Repurpose Anything

I’m Bethany from i love SoOh and not only do I love Southern Ohio but I also love repurposing. I spend most of my days exploring Southern Ohio but when I’m not doing that I love taking on repurposing projects. Repurposing is all about reusing an item for a different purpose. I try to keep all my repurposing jobs simple because for me it is all about being thrifty and creative. I try to either use supplies I already have or buy supplies from a thrift store. Today, I’m going to share a project that I hope inspires people to start looking at things that they would normally throw away as items you can repurpose.

Project: Laptop-packing-holder Picture Frames

Supplies: Chalkboard Spray (I highly recommend buying a can and using it for all sorts of projects) and Laptop Packing Holders

The picture to the right is one of the four corner holders for a package that contained my shipped laptop.

Hmm…it looks like something to me…?

Bingo!

I simply sprayed painted the cardboard corner holder with black chalkboard paint. As you can see, it sits just like a picture frame so I adhered a photo to the frame using double-sided tape. I also could have used glue stick to make it lay flush against the frame.

Now, I didn’t share this project for people to necessarily do themselves. If you are lucky enough to have corner pieces like these by all means go for it but the beauty of repurposing (in my mind) is that projects come to you serendipitously. You don’t have to spend the time or money seeking items and buying craft supplies. It is all about on the fly creativity. So keep your eyes open and your wheels turning and you’ll find all sorts of neat repurpose projects that fall in your lap.

I’d love to read other repurpose projects so please share yours. Also, I often save items because I know I could use it for something but I don’t know what. Of course that can get dangerous if it turns it hoarding (shudder). So, if you are in a pickle of not having any ideas for what to do with an item, share it here! I’m sure I or someone else can give you some ideas.

Thanks for reading and you can find occasional craft projects at my blog as well as lots of posts on what to do in Southern Ohio.

Cinncinnati Clay Alliance Holiday Fair

Clifton Cultural Arts Center

Saturday Dec. 10
11 am - 5 pm
Free admission!

A juried show and sale featuring ceramic artists from the Clay Alliance. There are artists who work in clay in that show that make everything from beautiful functional cups and plates up to high end art and more.

See website

CrazyEtsyCool: Elegant and Artistic Accessories

By Lauren Martin, Artsybibliomaniac

When it came time to pick a featured shop for August, I was torn. I looked through each and every shop of our members, wavering between original paintings, amazing artistic photography, and unique jewelry designs, just to name a few.  Rather than feature only one of our diverse array of talents, I went with accessories as a theme and gathered a few of my favorites into a treasury to share.

Two of my choices deserve to be highlighted because of the striking and/or unique pieces they create.  Flowerandpearlstudio’s Peggy Hamlin handcrafted quite the frog prince whom I just couldn’t bear to leave out, despite the fact that he falls no where in the category of accessory.  Although molds would be easier, Peggy sculpts and and glazes each individual piece in her shop by hand, making my little frog prince a unique work of art.  

                                               

 

                                       The most striking piece in the treasury is an exquisite Guinevere Inspired Celtic Pendant by Royal Rocks.  The clear blue cubic zirconium set in the elegant swirling silver wire had me at hello.  I cannot wait to see what else this shop comes up with!

 

 

Each piece in this treasury is a work of art; what better way to express one’s individuality than with unique hand crafted accessories?  View the full treasury here, or peruse all our members’ shops through our team member list on Etsy.  This is one team in Cincinnati we can be proud to cheer for!

6th Annual Art Affaire

Jointly presented by the Greater Area Milford Historical Society and the Greater Milford Events & Arts Council.

The 6th Annual Art Affaire will feature fine, hand crafted art works—paintings, clay, sculpture, jewelry, glass, fiber, wood, photography, mixed media—by local and regional artists.

Promont House Museum
906 Main Street - Milford, Ohio

Saturday, September 24, 2011 (11 AM - 6 PM)

Website

The Lazy Gardener

By Christa Kenefick of theshinybuttons

I am a self-proclaimed lazy gardener! I manage a garden center and spend a great deal of time watering and taking care of plants at work. After a crazy busy spring or sticky summer day, the last thing I want to do is come home and take care of my garden!

More and more I hear from customers who want to plant a low maintenance garden. A balanced garden including shrubs, evergreens, perennials and annuals is the best way to achieve yearlong interest, high impact color and low maintenance with the right plant choices. The shrubs and perennials will be the “bones” of the garden with annuals being the best and longest lasting color.

There is a misconception that annuals require a lot of work but I find them to be lower maintenance than perennials. Yes, you do plant them every year, but spend a few hours planting, use a slow release fertilizer, water the plants occasionally to help them become established, and that is it. They are not hardy, but bloom all summer until the first frost and little cleanup is necessary. Best of all, you can change up your design year after year keeping your yard from getting boring. Bordering the front of your beds is a great way to add a huge impact of color or tuck a few here and there to change things up a bit.

The following are some of my favorite plants that are drought tolerant (once established), bloom a long time, and require little to no maintenance. My kind of plants!

Annuals:
Tidal Wave Petunias - this annual is the biggest bang for your buck. They spread like crazy and get taller than the traditional wave petunias. Tidal Wave Silver is my personal favorite color.

Lobularia ‘Snow Princess’ - This was introduced last year and blooms a short mound of tiny white flowers from early spring into late fall. It has to be the longest blooming annual I have ever seen! Mine was blooming past Halloween last year.

Lantana - I like the spreading varieties. They cover a tremendous amount of ground and just love it hot and dry. If you can’t water, this is the plant for you.

State Fair Zinnias and Cosmos - are great seeds that are easy to mix with your taller perennials. The get fairly tall, but sprinkling seeds and watering to get established is all you have to do.

Perennials:
Leucanthemum ‘Becky’ - a three foot daisy that spreads and divides easily.

Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ - a traditional black-eyed-susan

Echinacea (many different varieties)

Coneflowers - These have been huge in the plant breeding world lately. They are no longer just the traditional pink, but come in oranges, yellows, reds, whites and doubles.

Heuchera (Coral Bells) - Mostly desired for their foliage colors which range from black, green, purples, silvers, oranges, maroon, peach and chartreuse. Some varieties are for shade and others for sun, so ask a gardener or reliable salesperson.

Shrubs:
Hydrangeas - There are many different varieties divided into three groups. The macrophylla types are big leafed, mop-head type flowers and do best with afternoon shade, the paniculata types have white conical flowers that can change to a dusty pink as they dry and are best in full sun and finally the oakleaf types which also have white conical flowers with large tropical looking leaves shaped like leaves of Oak trees. The oakleaf hydrangeas work well in sun or shade.

Butterfly Bushes - A lot of recent breeding is going into these reducing the size of the plant and maintaining the long lasting blooms. Flower colors range from dark purple, pink, light blue, light purple, yellow and white and plant sizes range from 3 feet to 8 feet tall.

Knock Out Roses - Not the typical rose! These are shrubs that bloom from May until late November and love it hot and dry. They are very disease resistant and come in red, pink, light pink, yellow and a pink with a yellow center.

CAHC Audience

Did you know, our CAHC team blog is reaching audiences across the globe! Since it's official launch in May just a few months back, we've had close to 900 views from 10 different countries worldwide. (Click on the above img for a larger view.)

Thank you to all the members for contributing to our success, this team is awesome!

Crafty Supermarket

Crafty Supermarket's next show will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center in Cincinnati! Our last holiday show had 50+ vendors and more than 2,100 shoppers!

Applications for the Holiday 2011 show are open from July 15 to Sept. 1, 2011. The link to apply is on our 2011 Holiday Crafters page, and there’s all sorts of details there about who we are and who we’re looking for. It costs $10 to apply, and the table fee (includes an 8-foot table and chairs) for accepted vendors is $65. Crafters will be notified of their acceptance status by Sept. 25. Hope to see you there!

Download application.
View website.