Bottle Cap Beads

I started making some of these beads out of old bottle caps a few years ago.  I quickly stopped and lost interest when I realized how much work they were.  Recently, I ran into the few I had made and decided that I really loved them.  Now, I was determined to make enough for a necklace.

I made roundish ones that I drilled holes in to so I could string them for a necklace ... 12 ruined drill bits later, I achieved this.  I also made some that are somewhat oval in shape. I decided that soldering rings to these instead of drilling holes made more sense .... mostly because I was now out of small drill bits. Not quite sure what I'll do with these yet.

Now that I have that out of my system for the time being, I am on to other things ....

Reconstructed Thrift Store Finds

I've been having a lot of fun reconstructing clothing out of thrifty store finds lately. I get a great deal of satisfaction from this.  This particular tunic is made from a linen jumper (below) that I found for $2.99 and a full length black linen skirt for 99 cents.  

Basically, I cut the extra length off the jumper, added that to the sides and made a large border of black linen on the sides and bottom.  I changed the buttons on the front to little black buttons and took the back ties and moved them to the sides.

And presto!  A funky tunic that I'll have fun wearing over leggings.  I have seen something similar on-line for $295 ... I reconstructed this in an evening for under $4.

Another Diversion

Over the years I have accumulated a ridiculous amount of aprons.  I'm not really sure why I have kept them all.  While going through them, deciding which to keep, which to donate and which to throw out, I came across this denim one.  I really liked the pockets and shortened the length by about 10 inches and decided it was a keeper. 

Being a rather plain apron I decided to embellish it a little with scraps from a couple of pairs of jeans I shortened for my daughter, a blouse I just couldn't part with (because I loved the fabric so much) and the embroidered emblem from a Renaissance Festival sweatshirt. I really loved doing the repetitive circular stitching pattern. This is my favorite apron now ... I really want to make and embellish another one.  

Diversions

Summer is such a busy time for me.  Lots of workshops, lots of traveling.  It leaves little time for anything else.  However, I have been right on top of things (to help keep my sanity) and have my bags packed and ready to go in a few days for Art Unraveled in Phoenix. With a little extra time on my hands I decided to make a necklace and an anklet out of some of the old pearl buttons I have.  I have been wanting to make these for quite some time now. You can't tell from the photo, but the buttons on the necklace are rather large.  The largest being over an inch and a half across ... that's pretty big for a button.

As I mentioned I am headed out to Phoenix in a few days.  Art Unraveled is a fabulous event and many classes still have openings.  Hope you'll join us!

I'll be teaching the following (Links to samples included) -

"Into the Crypt"

"The Hand Book" - Flip through Video of the Hand Book

"The Bee Book"

"The Twirly Swirly Journals"