Hand Made of Recycled Bits

These Hands........

These hands of mine.  They have worked for nearly 5 decades.  They've known how to heal, how to discipline, to love, to work, to hold, to soothe, to feed, to decorate, to create and to make.  Never still. Always working.  I admire these hands.  They have helped me feel my way through life.  To experience life and to participate.  I love nothing better than to set them on a creative project!  Ah, but to have the leisure to make and create to my heart's desire.......  These last holidays allowed me to have time to do a little creating.....

The life of a retired t-shirt-turned-shopping bag.  Enhanced with a little fabric paint printing.

Orange t-shirt bag with pocket

Big bag capacity.

Cut off sleeves.  Cut a circular opening around neckline.  Sew the bottom together (inside out) Add some printing and a fringe for fun.  Move over Dolce  & Gabbana!  This is funky style shopping at little cost to the environment!  Or bank balance!

Recycled T-shirt Printed Shopping-Bag makes a great hand made gift.

Take one woollen vest shrunk in the wash.....(accidental)

Turn it into a cosy little cushion, create new life from old.

The buttons of the vest make a great opening for the cushion.

Decorative detail on cushion cover, crude hand-stitching for effect.

Take one worn back massager cover and use the remaining bit of woollen vest to create a patch.  there is practically nothing left of the vest!!

Back Massager Back-in-Action.

When hemming a skirt for a friend, we cut off a 10cm strip ...... the strip was re-purposed to create 6 lavender bags.  No mess, no waste.

Lavender bags to scent drawers and cupboards and keep crawly critters away.

Know any musicians?  I tend to keep old credit cards, membership cards etc. and then fashion plectrums or guitar picks out of them.  The edges can be lightly sanded for a smooth tapered edge.  The more plastic we can divert from landfill, the better for our planet!  I Love religious icons, hence the recycled CD crucifix.  Again, plastic waste becomes art.

Oh for more time on my hands.......