting on a night table holding extra change.



I have another small ball of the same color "yarn" and a ball of light grey. I also have several shirts just begging to be cut up and repurposed - they are white, grey, purple and a hot shade of green. And believe me, there are MANY more shirts in my storage space just waiting to find a new life holding your small objects.

What? You said you are in love with my little bowl? Well, you are in luck, its available now in my Etsy shop - just click here!

Stay tuned folks, I hope to take some before and after pictures of the next shirt I cut up. I know, I rock like that! :-D

Happy Recycling!
~Melissa~