Upcycle Credit Cards and Gift Cards to Make Chevron Earrings

I know we all have them, old CDs, gift cards and credit cards.  I have stacks of old plastic cards that I usually just throw out or let Avery play with when she plays "cashier" at home.  I've been trying to get more into jewelry making lately.  Its actually one craft that I have never tried before.  I have tried beading and making friendship bracelets before, but never really tried jewelry making with jump rings, chains, and actual jewelry hardware.

For this craft I wanted to make it as easy as possible, requiring the purchase of little to no tools.  It's usually very daunting picking up a new craft, as you have to buy new equipment for a craft that you may not really love.  To make these earrings you can use tools from around your house.  I use an utility knife to cut the gift card, a stapler to punch holes into the gift card and nail polish to paint the chevron cutout.  The only materials you may need to buy are jump rings (6 total), earring connectors, a metal chain and needle nose pliers.

Cut two triangle shape out of the gift card.  Note you can just score the card with the craft knife and snap the card to detach pieces.

Mark chevron shape and score with exacto knife.  Cutting credit cards is fairly easy.  Just score the card and snap apart.

For the inside point you want to wiggle it a little being careful not to snap the chevron in half.

Use a stapler to punch holes on the corners of the chevron.

Remove the staple.

To make the hole larger poke the hole through with a large safety pin or needle.  Poke through on both sides picking off excess plastic on the hole.  (File if necessary)

Paint the chevron with the nail polish color of your choice.  Paint edges first and then paint top and bottom sides.  Let dry between coats.  Three coats of polish was necessary to cover all the text on the bottom side of the gift card.

Let chevrons dry for at least two hours.  Attach jump rings to each hole.  Cut two strands of metal about 4 inches long.   Attach metal strands to jump ring.  Find the center of the strands and attach another jump ring.  Attach that center jump ring to earring hook.

No one will ever guess these earrings are made from an old gift card.  You could also use credit cards or even cds.  CD's may be a little trickier as they are thicker.  

Upcycling My Husband's "Dam" TShirt Into a Baby Onesie/Gown

I made these onesies years ago (way before I started blogging) for Avery.   It was a great way to reuse my husband's "dam" shirt, that he could no longer fit (see image below to get the joke).  It took me a while to find the original tutorial that I used but I this is it: http://thismamamakesstuff.com/tutorial-rockin-baby-gown-t-shirt-refashion/.  While I was searching for the instructions I used I found this one: http://knitnatak.blogspot.com/2012/01/t-shirt-onesie-tutorial.html I like this one because it uses the original tshirt collar.  The first tutorial has you sew cut out the original collar and hem it with a zig zag stitch, which I found to be rather challenging.  If you use the first tutorial again I would put bias tape on the colar to make it look more finished.

Alexis's dam shirt now.

This is another one of my husbands shirts that he wore back in his youth.

The gown is getting on the short side for Alexis,  maybe I'll cut it shorter and make it into a baby t.

How to Upcycle a Leather Belt

This is an old post that I wrote for Craftzine, but just in case you didn't get to view it I am posting it on my blog.

While cleaning out our closet to find items suitable for donation, my husband found a huge pile of old clothes that no longer fit us.  Experts say that after the age of twenty, the average person gains a pound a year.  By the foreboding stack of clothing that he managed to collect, I knew that we were no exception to the rule.  While bagging up our bounty, I noticed that my husband was donating some nice leather belts that could no longer accommodate his waistline.  I snatched up a couple of them, figuring that I could repurpose them for myself.  I just loved the worn leather look of them, but the belts were in need of a feminine touch.

Step 1:  Lay out the belt flat.  Using a utility knife and a ruler cut the belt into three strips lengthwise. The left strip should be one quarter of the width of the belt, middle strip is on half of width, and right strip is one quarter of width.  Cut the strips up until you reach the belt buckle (strips should still be attached to each other as well as buckle). To cut the leather, it is easier to score it slowly and go over several times.

Step 2:  Loop left strand over middle strand (figure a), then loop right strand over the left strand, under middle strand and then between the left most strand and middle strand (figure b), and tighten (figure c).

Step 3:  Loop right strand over middle strand (figure a), then loop left strand over the right strand, under middle strand and then between the right most strand and middle strand (figure b), and tighten (figure c).

Step 4: (Same as step 2) Loop left strand over middle strand (figure a), then loop right strand over the left strand, under middle strand and then between the left most strand and middle strand (figure b), and tighten (figure c).

Step 5: Continue with 2-4 (next step would be step 3), alternating the starting strand until there is not enough of the left or right strand to make a tight weave.  Turn the belt over.

Step 6:  Take the left strand and tuck it under the middle weaved part all the way up until strand is hidden.  Do the same for the right strand.

Step 7:  If the belt is too long, punch a new hole and cut the extra length of the belt.  You can also tuck in the extra belt length as seen in the diagram (the belt leather is actually going through two holes and looped back).