Upcycling

Upcycling for me is to repurpose what you have or what you can find with limited resources and turn it in to something you need/want.  This month has been so full of repairs and upcycling. For example, since Halloween was in this month, I wanted to work on some costumes for our grandson and family.  Being big Star Wars fans, we did Han Solo, Princess Leia, and an Ewok for my one year old grandson.  I was hoping to find something easy for the Ewok costume like a brown sleeper or hoodie to start, but apparently the color brown is not in this year and I was empty handed in my thrift store shopping for those items.  However, I did find a brown, fuzzy ladies jacket, and used the zipper in place to make the teddy bear costume that went under the orange head piece for the Ewok.   The other costumes did not require much sewing, however, a Princess Leia costume for someone who is 5 months pregnant was interesting.  I ended up using two fitted sheets that were laying around with no purpose using the elastic from the side of the sheet at the waist band to snip and rip a long skirt that took minimal time/resources.  I will use this trick again.   

 Our greenhouse door had rotted out and I chose to rebuild it with real wood.  Not using osb or plywood left a rectangle in the bottom of the door that needed filling.  When my husband and I went shopping at the thrift store, I was looking for 100% cotton items for some petroleum free clothing for myself (allergies), and I gave him the measurement of the rectangle I needed to cover and asked him to find something.  He found a plastic tray that was close.  Interesting - at least it was waterproof.  So we bought it for a dollar and brought it home.  I adjust the size of the hole in the door using some scrap wood and my kreg jig, and the try fit perfectly.  It even added a little interest to the door.  Love it!     

While we were shopping, I also found a couple of men's t-shirts to make me some all cotton pajamas using no elastic.  I used the long sleeved t-shirt to make the pants, using the sleeves as the bottom of the pants.  I used some clothing articles that fit as a pattern, and used drawstrings in place of elastic.  Love the result for $2 and 100% cotton (getting increasingly hard to find).   

Our microwave had fallen into disrepair as the plastic handle broke off.  Yes, I could have bought a new plastic handle for $40, but spending that much money on the same handle really got on my nerves.  I wanted something that would feel sturdier and might last a little longer.  I went out to the workshop and found a dowel that I painted black and screwed to the door.  Worked!      

Wearing these required masks seem to make it hard to breathe for me, so I was looking for a way to keep it from collapsing in on me when I breathe in.  I found someone who had made a plastic insert that did the trick without making the mask look like a muzzle.  It didn't fit my Olsen masks, so I altered the pattern to fit my masks.  It slides on the inside nicely.  This was made out of a vinegar bottle (free and direct recycle).  The thickness and flexibility of the plastic worked great.