Projects I'd Love to Make: In the Garden

With the early warmth and sunshine this year, everything is growing already! Thus, my gardening lust has begun just as early. :) With the need to wait until May to throw myself into planting flowers and veggies, I am indulging in planning fun garden projects instead. Here are some of the DIYs we are either planning or fantasizing about for this year:

PLANNING: We've got all of the materials for the pots below, and are on the hunt for some good pallets! :)








THINKING ABOUT IT:






FANTASIZING:

Newest Crafty Haul

Stopped by Creative Reuse Pittsburgh and Wild Stuff Pop-Up Vintage Sale this weekend, and walked away with a haul of new fabrics and fun stuff! Hoping it all will kick my inspiration in the arse and get me in creating mode for the coming indie craft market season! :)



Feathers, leaves, florals, and some great fabrics for dyeing fun colors. :) Also random sewing bits to jazz up bags and pouches.



Vintage wooden thread spools to complete a sweet little project on my list from Minature Rhino.

Inspiration- Sewing & Thrifting Adventures to Follow

Three of my favorite things are creating, recycling/upcycling, and thrifting, so I get very excited about inspiring people who share their adventures doing these things on the Web. Here are two such people:

New Dress a Day (formerly 365 Dresses)
Follow thrifty fashionista, Marisa, as she takes used articles of clothing and recreates them into adorable, current fashion. This is the second year for her project, which began in 2009 as 365 Dresses (a project of revamping old 365 dresses that cost no more than $1 into stylish cuteness). She is spending another year shopping strictly flea markets and garage sales for wardrobe additions (not just dresses), all on a budget of $1 a day. It's so fun and inspiring to watch he journey! 365 days. 365 items of clothing. 365 dollars. This year, lots of Marisa's projects involve redoing garments people have sent her. And she actually shares the steps and how-tos of every project! :) I love looking through the before and after pictures!

All Thrifty States
Tag along with Jenna on a road trip through the United States as she seeks to learn about America's communities through what they used to own. "Part journalism, part photography, part cultural study, part art documentary project," Jenna is making a statement against consumerism and for thrifty, vintage, secondhand fashion while she explores our nation's thrift stores. Love this!

A Trip to Creative Reuse Pittsburgh- The Coolest Way to Make Eco-friendly Art!

Last Wednesday, I and three of my best crafty pals and fellow Steel Town Etsy admins headed to the awesomely eco-friendly Creative Reuse Pittburgh (Pgh), a local green organization that accepts unwanted materials for reuse and sells them uber cheap to the creative public! According to their website, Creative Reuse Pgh, which was founded in 2007 and became a project of the Pennsylvania Resources Council in February, is a nonprofit organization that seeks to "keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill, provide opportunities for people to put it to good (re)use, help forward the movement toward a greener globe, and encourage folks to explore." Sound too idyllic? Maybe... except for that they actually make all of that happen!

A haven to those who can make something out of anything (or anything out of something), the project's brick-and-mortar stash-shop is located within Construction Junction (who donated the space) on Meade Street in Point Breeze. Creatively cluttered, the two-level space is packed from floor to ceiling with everything you can imagine that could be re-used in making art and given new life. Exploring the nooks and crannies, boxes and piles is really an artsy flea market/thrift store shopper's dream, and during our trip revealed wooden dowels, vintage fabric and notions, office supplies, containers, vintage art, books filled with fabulous wallpaper and fabric samples, random hardware, rubber toys, paper of all types, glitter, hardware, old lab beakers, and so much more!

Creative Reuse Pgh's stock includes not only unusual things you may not find anywhere else, but items that sell at craft stores for 20 times the price! The fact that these wares are priced unbelievably dirt-cheap ("starving artist" anyone?) just adds to the already-high bliss factor, as does the fact that each item purchased keeps landfills from growing and leaves the earth a little cleaner and greener. :)

Tamara of Barker's Herbs and Heirlooms, Lynne of Charmed By Nature, Niffer of 19 Moons, and I (Kylie of SilentLotus Creations) had a fabulous visit, all coming away with finds from there and Construction Junction downstairs. Some of us even left feeling a bit "lighter" after donating our own materials to Creative Reuse Pgh- Nif donated "nif"ty payphone and typewriter hardware and Lynne donated -uh- a big box of rubber poop (don't ask).

All of us are big on repurposing vintage or discarded materials in unique ways, me just in the last year or so and mostly from their influence. :) Check out their shops linked to above to see what craftastic creations they come up with, and check out my newest items as a sampling of what I have been making!

Creative Reuse Pgh gets new donations regularly, making it a potential new treasure hunt each time you visit. But despite all of their current finds, they can always take more! Next time you have a box or stack of something ready to be discarded or taken to Goodwill, consider stopping by to see if what you have is something they can use. Donating your discards is easy, and much appreciated. And while there, browse for some new goodies.

Need creative inspiration or some obscure piece of something that will make your art piece or craft just perfect? I highly recommend making a trip to Creative Reuse Pgh to purchase materials- what you are wishing for just may await you there. :)

Just keep in mind that shopping is open to the public only on Wednesdays from 12-5. Other hours are available by appointment only, so if you can't get there on a Wednesday, make sure to give them a call at (412) 202-4036 or email them to set up a different time to go. They are quick to respond and very accomodating. :)











A section of Creative Reuse's upper level.












Fabulous vintage prints.















A view of the first floor from above.












Lynne's poop was put right out on the floor (front and center)!












The view that greeted us when we arrived: fabric, notions, and so much more.












More upper level goodness.