Old Shoes Made New Again

We have a shoe repair shop in our town, and even though I've lived here for years, I've never been there. Maybe I should pay them a visit. I like the idea of repairing my old shoes rather than buying new ones. (This shop is in the U.K., but I imagine that the old fashioned shoe repair shops are still around in a number of places. Have you ever been to one)?

Getting Creative with Planters

I love it when people find creative new uses for things, and since I'm thinking spring and flowers and planting, I decided to scout out some planters. Originally, I was just going to look for new ones, but then I took a detour over to Flickr to see what unusual ideas people had come up with for using items not originally intended as planters (I suppose the beauty of a planter is that almost any container will do). Here are some of the awesome ideas I found:

Gardening in a Minute

zen Sutherland


katsrcool (Kool Cats Photography)


Natalie Maynor


Ben Stanfield


Shannon Holman


Lauren

There were also planters made from old cars, farm equipment, lots of toilets, toys and one very nice one from LEGOs. So many possibilities!

When the Power Goes Out and You Don't Have a Candle, Try This

Twice this week I've seen ideas (good ideas) on how to deal with a power outage. So I'm sharing.

In the video below, Grant Thompson shows you how to make a candle from a simple stick of butter.

 

And here's a link to a great milk jug lantern, using only a milk carton, some water and a camping-style headlamp. (Note: this was presented not as an emergency lamp, but as a reading lamp, which makes it doubly great in my opinion).

Aren't these great?

Recyling Sweaters by Reclaiming the Yarn

There are a couple of ways to save yourself some money and be green while you're at it by recycling sweaters you don't wear any longer. One is to sew them into other items, but today I want to talk about reclaiming the yarn (for those of you who knit or crochet).

Here's some yarn that the photographer reclaimed from a sweater.

Source

Here's a video on how to deconstruct the sweater and reclaim the yarn.

Here's another one where the crafter, Michigan artist M. Shaw, actually changed the pattern on the yarn before she deconstructed it by applying dye in a pattern. I love the part where she uses the antique knitting machine!

Making a Picture from Pallet Wood

Here's an interesting video (and a bit of an ad for an artist) on how he makes art from wooden pallets. I thought it was fun to watch the process. One note, however: I know a bit about graffiti artists, and if you're going to be using this much aerosol on a regular basis and don't want to clog your lungs with toxic stuff, I'd recommend a respirator, the type you can get in any hardware store.

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