Instead of throwing away 2

The girls got these tins when we visited the oranjezaal in the royal palace last autumn. But the mints are long gone and I wanted to throw away the empty tins. Then our eldest said she needed storage for her felt tips and pens. So we took pages from an old illustrated book about nature and used double sided tape to stick the paper to the tins. 5 minutes of work and looking good on her desk.

One step at a time

Third cushion for the lounge corner. It's another part of N's old mattress. Upholstered with just one pillow case from the Ikea sale corner. The pattern and colours are family from the fabric of the first cushion. Slowly the teen hangout is growing.

Left over waste material

A lot of material remained after making upcycle angels last december. Among which many onion, garlic and fruit nets. Time to make some new scrubbies for the kitchen. Easy and quick. Softer nets inside and the sturdier ones for the outsides. My kitchen looks pretty neat with these scrubbies and the recently handmade dish cloths.

Never too many notebooks

A small paper project to divert from all the things that have to be done. Attracted by this tutorial. My cardboard was a bit to thick for the purpose. It split in the corners. Had to patch it up with washi tape. Next time better. Next booklet will be part of N's Sinterklaas surprise present for the intern of her class.

Family pieces

Little kids grow up. Last week we got back the toddler duvet covers that we gave to our cousin (when our kids grew out of them) a few years ago. She also got a larger bed and these blankets were too small. I turned the duvet covers into pillow cases, like I did before. Although sewing them is pretty boring, it feels very good to do so. First, it's sustainable, we don't need to buy new pillow cases for a while. Two, they look pretty good on our bed. And three, who doesn't like to sleep on a pillow case with lovely memories?

PIF

We all know how to fold the paper cup/envelope you see on the left. But did you know that you can make these super cute pouches with it? I didn't. So simple, so nice. Just close it in the other direction, like this tutorial shows. We used fairytale book pages and put two chocolate eggs in each pouch. The girls will spread almost 40 of these pockets in the neighbourhood on easter sunday morning. For the lucky finder. Maybe you could fold some too!

Second hand beauty

When you're only three and a half it is difficult when your little brother gets all the presents, although it's his birthday. So for Rubens' big sister Wies we'll bring something too. I recently happened to find a couple of doll beds in the thriftstore. Only 14x9 cm in size and in a lovely red color. They only needed mattresses, pillows and quilts to turn them into a nice present. Those were also made from thrifted (but unused) fabrics and ribbons. You see, you don't need much (materials cost €1,50 in total) to make something cute.

Upcycle recycled jewelry

Today the neighbourhood christmas market is taking place again (feels like last years' market was only a month ago...). I've been crafting to fill our daughters' stand with original things to sell (next to the toys they've selected from their own collection).  Not all pins sold out last year, so as a last minute project I turned the pins into necklaces, inspired by this image. I'm going to keep one for myself, I think. Can't decide whether it's going to be the bird ('klein koketje') or the mackerel.

Upcycle angels tutorial

We've been making these angels from waste material to sell at the neighbourhood christmas market next weekend. They're very easy to put together, for adults and kids. Paper, plastic bags, fruit and onion nets, chips bags, wire, cardboard, plastic containers, left over wool etc. Within two days of collecting we had enough material to make 30 angels. The angels come with a tutorial. And I thought it would be nice to share that tutorial here too. Make these angels, with a message, for all of your friends.

Paper roll lights

When I wanted to make these seasonal lights, I had to check my own tutorial to see how it was done again. Oh yes, that easy. The girls now both have one in their bedroom. In white this time. A correction pen was the only white I had on my desk, but it worked out quite well.

Tutorial toilet paper roll lantern

Turning the simplest materials in something beautiful with little means and effort is so rewarding. Inspired after seeing this tutorial I fabricated a quick trial version of these lanterns. And then one more and another one. Just ten minutes to make each paper roll light. I wrote a quick tutorial for you to create your own christmas candles. You can see and download it here.

Seasonal recycling

Their patience lasted only three cute angels. I had thought that it would have been nice to make some more, to sell at the christmas market. But our daughters didn't feel like it. And that's fine. We'll keep these beauties for our own tree, which will be delivered tonight by our gardener. The angels are made from foodpackaging, toilet rolls and fabric scraps, a variation on this tutorial.

Warm atmosphere

Yesterday I had a tiny, tiny party to celebrate my birthday. A good day to use my recently thrifted wooden bowl collection. The bowls were easy to find in second hand stores. Not very popular (yet?) I guess. We filled them with typical 70's snacks. Nuts, peanuts, raw vegetable fingerfood with a dip, crackers with tuna- and eggsalad, small slices of sausage and cheese cubes. We started the afternoon with this Ottolenghi apple and olive olive oil cake. Our new favourite apple cake!

Looking forward

These dark rainy days make you longing for holidays with candlelight. Like last year we will have a neighbourhood christmas market and I was already looking out for simple things for the kids to make and sell. This idea for a christmas card garland I found on Martha's site.  Luckily my mother kept all christmas cards from the last ten years and was willing to donate them. The test bunting turned out quite well, so we will be making more.

Gaming

A basket filled with pawns, checkers, chess-pieces and dice (this is just a small selection) at the thriftstore grabbed my attention. I loved the sight of them all together. Asked the price for all of them (€2!) and was looked at as if I was crazy. What is a person going to do with those? I also don't know... yet.

Todler purse

A little present for a sunday afternoon visit. A purse for our little cousin. For carrying around small important things. The pouch is made with a piece of embroidery I had thrifted earlier and a scrap of felt. It measures 11x9cm. The tiny doll is a leftover of the same embroidery. I hope the nearly two year old will like it.

Love for kraft paper

A small work-avoiding-project. Found here on Pinterest. It's linked to a site where you need to register to see the tutorial. Didn't want that, but it was easy to figure out how this pouch was made. I used 20x20cm squares, cut out of an Ikea paper bag. These are perfect for wrapping small presents like a stamp of handmade jewelry.

Tea cozy

Not something you really need, but a fun little project for a left over hour. I found the cozies via Pinterest and used the same crochet tutorial as for the green cowl. Looking at the right picture I saw that all three items, mug, vase and plate, are second hand. What a nice sustainable still life they make, don't you think?

Wrapping

The seemingly useless yarn has been used! For a I-don't-know-where-to-use-it-for decoration. I followed a tutorial for christmas decorations, but can't find it now. update: Cassi found the tutorial I used here. Must do with the kids some day.

Young architects

My eldest was making small furniture, for a tiny rabbit, from plain white paper and tape. All that furniture needed a home. So I gave her and her sister both a big shoebox and old Flow magazines. I helped them to construct floors and walls and they did the interior decoration. The girls have been working on it for a long time and playing with it for hours afterwards. I would say a perfect craft for long rainy autumn days.