Making Home Link up #35: Upcycling Furniture #NationalUpcyclingDay

Welcome to the #MakingHome weekly link up!

Be inspired by posts all about moving house, home decor, DIY, crafts, family activities, recipes, gardening and more. It’s all here under one roof at Mrs Crafty B’s.

Don't forget to join in and link up your own posts. The linky is open from Friday until Tuesday. Find out how to take part at the end of this post. 

I took a leap. I have been so inspired by some of the posts that I read on other blogs, that I decided to try something new. Something a bit different for me. I am dreading it and I am excited all at the same time. I hope you're going to offer up some tips, some advice and some posts to inspire my next project; upcyling some furniture!

How to Decoupage with Paper Napkins: Make a Tile Coaster and a Desk Tidy

It is no secret that I am a bit of a hoarder. It's a trait I am certain I share with crafters and creatives around the world. I see the potential in everything to become something better than it is or to be used in a project. Pretty paper napkins do not escape my attention. Not only do they make a nice addition to a table setting when entertaining but they can be used in my craft projects too. In the past I have made paper pom poms with napkins but in this post,  I am going to show you how to use them in your decoupage projects. 

How to Make Mulled Wine Scented Christmas Candles by Becster

This year I have homemade candles on my 'to make' list so I could not be happier that one of the contributors this week, Rebecca of Becster.com, is sharing how to make these cute little jar candles. A great project for #CraftyChristmas and what's more, we all love a bit of upcycling! 

Last year we were feeding Little Miss ready made jars of baby food after the complete failure that was baby led weaning! So of coure we went through quite a few jars - at least 3 jars per day so as you can imagine, our recycling boxes got quite full with these cute little glass jars. After throwing a few out (recycle I must add), I thought that there must be something I could do with them….. and so I came across the idea of making some simple homemade scented candles.

Homemade Hanging Bird Feeders with Moulds and Pine Cones

On visiting a friend of ours when Baby B was around 2 years old, he enjoyed putting seeds out each morning and watching the birds fly down to feed. Always keen to encourage wildlife in the garden (and create a welcome environment for anything that will eat plant eating bugs) we then began to make our own bird seed 'cakes'. 

With the colder weather in sight and our feathered friends always being glad of a little extra food, these are great to make and store in the freezer ready for hanging.

Handmade 3D Butterfly Wall Art With Ikea

Very recently my niece became the proud owner of her very own bedroom! Adamant that she wanted it to be pink and yellow, I decided to make her something special to put on her wall. At first I thought I would make a box frame or some bunting; but then I spotted a pack of gift tags in my local IKEA store and became inspired to make this! 

How to Make Personalised Map Tile Coasters

This weekend I hopped over to The Diary Of A Jewellery Lover to share a crafty tutorial.

Head on over to see how you can make your very own personalised tile coasters just like these ones!

National Upcycling Day 24th June 2015 #UpcycleRevolution Upcycled WallArt

Today is National Upcycling Day as campaigned for by Gumtree along with a group of the UK's top upcycling and lifestyle bloggers. As you know, I am a big fan of upcyling so I thought I would contribute and point you all in the direction of the #UpcycleRevolution

Scrapstores are amazing places to find material for crafting and upcyling projects. With a bit of creativity and barely a dent in your money tin, you can create something individual to you; like this wall art!

Crafting With Hillarys: How to Make A Handmade Lampshade and Washable Fabric Coaster Covers

Made-to-measure window dressing company Hillarys, invited myself along with some other bloggers to take part in a challenge; to see what we could craft with 1m² of one of their beautiful fabrics.
With the launch of #MakingHome I jumped at the chance to get involved. I didn't just think along the lines of 'craft' but what I could make that was usable in my mission to create a beautiful home as well as easily replicable for you Crafty Bs.

Happily one of the choices of fabric, Rayna Apple, beautifully complimented our intended colour scheme for the front room (green and grey). As of yet, we have nothing decorative in the front room including (shock horror) a lamp or light shade! I have seen plenty of lampshade making kits and workshops so I thought I would give it a go. Knowing I would have lots of fabric left over

Re-Create Upcycled Plant Pots with Scraps of Fabric

Continuing with a bit of upcycling, here's a cute way to jazz up some simple plastic pots.

I found these plastic pots in abundance in a Scrapstore along with

Re-Create Upcycled Stamps

It's no secret that I love a bit of upcycling. Sometimes I'm on the hunt for materials for a specific purpose and sometimes I just grab stuff or save 'bits and bobs' because one day, they might be useful. I decided that my die cutting machine could be used for more than cutting shapes from card and I wanted to make some stamps from the lovely dies that I had. 

My local scrapstore had plenty to inspire but I grabbed some black foam stuff that looked like old packing material for something and some flooring material.

Upcycled Filing Tray with Ikea Magazine Files

Spring has finally sprung and I've got the cleaning bug; along with a desire to ensure that I really am organised! My new freelance business (Hello My PA) has a highlighted a necessity for a well organised workspace.

My desk is multifunctional with it being used not only for VA work but for crafts, blogging and a place to keep my household 'affairs' in order. I decided that the thing I needed most urgently was some filing trays; something in which to organise incoming work and mail before it is actioned and filed away.

I did find some lovely options for filing trays but the ones I fancied weren't quite in keeping with my 'thrifty living' ways at the moment. This led me to hunt around in my hoard to figure out what I already had that I could use. My search led me to a stash of FLYT Magazine Files by Ikea that I purchased a while ago.

Photo from Ikea.com

The Power of the Pom Pom

When I was a little girl, I used to spend hours at my Nanny's house pushing small balls of yarn through and around two doughnut shaped pieces of card to make pom poms. I see now it's a great way to keep children occupied! I had several wooly pom poms in odd colour yarns, none of which I knew what to do with. I just wanted to make the next one!

Pom Poms on the catwalk 2014 - Picture from Vogue

In the last few years, the pom pom, both paper and yarn, has returned to fashions and to all things craft  and my fingers are itching! I once purchased a gadget that was going to make pom pom making quick and easy. I had a demo from one of my crafty friends but mine broke as soon as I tried it, so I gave up.

BUT...

Upcycling Vs Recycling & Re-Imagining to Re-Create

It's all the rage. Sustainability campaigns, blogs, magazine features, its own publications, schools, stores, social enterprises, everyday craft projects and more, but what is upcycling really about? We have heard the word, seen the projects, been to scrapstores but lets break it down. What is upcyling? How about recycling? What does it all mean to us?

Meet the Maker: Vicky Brown of This is Lullaby

How cute is this little number? It kind of makes you want to see more of same doesn't it? I think we should meet the maker and find out where we can see more. 

Ribbons and Things

What a week! Not only have I managed to keep on top of everything at Crafty B's HQ, but I have managed to get a few little crafty things done here and there!