Scrap Exchange

Over the weekend, I went to the coolest store, the Scrap Exchange.  I'd heard about the Scrap Exchange and had been meaning to take a trip downtown to see what it's all about for awhile, and on Sunday I finally did.  LOVE IT!

The Scrap Exchange is a store that collects donations of all kinds of materials - everything from fabric remnants to glass vials to bottle caps - and sells them (for super cheap)...there is some awesome stuff there for those with a crafty bone!

Here's my haul (close-ups below):

 

  

Burt's Bees Baby Bee bottles ($1.25 each) - how cute would these be filled with pretty colored liquid soaps / body wash in the bathroom?  I need to find some sort of lid / stopper for them if I do this.

  

Ribbons for wrapping (the blue and the bottom tan are raffia) - $1.00 each

  

An "M" that was $1.00 (actually, I think it's a W...) - I figure I can paint and distress it, or Mod-Podge it to make it cute (my last name starts with an M)

  

These are wallpaper remnants - same pattern, one is light blue, one is tan.  Only $0.50 each!  I thought these would be pretty in black frames (maybe in a bathroom in my HOUSE??)

  

Mini chalkboards ($0.75 each) - not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I've seen so many cute chalkboard ideas on blogs that I'm sure I can find something to do with them!  Definitely will need to paint the frames.

What a cool store - I can't wait to go back!

Cute & Easy DIY Coasters

I've had this set of glass photo coasters sitting around for ages (with nothing in them...):

While I think the idea of photo coasters are cute, they lack a sort of sophistication.  They kind of scream college to me.  I decided to give my coasters a quick re-do, and I love how they turned out!  Best of all, it took me all of 5 minutes to do this project.  All I did was insert some pretty scrapbook paper into the photo openings, and voila!  Sophisticated coasters!

Close-up:

So, if you have a set of glass photo coasters sitting around and want to give them a facelift, give this little project a try!

DIY Frame Makeover

I've been trying to figure out what to do with these frames for months.  I bought them when I first moved into my apartment (2.5 years ago...) because the reds and yellows matched my decor and I needed something to spruce up my dining "room", but I was never a big fan of them - too "poster"-ish.  The frames fit the space though, so I wanted to keep them and lose the wine "art".  (There's a pesky thermostat smack in the middle of the wall that makes decorating hard.)

Roeshel over at The DIY Show Off featured some great ideas for using burlap and jute, and she inspired me!  I finally figured out what to do with my frames!

Here's what they looked like before........

And here is after!!!

 

A close-up:

 

And the set hanging on my wall.  See the thermostat I was talking about??

I'm pretty proud of myself.  I used the original art piece as my base and hot glued the burlap to the background.  Then I glued pieces of jute over the black framing that outlined the wine bottle.  I bought some faux onion grass and the red flowers at Michaels, and I went to town with the glue gun to make my focal point.

Total cost of my updated art: $13, and I have quite a bit of burlap to spare for another project!

Now, to figure out what the next project should be!