Cutting Corners on Cards

During the last six weeks, Stephen and I have been busy repainting our kitchen cabinet doors. Upon completing this extensive task, I decided to replace the textured rubber shelf liner on some shelves. With plenty of leftover material, I looked for other uses for it. I found how to make fabric jar grippers. Surprisingly, these homemade grippers outperform any others I have ever tried, even better than the rubber ones usually given away for free by companies for advertising purposes. Here they are below.

In order to make these, you sew the rubberized backing onto the fabric, clip the corners, and then turn inside out. I had quite a few corner clippings and thought that I would hold onto them. I figured there was probably something that I could use them on, and I also thought that they were pretty cute.

Since I had a bunch of other items that I wanted to upcycle, I pulled them all out and laid them on my work area.

On the left side, there's a bag filled with trimmed threads that I meticulously collect. These threads are snugly tucked away in a coffee can wrapped in fabric (on the right), which I place next to my sewing desk, serving as a makeshift trash can. However, in my world, I firmly believe that nothing ever truly goes to waste. 😁

These coffee sleeves were gifted to me by my neighbor's daughter, who used to run a charming vegan cafe on Fort Myers Beach before it was destroyed by Hurricane Ian. She consistently presents me with items that inspire me to creatively upcycle them.

My friend Robin gave me these sparkly adhesive foam sheets, and even though the aqua raffia is not old, I still wanted to use it. What am I going to make with all of this fun stuff? Why, thank you cards that I will send out after Christmas. Always ahead of the game, I am! 😉

The first thing I did was stick a foam sheet on each of the seven (7) cards I had available.

It's hard to see the sparkles, so here's a close-up for you.

Here are the cards before I sprinkle some extra pizzazz on them because let's face it, I just can't resist! 😉

Now I get serious and add the sprinkling! 'Before' on the left, 'after' on the right. You knew that! 😉

This one has a feather, shiny metallic polka dots, and some shiny gold sequins. Thank you for the sequins, Karen! 😘

This one has some shiny metallic blue stars, and a shiny metallic flower added on.

This one has some shiny metallic palm trees, pink plastic jewels, pink glitter glue, and some gold-colored plastic jewels.

This one has shiny metallic red hot chili peppers ('Give It Away'! come to mind? LOL!), silver glitter glue, and one of my thread bundles for that unique touch.

This one is simple enough with shiny metallic flamingos on it! Oh, how fun!

And last on the production line, this one has shiny metallic polka dots, 2 feathers, and gold sequins.

All together now...

Since I still have more of the shelf liner, plus the old ones that are green, I will have to think about using them to create something else. While some folks do crossword and Sudoku puzzles to keep their minds sharp, I'm here figuring out how to repurpose what others might consider trash. I guess you could say I'm not just recycling, I'm upcycling my way to being eco-trash-ionable! ♻️😄

This Week’s Tea Spilling

When blank cards and envelopes go on sale, I make sure to stock up, especially with the current high prices. This got me thinking - why not recycle the cards I receive from charities, particularly during the holiday season? These cards already come with heartfelt messages inside, and I can simply add a sticker with my name on the back. Essentially, I would be using the existing card as a foundation. If you've never tried making a card before, why not give this a go with one of those charity cards?

I’ll be back next Wednesday to show you what I’ve been working on. Hope you’ll stop by again for a visit.

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