live the repurposed life: recycled ruffles

R E C Y C L E D  +   R U F F L E S  =  B E A U T I F U L  C A R D S.

Now available in sets of FOUR in my Etsy Shoppe.

live the repurposed life: paper ruffled clutch

My Reclaimed Fabric Ruffled Bags have been such a hit on Etsy and in my Blog Shop, that I decided to share a quick tutorial on how to make a similar recycled version with you! Perfect for a quick gift or sweet as a party favor sack, my "go green" bags are quick, easy and a great way to use up that old newspaper, instead of throwing it away!

You can also find my Reclaimed Fabric Bags at the oh-so-beautiful House of Envy Boutique in Florida and the perfectly Vintage Hip Boutique in Alabama!

tutorial: recycled notebook cover

This is a simple tutorial using one of my favorite recycled items. Dye Catcher Sheets. If you use these in your laundry, you know you love them. They really work! Once you have washed and dried your load, don't toss it. Reuse it!

live the repurposed life: pretty paper

Whenever I am working on a project that requires dyes or inks, or even paints, I always use a piece of newsprint or watercolor paper as "underpaper." A favorite tip I learned from my very talented friend, Roben-Marie. It saves cleaning up a big mess, but it also leaves me with a great piece of colorful paper to use for other projects. Last week I used some watercolor paper under a dye project. The week before I had used the same piece of paper to catch drips of paint and gesso. This week I cut sweet little hearts out of this paper and used them to make some notecards for Vintage Hip in Springfield, Alabama. Available in my Etsy Shoppe soon!

live the repurposed life: napkin storage

Repurposing Tips- Napkin Storage from Rae Missigman on Vimeo.

Quick & Easy Repurposed Napkin Storage.

Don't throw that empty box away - reuse it!

tutorial: recycled gift card pouch

Gift Card Pouch Tutorial from Rae Missigman on Vimeo.

Have fun with this little project ! More to come soon on the {to dye for} workshop!

live the repuposed life: beautiful reinventions

{Creativity is allowing yourself tomake mistakes.  Art is knowingwhich ones to keep.  ~Scott Adams}

I have long since learned that this

is the beauty of {ART}. There is

no right or wrong. No proverbial

black or white. We, as creators

of art, are free to claim our

mistakes as much more. We are free to scoop them up, recycle them, re-purpose them,

reinvent them ... make them into something beautiful once more.

... but first let me take you back a bit ... 

I have long since been a lover of the primitive arts. Years ago I bought a simple set of

directions, a rug hooking frame and some scraps of wool. I was literally {hooked} if

you will! Armed with a new cutter and a notebook full of designs I began creating rugs. 

They took hours and hours and hours and hours to make, but they were {real}. They

were going to last a lifetime. A craft of the past. When someone ordered a custom

designed rug they were in fact getting an heirloom.

... fast forward ...

I recently started what was to be a miniature {rug} for a wall hanging. Somewhere

along the way it dissolved into something smaller than miniature. A mistake. {or so I

thought}. So I tucked it away for another day ... after all, the wool had been dyed,

stripped and partially hooked. I could abandon it, but I have never had to heart to

take a rug apart ... and so that day came. Last week, as I rooted through a cupboard

I stumbled across the partially finished {miniature rug}. The colors were wonderful

and since I have been a fanatic crazy woman making bags left and right, around here

I decided then and there it might not be a rug, but it could certainly be a bright and

cheery panel on a bag.

... and so it was ...

I remounted it on the frame and finished the hooking. It was satisfying to be holding

the hook again. Once it was complete I sewed it to one of the panels of a duck cloth

tote bag I was working on ...

... a fresh and funky design. Birds, hearts, arrows, scallops, flowers ...

 ... as I am huge into {re-purposing} these days as well, I gathered up some cool

vintage fabric my sweet, sweet neighbor gave me and used it as a liner for the

tote bag. Some canvas straps, a shabby muslin ruffle and of course, a {great big

huge ruffly silky flower}. I even threw in a hand dyed velvet center for the flower ...

 

...the reverse side of the tote is embellished with a tiny felted heart with wings ...

... and so there are no mistakes.

 Just {beautiful reinventions} ...

 ... and always a reason to {CREATE} !

 

 

in my house: laundry room makeover

I have been wanting to do a "makeover" on my laundry room for a long time now. I live in my laundry room. Well okay, not literally, but sort of... a family of {seven} tends to make a great deal of laundry. I also might have mentioned {once or twice} that I actually {LOVE} to do laundry. I love the calming affect that sorting and folding laundry has on my spirit. I love ironing. A monotonous but gratifying chore for me. I love crisp towels and sheets, miniature piles of soft little kiddo socks and stacks of sweetly scented dyed textiles for the studio...and so I want this room that I spend so much time in to be {beautiful} ...

...  I love walking into this room through a {screen door} ...

... this room was never {ugly} ... just {dark}. Very dark. It is an interior room, so no windows. A great panic room for when the occasional hurricane blows in, but a terrible in terms of available {light}. Among the many things that disturb me as a person who suffers from OCD is a lack of sufficient {light}. I need light. Lots of light. My living room and studio are flooded with light. It is wonderful, but sadly, unless I tear down my garage and the staircase leading to the second floor of my house and add a window or two, this is not going to be the case in my laundry room ...

...so I decided to bring the light in another way. Through paint and fixtures. Artificial light is better than  no light at all. This is what the laundry room looked like before. Don't ask about the paint color. I chose it. I hated it, but had to live with it for the last two years. 

FINALLY I made the time to repaint, rearrange. The result was nothing shy of {amazing}. I could not believe the transformation in such a simple move. Two coats of paint and an added lamp and it was literally like {night and day}.

It was the cheapest room makeover I have ever completed. Two gallons of paint from Home Depot {$55}. One new fluorescent light bulb for the ceiling fixture {$6.93}. One lamp from goodwill {$5.00}. 

Grand Total {$66.93} Wow!

All the other little decorating {details} were found by shopping my own home and closets. Swapping items out of one room to add to another is a biggie for me. I do it all of the time. An easy fix when you feel like you want something new, but don't want to spend a lot of money.

These cool wall stars came home on the roof of car from one of my many visits to Pennsylvania. They didn't even show up on the darker painted wall. Now they are beautiful focal point.

I shopped for this cool over sized frame in Miss Sophia's Bedroom. She has informed me that I will need to replace it ... I shall be thinking of what to put in it's stead.

... this piece from {IKEA} is not my style at all. It is modern and cold, but functional. I have a plan for what it is going in it's place, but have yet to build it. Will keep you posted on that. In the meantime I am going to try a sew this for the top of it...and while I do not like the looks of this piece, it really is a great item to have in the laundry room. The three large bins on the bottom sort laundry into whites, lights and darks. The three large middle bins are for the older children's clean and folded laundry. The three smaller bins sort hangars, school projects and papers that are ready to be filed and miscellaneous things that need a {home}...

... the counter top over the washer and dryer slides out for easy access to the machines ...

... Glass jars hold dye catcher, fabric softener and swiffer sheets ...

... an old lamp was given a coat of white paint. The bamboo shade was covered in shabby linen ruffles ...

... a vintage wire basket from the studio was dumped of its' contents and hung on the wall. A pretty hydrangea was clipped to side ...

... more glass jars were filled with all sort of laundry goodies ...

...an old candle tin was propped up on a pretty frame stand. The glass lamp is from {goodwill} ...

... little paper birds on a tray add some whimsy ...

... a reproduction crate with glass jars ...

...I hate cords. This sweet cord cover was fashioned from a length of linen. Now the cord can lay on the counter top without looking offensive ...

...a faux lavender bouquet. Perfect addition to a laundry room ...

... cork boards covered with burlap, vintage resin letters and shabby flowers spell out a favorite saying in french - {have faith my friend} ...

 ... { this is for petite michell } ...

 ...I keep my giant white enamel pots handy. I use these to dye my fabrics, but they look so pretty sitting out too ...

... a canvas pennant adorns the frame ...

... assorted large baskets for sorting and folding laundry adds warmth to an all white room ...

...the laundry room sink sits on the opposite side of the {IKEA} counter. It is indispensable to me. I use it for everything from rinsing dyed fabric to storing wet pool towels until they are laundered. There is a hanging rack that folds down from the wall behind the sink. It is great for hanging delicate "drip dry" items - they can {drip} right into the sink.

... and my favorite giant wire baskets. I love to use for storing folded sheets and towels ...

...  I love the feeling of walking into a {light filled} room. It is so refreshing and cheerful. I am still amazed at the difference such a small detail as {paint color} can make ...

 

 

home made: recycled & repurposed wreathe

There is something soothing about the color white. It is simple. It is pure.

It is stark in it's beauty...but bringing together the many different shades

of white can be resplendent in itself.I have always recycled, repurposed

my {laundry sheets}...dye catching sheets, fabric softener sheets.

I have dyed them, cut them, sew them into projects.

 No matter how many times I have tried, I just can not bring myself to throw them away...

...each time a fresh new load of wash is complete I add another dye catching square to my growing stack of {laundry sheets}.The same goes for softener sheets. Fresh out of the dryer they are soft, they are wispy and they hold just a hint of that lovely smell they started with...

 

...so the other day I had an idea. I would use this beautiful pile, in shades of white, to make a new wreathe. I have been wanting a new one, in shades of white, of course...{take a peek at the end result}...

 ...the result was this beautiful wreathe in {shades of white}...

 ...if one {laundry sheet} felt gray or dingy, I didn't let it stop me...

 ...because in the end, when it was cut and twirled, it was just as beautiful as the rest...

 ...there were tinges of the palest pinks and yellows...

 

 ...it is so dreamy...