How to Make Paper Bead Christmas Tree Earrings

Well hello there!  I thought I'd stop by my severely neglected blog today to share a little upcycled DIY project perfect for the holiday season.  If you make a habit of stalking my Etsy shop (and I hope you do), you may have seen these cute little country Christmas tree earrings:

If you're the DIY-type I'm going to show you how to make them yourself...right here in this YouTube video tutorial.  Of course, you still have some time to order them from my shop so stop by soon and pick up a pair or two.

How to Make a Wine Bottle Hummingbird Feeder

This time of year you can typically find my Etsy shop shelves stocked with a variety of upcycled bird feeders.  And this year I've added a line of Booze Bottle Bird Feeders made from bottles that a local restaurant would have otherwise thrown in the trash.  Recycling isn't as widely accepted where I live as it is in major cities across the country.  Here, waste management services typically charge restaurants (and even some residents) an additional fee for recycling so it's more cost effective just to toss everything in the garbage.  I know, sad, but true.

I thought I'd show you how to make one of my simpler bird feeder styles.  It's a hummingbird feeder made from a wine bottle and I've put together a video tutorial for it.

I go over the tools you'll need to make this bird feeder in the video, but the one thing that you'll likely have a hard time finding are the stoppers with the built in tube feeder.  I can't tell you how many people ask me if I sell just the stoppers when I'm out at Farmer's Markets and other festivals.  So, here are the one's I use:



I hope you'll enjoy making these and share the project with your bird loving friends!

Linking up to Catch As Catch Can on My Repurposed Life

It's Another DIY Project from Spoon Handles

I'm loving making earrings from spoon and fork handles and you'll find  lots of them in my Etsy shop.  But, if you're the crafty type and want to give it a try for yourself you can see how I make mine in this video tutorial.

Just a word of caution, you will need to use your Dremel on this one and there will likely be a few sparks.  But don't let that stop you, you'll be just fine if you use the proper safety precautions.  And if you're still not so sure about tackling this one on your own, look what you can find in my shop:

So, are you going to give it a go?


Linking up to:

Your Great Idea Linky Party on Or So She Says

My First Birdhouse...From a Tea Pot

Have you seen those adorable little tea kettle bird houses/nest boxes floating around Pinterest?  I LOVE them and have been seriously watching the thrift stores for months for the perfect tea pot.  I finally found it last weekend and made myself this little beauty:

It really was SO simple to make this project.  I just used my favorite outdoor glue, 100% Silicone, to adhere the kettle to a piece of embellished scrap wood (pallet wood in this case), added two hooks and hung it.  Yeah, that's it!  If you want to see exactly how I did it.  Here's the video for it:

Now all we need is a nest!


Linking up here

Sunday: The Creative HomeAcre Blog Hop, Nifty Thrifty Things:  Nifty Thrify Sunday
Monday:  Skip to My Lou:  Made by You Monday, DIY Showoff:  That DIY Party, Love 2 Upcycle:  Upcycled Linky Party, I Should Be Mopping the Floor: Inspiration Monday
Thursday: Katherine's Korner:  Thursday Favorite Things

A $4.25 Goodwill Table...Proudly Displayed by My Bedside

I'm super excited about this project...mostly because I made it for me and in only two days.  Look at this beauty:

This is what I paid $4.25 for at Goodwill's 50% off Independence Day sale (in other words, the BEFORE):

The piece itself had very little wrong with it other than the fact that it was severely outdated!  Structurally, it had great bones and only needed a few small nails replaced to keep the back attached.  To make it mine, I grabbed some yellow paint that I had picked up from the "oops table" and added a plaster of paris and water mixture that would give it same texture as chalk paint (chalk, not chalkboard).

Then a bit of sanding all over to smooth out the paint and distress the nightstand, a coat of wax and a "new" handle (really it's an old handle that I picked up at Habitat for Humanity, and is more my style).

 
And, I could't forget the kitties!  So, I whipped up a pillow that would fit the space puuuurrrfectly!  I couldn't resist and I make no apologies for being so corny!

The finishing touches include a hugely over-sized bunch of garden fresh daisies in a gorgeous thrifted pitcher, some of my favorite books and a homemade soy candle embellished with a piece of broken jewelry.

Now if that's not thrifted, I don't know what is.  Have you refinished a thrift store find lately?



Linking up here:

The Creative HomeAcre Blog Hop
Start at Home:  Paint Party!!
Katherine's Korner:  Thursday Favorite Things

A Squirrel vs. A Car, A Sad But True Story

I had my day laid out like this for today:

1.  Go feed the parrots that I'm sitting for this week
2.  Go get coffee
3.  Go to the grocery store
4.  Go to the flea Market searching for abused silverware
5.  Home to write this week's blog posts
6.  Work on pet toys to donate to 1 Day Ranch for animals displaced by the Shawnee, OK tornadoes.
7.  Go to the Gym

In reality, I only checked off number 1 on my list by noon time today!  You see, as I was about to round the last corner before Starbucks when I saw a squirrel in the road.  As I moved more to the center of the road to avoid hitting him, I realized that he wasn't able to move his back legs and was desperately trying to drag himself to the side of the road.  Sadly, he could do nothing more than spin himself around in circles.  I watched the cars behind me drive passed him as I rounded the corner and then turned myself  around. 

Photo Credit:  Wildlife Rehab of Greenville...this is not the squirrel I found!

Ugh!  Now what?  Lucky for me, Lowe's is directly across the street from the Starbucks that I was heading for and they had just dispatched a delivery truck with two fine gentlemen who were headed in my direction.  THEY were the only ones to stop and see if everything was okay.  As I started to say, "yeah, yeah, thanks for asking,"  I realized they probably had what I needed in the truck.  Turns out they were willing to part with a big ole Lowe's blanket and had gloves in the truck, mind you they weren't leather but it was something to protect my fingers from those painful rodent teeth.  Not only did they have what I needed, they picked up the squirrel and helped me wrap him up. 

So, feisty squirrel wrapped up in the car and I'm headed to the emergency vet secretly wishing that when I get there they'll reward my bravery with free vet care that will save this little guy.  Although, my realistic side knows better than that, but a girl can dream right?  As I'm driving to the vet who is about 15 minutes away I'm thinking about what just happened and realize that I didn't properly thank these two Lowe's employees who went way above and beyond the call of duty, so I called the store.  I didn't even know their names.  Now I know that I can thank Ken and Blake from the Greer, SC Lowe's Store!  Thanks guys, really!  You knew the fate of this little tiny creature and yet you stopped to help anyway.  Your compassion is something to be admired.

Sadly, our squirrel passed away on the way to the vet.  But at least he was in a quiet and calm setting rather than stressing out on the side of the road.  No living creature deserves to die like that.

Do you have your local rescue on speed dial? No?  Now would be a great time to do a little research and find the folks closest to you who can handle animal emergencies such as this one.  It might take a few moments or even a few hours of your day, but don't the animals that we share the planet with deserve that?  With all of our fancy houses and lawns stealing habitat from them and our fast cars running into them constantly, isn't it the least we can do?  And now, I'll step down from my soapbox and let you ponder the message.

We'll return to our regularly scheduled dumpster diving tomorrow.

It's a Toy Drive - for Animals in Oklahoma

Doesn't it seem like Mother Nature's just kicking us in the pants lately?  All these super storms and tornadoes come sweeping through the country and displace thousands of people...and their pets.  If you remember when the levees broke in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, so many people refused to vacate their homes because they didn't want to leave their pets behind and shelters were refusing to take them.  Thankfully, we learned a thing or two from that experience and shelters stepped up their game by the time Sandy hit.

But what about for the long term?  Some animals need to stay in shelters for extended periods of time, separated from their human families and surrounded by strangers.  A few weeks after Hurricane Sandy hit New England a fabulous team of animal lovers from Etsy, aptly named Etsy For Animals started crafting all sorts of toys and what-nots for animals in that very situation.  Remember my stash?  Well, we're at it again.  And here is where I ask for your help!

There are a couple of ways you can help out:

1. Please read about how Etsy Artists are helping a fabulous rescue called 1 Day Ranch and then shop 'til you drop in the shops who are donating a portion of their sales to this organization.  But hurry, the team chooses another well deserving animal charity in July.

2. Check out 1 Day Ranch's wishlist and donate if you can.  And be sure to follow @Maeghan on Twitter for updates on the rescue efforts.

3.  Support the Upcycled Stuff Toy Drive for 1 Day Ranch.  During the month of June, I will donate 2 toys for every one purchased through my Etsy shop or at a Farmer's Market. You can choose to have the toy sent to your home for your pet to enjoy or you can ask that I send it along to animals displaced by the tornadoes.  If you're donating your toy, please use the Coupon Code TOYDRIVE at Checkout to avoid paying for shipping (I will ship one large package).  Please use the following shipping address; 1 Day Ranch, 16704 Bethel Road - Shawnee, Oklahoma 74801


Toys in the shop include:

Braided T-shirt Tug Toys

Scrappy Rats with Catnip

Kitty Kick Sticks Made from Hideous Ladies Pants

Purchase any pet bed and I'll send three toys as well!

If you are unable to donate, that's okay, you can still help out.  Please tweet and share this post so that others can learn of ways they can help.  Thanks for helping me help our furry little family members!