‘Ugh!’, said the daughter of the woman who was holding the garage sale, ‘Take those ugly buttons, away! Please! Free!  Just take them!’
Well…. I didn’t  think that the buttons were hideously ugly…. just kind of
hopelessly kitschy.
I certainly wouldn’t
have bought them….
but the upcycler in
me just could not
resist the challenge.
I wondered if I could ever use the buttons in a reasonable way.
Hmmm… I could cover them with fabric, if worst came to worst…
This evening, I was looking for something else, and found the poor much maligned buttons.
I thought…. why don’t I use a flower from my flower looms and a little spool …read more

A couple of days ago, I posted a tutorial on how to upcycle  tissue paper by spinning it into handmade yarn.
BIG tip: To set the spin on the paper yarn, squeeze the copp (the ball of yarn on the spindle)  hard with your hands while it is still on the  spindle. Voila! the twist is set.
As well as knitting
and crocheting
handspun upcycled paper yarn,
you can use flower looms
to make wonderful
flowers.
I recently broke and
then repaired my
vintage flower loom,
so am rather careful with it
nowadays.
I wasn’t sure
about how much
stress the paper yarn
would put on the flower
loom, so I made
myself a wooden one.
That’s it on …read more

Project Spectrum is a very neat ongoing online crafting project  that Lolly began on her blog: Project Spectrum
There’s a Flickr group and a Ravelry group, too.
It’s all about creativity and being inspired by specific ‘triggers’.  The leaping off points for May and June are the following:

EAST (May/June)
Color: Yellow
Material: Wood
Season: Spring
Element: Air
We have had the longest winter ever, and a late and cold and miserable springtime.
This means that we are sadly lacking flowers outside right now.
Bless the sturdy little dandelion that braved the cold and popped up outside my window.
In order to get flowers, I have to make them myself.
Here’s a …read more