Making a tote bag out of a t-shirt

Making a tote bag out of a t-shirt isn't a new trick.  In fact, it's a pretty old one that's been done in various iterations by the likes of Martha Stewart, Apartment Therapy, Honestly WTF, and many others.

So why am I doing it?  Because it's the perfect project to ease me into using my new sewing machine.  The version I made is quick and requires only basic sewing skills.  It's also no secret that I love cutting up my old t-shirts.

This particular t-shirt was signed by my friend's old band and I really, really like it, but it's too short for my torso so it has just been sitting in my closet for ages.  I'm glad it's getting a new lease on life as a tote bag!

Painted Bottle Vases

Hi Guys,

I can't believe how fast the end of the summer is approaching, and with that in mind, I decided our apartment could use some flowers to brighten up our last week here in Ohio. And where there are flowers there also need to be vases, right?  In keeping with my upcycling kick, I looked around at what I already had instead of buying something new, and inspiration struck when I opened up our recycling cabinet.  Bottles!

Turning the bottles into vases turned out to be a snap.  All I needed for this project were the bottles, a little bit of masking tape, some spray paint, and an outdoor space to do the spraying.

Here are the directions:

1.  Start by washing out the bottles, peeling the labels off of them, and scrubbing off any leftover label glue.  I used powdered Comet to scrub away the leftover glue because it happened to be handy and it ended up working great.  Then dry off the bottles, take them outside, and place them on top of a surface you won't mind getting paint on.  (I used a big trash bag.)

2.  Use masking tape to cover any part of the bottle that you do not want painted.  I decided to only paint the bottom of my bottles to give them a dip-dyed effect, so I covered the top halves of my bottles with tape.

3.  Spray the bottles with several thin layers of paint.  To do this nicely, spray them from about a foot away and keep the spray can moving at all times.  If you linger anywhere too long, the paint will get too thick and form drips that run down the bottle.

4.  Let the paint dry.

5.  Peel the masking tape off the bottles once they are completely dry.

6.  Step back and admire your handy work!

I used two different brands of spray paint for this project because that was what I had lying around, and the pink Krylon Short Cuts Hobby/Craft Paint definitely worked better than the white Rust-Oleum PaintPlus.  My pink vases are perfectly smooth while the white one has teeny tiny bumps on it, so I definitely recommend Krylon paint for this project.

Don't these flowers look so bright and peppy?

Happy painting!
xoxo
Laura