upcycle – Page 8

I was really drawn to the pattern and colors of these men’s shirts when I saw them at Goodwill. For $4 each, I figured I would make the investment and see what I could come up with.

First, I cut a square to fit my pillow form. I wanted to keep the pocket and buttons in tact for the pillow front. I used my machine to embroider my older son’s monogram onto the pocket of the dark blue pillow cover.

For my younger son, I cut the initial of his first name out of felt, adhered it with fusible tape and tacked it down with some orange embroidery floss for contrast and color.

These were so easy! They only took about 20 minutes each. The boys just love their special pillows.

A fun upcycled project always makes me smile!

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I remember stumbling upon a tutorial for a clutch made out of a placemat a few months ago. This weekend, while browsing my local World Market I came across some really cute placemats on clearance for just $1.98.

Placemat before….

Placemat after!!

I lined the placemat with a remnant piece of home decor fabric and some fusible interfacing for stiffness. (Let’s just say that during my first attempt at this clutch I used neither a lining fabric nor interfacing and it was a floppy mess!)

I attached magnetic clasps (as you can probably tell, the top clasp is a little off-center…don’t be lazy like me and make sure you measure!!)

Funky clasp aside, I think it came out pretty cute. This whole project cost me less than $5 and took about an hour.

It’s just the right size for my wallet, cell phone, keys and a lip gloss. It’s perfect for dinner out with hubs, or when I need to run out of the house for a minute and don’t feel like lugging my usual 20 lb bag.