Thoughtful Thursday – Crafting Blues

I am not going to lie – the end of last year was rough. Lots of sickness, we lost my dad, my uncle, and our family dog, and an all-around transitional period of life kind of melded together to create a big ball of sadness and stress. So, as we make our way into the new year, we’re trying to focus on the business and just being creative again. It’s hard to be inspired when you feel blue, but sometimes just making something, not related to gift giving, or putting up on Etsy, but just about making something that you like for fun, can sometimes lead to more creativity.

Today, it’s eyeball earrings. I’ve been wondering what to do with these round, white, retro, blank canvas earrings since I got them (a couple of years ago …?) They’ve been sitting in one of my many jewelry supply boxes, and I’d pick them up occasionally, turn them over, then put them back. It dawned on me today that they’d make perfect eyeballs, so I decoupaged some pupil/iris printouts on them today just for fun, and I like the way they turned out so much that I think I’ll keep this pair for myself, and list the rest in JuJu Eyeball!

Reason number 4,231 why working from home is awesome is that you don’t have to put on makeup or style your hair all the time. 🙂

So, today I’m wishing you happiness and creativity – get a little messy, and nourish your soul at the same time!

Share the Love,

Chels

Happy National Earth Month!

Happy Earth Month, everyone! I’m so glad to see that the earth-friendly living “trend” isn’t just a trend anymore, and that people are taking notice how much we affect the earth around us. A large part of our business is reusing and repurposing the old into new items to make a positive ecological impact.

The other day on my other blog, Chelsea, Like England, I wrote a post about easy upcycling projects you can do around the house as you do your spring cleaning.

I received an email today from Michaels with lists of re-useful projects, including fashion, furniture, decor, and even a block party idea to celebrate Earth Day. They’re also teaming up with American Forests to plant trees with just a simple text.

Just a few days ago, I reposted this pledge on our mission’s Facebook page, encouraging our students to pick up ten pieces of trash each Tuesday. This works anywhere, of course, not just on a college campus, and it’s a great way to celebrate Earth Month way beyond April.

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Make It Monday – T-Shirt Necklace From My Top 3 Project Picks

Happy Monday!

Last week, I blogged about my top 3 craft picks. (Click for links to tutorials.) My goal is to make them within a month’s time and move on to my next top 3 crafts.

Here’s the first of the 3:

The t-shirt necklace.

 It turned out pretty well! This is an easy to make craft, and you only have to use about 5-6 inches of a t-shirt. So, the rest of this shirt became a shrug:

The sleeves were too cute to sacrifice, but the rest of the shirt was a little irregular. Perfect for this project!

 This shirt is from a friend who recently cleaned out her closet, and who, coincidentally, gave me this awesome new ‘do last night! It’s actually short on both sides with a long strip down the middle (a “flophawk.”) I’m super excited!

Overall, I’m really happy with the way both projects turned out. I may have to replace the strip of jersey fabric that serves as the “chain” for the necklace with something a little sturdier, or shorten it. It stretched out pretty quickly after wearing it for a few hours. Other than that, I got lots of compliments on it!

Share the Love,

Chelsea