{Guest Post} Recycling for Style

You all know I'm a thrifting, crafting, recycling loving mama, so Jessi's guest post is right up my alley today! I'm thrilled to have her here showing some awesome tutorials for some stylish home decor ... all made with recycled elements!

- - - - -

Hi everybody! I'm Jessi and I'm going to share a few of my favorite ways to give unused household items a new lease on life. Thanks so much to Gretchen for allowing me to share them with you guys today. 

I love to keep my house on the up and up, but trends, seasons and personal styles are constantly changing, and trying to keep up can be costly. Yellow accents might seem like the perfect fit in May, but come October darker falls hues are going to be knocking on your door. I moved into a new house in May and I now have a lot more space to decorate, but not really the funds to do it, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I'm now on a mission to give my house a fun, eclectic style, using items I already have around the house! So far it's been a ton of fun and I've created a few projects I'm really proud of. Without further adieu, here are five of my favorite upcycles, and instructions about how you can create them on your own.

Wine Bottle Vases  

We're wine with dinner kind of people, so I'm always looking for fun, creative ways to put the empty bottles to use. I've always used them for makeshift vases, but when we moved into our new home I wanted something a touch classier! After seeing plenty of these bottles gracing the pages of my favorite blogs I decided to get to work painting some vases to use as decor around the house. Here are the final results!

• This really is as easy as painting a bottle, but a few tricks to keep in mind before you begin:
• Make sure the bottle is dry, paint and moisture do not mix.
• Prime, prime, prime. I promise it will make things a whole lot easier.
• Give them twice as much time as you think itís going to take to dry.
• Consider painting the inside of the bottle instead of the out for a completely different look!

Mason Jar Upcycle

Along the same lines as the wine bottles above, I decided to give the many mason jars we had lying around the kitchen a new use. Instead of just painting them though, I thought I'd try the raised letter technique I'd seen on Pinterest. I primed the jar and allowed it to dry before using my hot glue gun to write on it. I waited 24 hours and then painted overtop, adding a bow of twine around the neck for good measure. I absolutely loved the final result, and this adorable little jar now holds all my pens and pencils on my desk!

 

Q-Tip Flower

Once you've upcycled enough wine bottles or mason jars, you're probably going to want to put something in them. While I filled some of mine with fresh flowers from the garden, during the colder months I created a bunch of DIY flowers made from Q-tips and a Styrofoam ball. I had some stems lying around from a previous project, but spray-painted sticks or pipe cleaners would work great too! Use food coloring or a fabric dye to color the ends of the Q-tips and then just stick them into the Styrofoam ball. This project couldn't be easier and the end result can be customized to any time of year! Think red and green at Christmas and yellow in the spring!

DIY Wall Art

This project is a bit of a work in progress we'll say - you may notice the final result wasn't perfect, but I wanted to share it anyway because it was a whole lot of fun to make. 

We're in the process of renovating the basement and have lots of spare wood lying around. Instead of letting it go to waste, I grabbed a couple pieces to create some art for our many bare walls. I painted and primed the three pieces, and then used a stencil to spray paint on a fun design. Once everything was dry, I painted on one of my favorite quotes. I was really excited until I realized I hadn't attached the leftover baseboard I had planned to use as a frame. 

I glued the pieces of the frame together early on, so that I'd know what size to cut the boards. What I didn't consider, was how much smaller my actual working space would be for writing the quote. Lesson learned. I saved this one as a template, and will use it to make another one as soon as I can finagle some board baseboard!

Scarf Holder

This last project is next on my list of to-dos as I just brought my scarves out for the cold weather seasons. Instead of hiding them away in a drawer or the closet I'm going to use them to hopefully add a unique accent to the small wall in my entry way! Scarves come in so many beautiful colors, patterns and textures it's a shame not to show them off. 

I'm going to use more of the extra wood we have lying around from the basement reno, but a piece of old shelving or a large branch will do. Paint, sand or stain the wood to give it whatever look you're going for - it's only going to serve as a backdrop for your scarves, so it doesn't need to be fancy but should look nice. Then pick up a few used cupboard knobs, hook screws or spray painted nails and hammer them into your backdrop. Fasten your piece of resistance to the wall, and hang away!

Spicing up your home with fun pieces of decor doesn't have to cost a fortune. I realized once I started making things myself, just how much easier it was to create what I was looking for instead of trying to hunt it down in store. Not only do I feel good about creating these items by hand, but I feel even better knowing I'm doing it using things I would have otherwise tossed to the curb. There are so many great DIY resources on the internet; you never have to look far for inspiration. 

In fact, Gretchen has some great projects already pinned over on Pinterest if you're for some fun and awesome ideas! Thanks again for letting me share my projects today Gretchen, happy DIY-ing!

- - - - -

Jessi is a do-it-yourselfer and crafting enthusiast who lives in Eastern Canada. She puts her DIY skills to good use as a Community Coordinator for PartSelect.com! If you have any questions about repairing your appliances or troubleshooting common problems, you can find her on Twitter, @PartSelect.

... Oh so many ways to follow along ...
Blog - GFC - Blog Lovin' - Facebook - Twitter - Pinterest - Vote