Jar It Up

Jars aren't really new on the scene, but we never tire of unconventional (or conventional) uses for them. Whenever I find myself staring a vintage jar or container face on at a thrift store, there is no way of stopping me from adding it to my basket. Matt probably thinks I'm a nut with the amount of Mason Jars we've collected. But you can use them in so many ways! The latest jar I picked up was while shopping for multitudes of teacups back in August. This jar seems authentically old, even the metal clasp sings vintage. And I love the french "Le Parfait" across the front. This jar, now sitting in our kitchen, has become the bar of soap jar.

And just in case you have a few jars and containers laying around needing innovation:

>> Dye mason jars a vintage blue or stripe them gold.

>> Make a sewing kit, or any clever kit for a cute gift (or for yourself...)

>> No bathroom drawers? Jars are a serious life saver.

>> Collect and cluster as hanging light pendants.

>>Oh, these super cute match jars? Yes, please.

>> Add a pop of color to your pencil or paint jar.

>> Organize, label, and stow away spices

>> Create dainty lace tea lights.

Upcycled Denim Cutoffs DIY

Oh, denim! Oh, chambray! You may have become the biggest fashion crush of the year, but my eyes still love to see you in washed out, soft, and worn in form. Even better? Upcycled denim, worn again and again, because aren't you supposed to last a lifetime?

>>Denim, originally The Gap | Flats, Target | Top, Bella Dahl found on clearance at Nordstom Rack

Cheer up that lowly bottle.

Retired Bottles: Nothing cheers up a room more than a blooming flower stretching its petals toward sunlight. And to  the vintage lover or farm girl at heart, using retired milk bottles as a bud vase makes that blooming flower even more endearing. Repurposing items that may otherwise stay forgotten is something that I love. Fear not lowly bottle, you have a life purpose after your dairy days and after traveling from porch to porch with the milk man! Bottles like these can be found at flea markets, garage sales, or like in my case, at a thrift store. I lucked out and found this bottle for $1 (and they go from upwards $15 on eBay!). And to my delight, while enjoying my most recent coffee table book Found, Free, & Flea, I came across a photograph of milk bottles being used as bud vases. With red print on the bottles and all. Aren't they darling in a picnic table setting? What not a better way to add that old home feel to any table or room.

Reusing Tin: The red color pop under my found bottle is a tin lid from a Voluspa candle. I save the Voluspa tin after the candle is used up and find ways to repurpose them around the house. I've used them as tiny tin gift boxes, a container for bobby pins, a button tin, loose change jar, and a place to keep little notes and words of encouragement. Here the red works perfect as a little coaster for the bottle turned vase. The tins are too pretty to throw away! 

 And yes, the top of this dresser is rearranged for the tenth time this month ;) 

Repurposed denim: Bleached ombré effect.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love denim. Cleaning out shoes, shirts, knick knacks, pantry items, bathroom things; Easy. But a pair of well fitting jeans that are hard to come by are equally hard to get rid of. Even on their last leg, with holes, faded knees, grass stains, I keep them (A conclusion you would come to on your own if you only saw the top shelf in my closet). To challenge myself in this area, I've decided to repurpose those jeans that are well loved. I can openly admit, that an armful of those jeans in the closet stack are barely worn because they are so old; use it or lose it right? Exactly. Hence, the wonderful world of repurposing! My first denim experiment, a bleaching process for a faded effect!

You will need: Jeans or jean shorts, scissors, bucket, bleach, distilled WHITE vinegar (NOT regular vinegar), water, shorts hanger.

My old jeans: Worn in knees and too short. (Originally from the Gap. I still like how they fit around my hips and legs, so I knew they would still be flattering as shorts).

Cut the jeans to length. I cut mine long with plans to hem and roll them up. Remember, that unless a seam is sewn, the cut offs will continue to fray after each wash and dry. Adding a simple seam will keep them the desired length and from fraying to their ultimate shorty short's fate.

Soak the shorts in 2 parts water to 1 part bleach. Soak for 5-30 minutes depending on the bleached effect you want. I soaked mine for 30 minutes and left the waste band out of the bleach solution to keep the true denim blue at the top of the shorts. (It created a neat ombré effect! You could make a more drastic ombré effect by first soaking a majority of the denim and every few minutes or so lifting the denim out of the bleach solution. This will make the waistband a darker shade with the bottom of the shorts completely bleached.) Next, dip your shorts into 2 parts water to 1 part white vinegar. This stops the bleaching process. Let dry and then wash on cold/cold and run them through the dryer. (If you bleach your shorts completely, you could even soak them in dye to make colored shorts. I plan on doing this for my next pair! I have RIT yellow and orange dye at the ready. Wouldn't yellow ombré shorts be adorable?)

The beauty of this bleaching process is that you can do it to any denim piece! I have a denim dress from Target circa 2007 that I may try this on. A little tip, if you repurpose old jeans for this project, save the scrap denim, bleach it as well, and do some sample runs of using RIT dye. This is a perfect way to play around with color shades for a future denim dyeing endeavor. You can also save your scraps to make a denim headband, braided denim belt, a denim rosette, and even more ideas I am sure you crafty readers out there could come up with!

*Don't forget about the Giveaway! Two more days to enter HERE.

Hooks, wood, and brass bits.

How to make your own...

I am very excited about this one. Like I told you in previous posts, I have had so many projects stacking up on my to do list, and now they are finally getting done! I had purchased these black and white hooks from Anthropologie back in January, knowing fully that I wanted to use them to make a entry way coat hanger. I splurged on the hooks, because I absolutely loved them and couldn't get them out of my mind after seeing these same hooks on the LittleGreenNotebook blog. I also knew I wanted to mount them onto wood, going for a feel somewhat like this forest found hook. The piece of wood to mount them too was the tricky part. I wanted a worn in rustic look, which meant finding a piece of wood that was used with the right dimension to place three hooks side by side, with the right amount of spacing. Living in the city, I couldn't just go to the countryside and pick one up from the farm. So, the hooks sat in my closet for awhile. But then, thanks to my handy cousin Natalie, she gifted me an old piece of wood that had a New England Fishing Co., Seattle painted on it in faded letters and a neat fish design on it. I thought the combination of the design with the hooks would make a unique finished product, so I set off to finally make the piece.

The board was 30" long.  Matt picked up a scrap piece of cedar that he screwed into the back of the FishCo. wood piece to give it extra reinforcement. This also ensured that when the hooks were screwed in, they would have some thick wood to fasten to rather than sticking through the back of the FishCo. wood and risk splitting it. 

Four brass colored screws attached the cedar piece to the back,  with an additional 6 screws to hold each of the three hooks in place. We placed the middle hook at exactly 15" in from the sides and 2" up from the bottom. The top part of the hook goes slightly higher than the top of the wood, but the bottom curve of the hook is parallel to the bottom of the wood. The outer hooks were measured in 6" from the sides and 2" up. This placement was decided on because it looked best that way (I'm more of an eye baller rather than an 'exactly like so' builder, not sure if this is a good thing or not....)

Because this is a coat rack, people will be pulling things off and on of the hooks, making it more likely that the rack could come out of its nail fastenings or wall attachments. Matt bought some "child proof" picture hangers that actually click locked. They are hangers you would use to hang heavy picture frames, but then have a top portion that locks the piece you are hanging in place. Brilliant, right? Pictured above is the hardware that will rest in hooks on the wall (your ring hangers).

The finished project. Ready just in time for non-coat season. I'm sure it will be filled come rain and snow. Also a great place to hang canvas grocery totes, scarves, purses, umbrellas, and hats. 

If you didn't quite get the just on how to make this coat hanger from above, here is a little recap:

You will need:

• 3 hooks or knobs
• Option One (clean cut wood): 1 Piece of wood measuring about 30 inches, or measured to your preferred size depending on where you plan to hang to finished product.  Option Two (vintage wood): A piece of used wood from an old shipping box or a rustic scrap piece of wood, and an additional thick wood piece to anchor/nail the worn wood onto that is at least 1 inch shorter in both width and length than your "rustic" wood  (can be found in the scrap bin at home depot for $0.50 to $1.00) 
• Wood Screws (Amount varies depending on the screw holes in your hooks. My project consisted of 10 screws. Four to anchor each corner of the rustic wood to the scrap backing wood, and two screws for each hook. Color also varies depending on your preference. I went with 1" antique brass screws.)
• Nail and hammer (for helping with screw placement)
• Power drill (for getting those screws securely into your wood- coats and purses need support when hanging on your wall!) 
• Ring hangers (the hardware that will fasten to the back of your finished project so that you can hang it on the wall) 
• 2 Picture hangers (hardware that can hold up to 30lb. per hanger, these are what you nail into the wall)
• Measuring tape

Assembly:

• If choosing option one, you can skip down to attaching the ring hangers.
• For option two, place your rustic piece face down on your table top and center the scrap/anchor wood on the backside. Flip over and make sure the piece is still centered.
• Screw the wood pieces together at the 4 corners of the scrap wood using your drill. To give yourself visual of where to place each screw, take your hammer and nail and tap a small mark into the rustic wood where the scrap woods' corners are behind it. 
• Attach your ring hangers to the back of your wood piece, leveling it so that when you hang the finished product is sits straight.
• Now your wood is ready for the hooks. Measure the length of your wood. Find the exact middle and hold your hook/knob in place. Using your eye, or a tape measure, decide how far up from the bottom of the wood you want to place it. With your hammer and nail, tap another little marker in the hook/knobs screw hole, to make a place for your screw to rest. Screw it in place, making sure you are happy with the placement.
• When placing your left and right hooks, measure equal distance both from the side of the wood and the center hook. Also, make sure the placement from the bottom of the board to the hook's placement is the same as the center (unless your wood is very uneven of course, then just use your eye for placement). Screw in just as you did with the center hook.
• Find where you want to hang your lovely piece in your home, and hammer in your picture hangers to match the ring hangers on your piece. But out your level (or your designer eye, like I did) to finish off your placement.
• You did it! Now you need a coat to hang and maybe a tote or two.