Denim recycling

Denim recycling
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

I received this lovely potholder as a thank-you gift at a friend's recent wedding celebration. Her new mother-in-law makes lots of things out of recycled denim, which is a great idea since so many pairs of unwanted jeans end up at thrift stores. And denim is a great choice for potholders because it will stand up to a lot of abuse.

This just in! I'm in a book!

I'm so excited I can barely contain myself -- my projects are now featured in a book! 

Sweater Surgery by Stefanie Girard is hot off the presses and contains four of my purses. You can find it on Amazon, or you can call your local independent bookstore and ask them to order it for you.

Here's a rundown of the four purses that are featured:

• Cheerleader purse--Full pattern and directions (written by me) on pages 38-39. Also appears on pages 8 and 113.
  
• Erika purse--Named for my friend Erika, who I gave this purse to for her birthday but who was kind enough to lend it back to me to send to the publisher for photographing. Basic construction info listed on page 93. Also appears on pages 7 and 92.
  
• Cindy purse--Named after the woman who sold my first sweater purse through her store, Sun Center Bead Emporium (sadly, now closed). Featured on p. 94 and also appears on page 5.
  
• Joan purse--Named after my dearest mother, who was kind enough to sacrifice her Kenmore sewing machine to me back in the early 1980s. Described on page 95 and also appears on page 5.
  

You can click on the purse names above to link to photos of these purses in my Flickr photostream.

Big stores and crafty recycling

Apparently, Macy's is now interested in crafty recycling projects. I got their latest flyers in the mail, and the kid-centered flyer was chock full of projects made from recycled materials.

In this photo, you can just see the flower made from recycled water bottles peeking out from behind the cute little girl.

These boys are living out their Tom Sawyer dreams on a raft made from water cooler jugs.

On this page, they prompt readers to make a birdhouse out of an old coffee can. (Come on, does anyone get their coffee in something other than a Starbucks cup these days? It is a cute idea, though.) I've got to say that my favorite is the turtle in bottom half of the page. I think his neck is made out of an aluminum dryer vent hose. I'm not sure what framework they used for the shell, though it looks like it's stuffed with green plastic bottles.

And finally, more flowers!

If you want to see any of the images in a larger size, feel free to visit my Flickr site.