unusual and unique
~K-K~
could want with all that junk? You might be surprised by the treasure trove
of unusual and unique items a yard sale can yield. If you are the crafty
sort, there are all sorts of fun and interesting projects just waiting to be
discovered at your friendly neighbourhood yard sale. Here are a few ideas to
get you started on your way to yard sale crafting:
1. What little girl doesn't love to play dress-up? A quick look through a
line of yard sale clothing can turn up tons of fun items to add to your
daughter's pretend wardrobe. A piece of lacy lingerie becomes a princess
gown when tossed on over jeans and tee-shirt. Or you may find a fancy satin
ballgown that will transform any tomboy into a queen. When shopping for
dress-up clothing, make sure the items are in good repair (or that they can
be fixed up) and are clean. Just to be safe, launder or have dry cleaned any
questionable items. Before long, your budding actress will have a collection
of dressy clothes any fairy tale princess would envy!
2. Those satin or silk creations that were prom dresses or cocktail gowns in
their previous lives can be transformed into lovely pillow covers and shams.
Pillow forms can be purchased at any department store, or possibly even at
the yard sale. Look for throw pillows in shapes that can be re-covered in
the pretty fabrics to be found in the yard sale clothing section. Simply
take the dresses apart at the seams and measure the fabric to fit the item
to be covered. A few simple straight seams and you have created a pillow
cover. Look for bright jewel colors, or deep rich hues such as burgundy or
midnight blue. Save any buttons or accessories to reuse for other projects.
Fashionable, stylish, and cheap, your new throw pillows will add a touch of
glamour to your sofa or bed.
3. Look for old costume jewellery that can be taken apart and fashioned into
new and interesting pieces. Discarded pins, hair clips, rings, and bracelets
can all be cleaned and restored into wearable items that you can use to fill
a faux jewellery box. Teenagers especially enjoy retro jewellery items. Or,
the pieces can be disassembled and used to adorn clothing, decorative boxes,
mirrors -- you name it. A hot glue gun is a great tool to have on hand for
these projects.
4. Old bottles with interesting shapes or designs have many possibilities.
Add a ribbon or fill with colored marbles to create eye catching room decor.
Or cluster a few on a corner shelf to add personality to a bland wall. In
addition, some old glassware is valuable. If you think have possibly ended
up with a piece that may be worth something, take it to an antique dealer to
have it evaluated. Stranger things have happened!
5. Don't overlook yard sale artwork. Even though the pictures inside the
frames may not appeal to you, the frames themselves can definitely be reused
and will be much cheaper than ones you would find in a store. Many wooden
frames can be stripped down and refinished in stains that match your home.
You can even get creative and paint them in your favourite colors. If you
find a frame you really like but the glass is broken, don't despair. Take it
to a glass shop and ask to have a piece of glass cut to fit.
6. Old china teacups make stunning gifts. These cups are often fragile, so
clean them carefully, but thoroughly. Package them in a pretty basket with
specialty teas, coffees or cocoa mixes, a silver spoon, and a jar of honey
or other sweetener of choice. Line the basket with a couple of embroidered
linen napkins. These beautiful teacups also look lovely sitting on a shelf.
Collect a few in various patterns and group them for a stylish, attractive
display.
7. Collect old bath towels and transform them into fun terry cloth dog toys.
Carefully launder the towels, then cut them into fun shapes. Sew them up
securely, then stuff with leftover scraps of yard sale towels. Your dog will
have a blast roughhousing with the toys and might even enjoy sleeping with
them. Much cheaper than pre-made toys, and just as durable.
These are only a few of the great gifts that can be created from yard sale
items. Make up a few to give away, and don't forget to keep something for
yourself! Use these suggestions as a starting point and see what awesome
things you can come up with on your own. You just might find that you are
far more creative than you thought. Happy yard sale browsing.
unique things to do with nail polish
Nail polish fads come and go and quite frequently, you will find yourself
left with bottles of colors that are no longer fit to be seen. Should you
just throw them out? No, there are plenty of other uses for nail polish.
If you still like the color, but it's not 'in', you could try using small
amounts of it in a design. Paint your nails with a newer color and then use
the old color to make polka-dots, tiny flowers, or hearts on your nails with
a toothpick. Or you can use it on your toes during winter. The only person
who will see your un-cool nails will be you and your family.
Have you ever admired those stained glass windows in churches? Well, now you
can make your own right at home and without all the mess! Using a dry-erase
marker, draw the desired design on a glass vase or jar and fill in the
spaces with old nail polish. Use black fabric paint over the dry-erase
marker to create a lead-like effect. If you don't like the design, just peel
off the paint and use nail polish remover to start all over again. If you
really want to get bold, go ahead and do a window in stained glass or just a
border around the edge of one.
To spruce up a mirror in a child's bedroom, you can paint colourful
characters around the edge of the mirror and they can be removed and updated
with nail polish remover as the child grows. For a teen, you might try
sporty or trendy motifs. For an adult's room, roses or twining vines look
nice. Stencils work well for those not artistically inclined.
For a unique pencil holder, save a tin can and wash it thoroughly. Now, use
a semi-transparent nail polish to make stripes or another design down the
sides. Add a solid border using metallic nail polish and you have a very
funky pencil holder for anyone's desk.
Save old or ruined CDs and turn them into beautiful mobiles for your baby.
Choose a color scheme, pastel or primary and start painting! You don't have
to be fancy, just stripes and dots will do. Now tie strings to the cds and
hang them at varying heights from a coat hanger.
Nail polish is also very useful for color coding. If you have several people
living in a house, color coding is invaluable to keep belongings separate.
Each person chooses a color and then just dabs a bit on each of their
things. This is especially useful for boxes of food in the cupboard and
items that look alike, such as Walkmans or combs.
Speaking of combs, you can quickly spruce them up with old nail polish. Just
add flowers or stripes down the back edge.
If you have a lovely dress to wear, but don't have any suitable hair clips,
keep a handful of plain clips on hand. They can easily be decorated with
nail polish to match your outfit. You can even match the design to a certain
extent, dots for a dotted dress, stripes for a striped one, etc.
Picture frames are also perfect candidates for a nail polish makeover. Using
barely tinted clear polish results in a sleek modern look, while metallic
polish creates a very funky look. You can use random streaks of color or
orderly patterns. Again, stencils come in handy if you aren't a good
painter.
Adding a splash of remover will cause your polish to become more fluid and
you can use sponges and stamps with it. Have fun decorating everything in
sight!