A little project!

In my day job, I teach painting to teenagers, which can be difficult work at the best of times, and even more tricky when I'm having a particularly clumsy day! I had one such day very recently, when I spattered red paint down the front of one of my favourite tops. Argh! I spend so long telling the kids to be careful, I often forget to do so myself. So, as a result, I was left with a really tough stain that just wouldn't budge. It was acrylic paint, which is especially hard to get out of fabric.

I really didn't want to have to give up on wearing my stripey top, so I decided to cover up the stain instead of removing it, and with my favourite craft supplies: buttons! I have lots of black buttons that aren't suitable for jewellery making, so I gathered up a selection of pretty ones and laid them out in a pattern that would decorate the neckline and cover that stain. I sewed each one on very securely in its assigned place, and in just 30 minutes I had a very cute button embellished top, ready to wear again! Yay!

I'll definitely do something like this to some other things in my wardrobe, whether they have a stain or not it's a nice way to add an individual touch to any item of clothing! Do you have any ideas for personalising or decorating clothes? Or getting rid of paint stains? Let me know ;)

Yesterday's news

This week I've really been thinking alot about recycling and repurposing things. I always try to keep and reuse what I can, especially paper and card, so I have drawers and boxes full of all sorts of scraps and wrapping paper. I'd love to say I'll use them all eventually but in reality I probably won't!

However, here are some wonderful Etsy sellers who have used old newspapers and books in lots of different ways to create some amazing things. Isn't JustLiv's headband so cute? And I love love LOVE the idea of the paper wreath, like this romantic one from SimpleJoysPaperie. It's so great to see such imaginative repurposing of paper to make beautiful craft items.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how we can make use of the papers many of us have been hoarding... any ideas?

Featured items:
Origami Newspaper Crane Garland by arawlins
Custom Initial Necklace by EsmeDodsworthDesign
Recycled Bow Headband by JustLiv
Big News Notebook by cucumbersoup
Present Topper Kit by InklingPaper
Romantic Vintage French Book Paper Wreath by SimpleJoysPaperie
Recycled Paper Bead Earrings by hippiekingdom
Vintage Dictionary Bird Cutouts by mommyholly