one man's trash is another man's craft

yet another rainy evening, but still a lovely night for crafting! i really enjoyed tonights project and know all the reclaimed bottles will enjoy new lives as vases in homes! each bottle had such a unique look because of the different fabrics/combinations each crafter used. i love seeing and hearing new ideas being bounced around the room by everyone. and it's kind of crazy but in a weird way i'm a little rejuvenated by it all. even though it's almost 10PM and i just got home, ate a bowl of cereal and sat down to upload pictures/write about tonight, it's still really fun and i'm enjoying meeting so many creative people! thanks to all who've come to support our craft night! it's so much fun!

the vases turned out beautifully! oh and i also wanted to thank everyone who came this evening not only for helping but also for cleaning up too! it really helps me close up the store faster! thank you!

here's some crafty google thought up... have you heard about blackle.com? my cool friends jimmy and genora told me about it a couple of weeks ago. anyway, if you go to blackle.com instead of google.com you will save energy because the screen is black when you do the search. don't worry, it's the exact same search engine as google, so if you are partial to that search engine, it will give you the same results. switch your homepage now... what a great and simple way to conserve energy!

stay tuned for next weeks craft...

RECYCLED BOTTLE VASE: HOW-TO

If you'd like to turn a glass bottle into a cute vase here's what you need to do...

gather up your supplies. you will need:

• a glue gun and glue sticks
• various ribbon, yarn, and/or old fabric
• glass bottle(s) *you can use plastic but glass is heavier and more sturdy.
  
• optional: buttons/beads, etc... to embellish if you'd like.

if you are using fabric to wrap the bottle, you will want to cut it into long strips. you can choose how wide you want the strips to be, thinner vs. thicker will give the vase a different look. this project is all about experimenting with materials and color. get a little crazy...

now... start at the very top of the bottle (or base, either way works, i just started at the top.) and put some glue on your fabric and line it up flush with the lip of the bottle. glue it down. now, slowly begin wrapping your material around the vase, stopping every 5 or so wraps and putting a dot of glue down to keep the fabric from slipping. the most challenging part of this project is wrapping the curve where the neck of the bottle widens. you may need to use more glue here and wrap a few layers to get all the glass to cover.



**here are a couple bottles partially wrapped. if you leave some glass showing, it's easier to cover up with another layer. you can't mess this up!







continue wrapping until the whole bottle is covered. when finished, glue down the last bit of the fabric and trim around the bottom, if necessary. some crafters added buttons, etc... to jazz it up a little more. the sky's the limit!

HINT:
this project looks really cute if you make a set of three in different shapes and sizes. makes a nice little bottle collection on a shelf. :)