Repurposing a Rubber Sink Mat for Crafting

     I came across this flower sink mat at T.J. Maxx. It was only a few dollars and I've gotten a lot of use out of it already. As you can see in the pics I have cut away some of the flowers. I used these in a project to give a flower-textural background. It's easier to use than a template with modeling paste as you have the perfect, in this case, flower every time. The mat/flowers can be painted, coated with gesso, given texture with modeling paste, used to embellish a card or tag, made into jewelry or you can even use it as a template to cover a large area with paint, modeling paste, and ink. It cleans up well and was a great find.
 

DIY: Pond and Landscaping on a Budget

Showing the falls area of the pond and the stream to the left

     My husband and I did not have the money to sink into materials for a pond or to hire someone to build it, but we both dreamed of having a pond with a waterfall, water plants and fish so we began thinking about how to make that happen. Over the course of 12 years we designed and built five ponds. This was the last one we had built.

     On a tight budget, watching video after video of people buying stone and having it hauled in by the truck load, we felt a little bummed. How would we get the stone we needed? One-by-one was the answer. I don't mean just buying one stone at a time, but picking-up one stone at a time. There is always construction going on somewhere and often people who are digging out a hill to extend their yard, digging out a new driveway,/patio/room addition will have a bunch of stones mixed in the dirt mounds. We found and gathered our stones through family and friends who did not mind us collecting them. It took some work, but it was well worth it and a lot of fun picking them out and then fitting them together.

     For this pond we used a vinyl pond liner for the top part (creek and falls area) and a preformed plastic basin for the pond itself, but for other ponds we used everything from a $25.00 plastic preformed pond to a kiddie-pool. There was no need for any cement because as I mentioned by fitting the stones together like a puzzle they did not move.

     The most expensive part is a pond liner. We decided the size of our pond by the size of the pond liner we could afford. Pumps are another expense but you can get a decent one for under $100.00. Over time we added plants, a bag of lava rock here-and-there and some flowers. It was time well spent as we got a lot of joy out of what we created. We had many relaxing evenings listening to the water and feeding the Koi.

We had purchased a couple of bags of lava rock at a time. Each time we got another bag our landscaped area could be expanded. Above is another small pond that we made from a plastic pond form ($25.00 at a pet store). We removed the small pump from this pond. It was the first one we had built and realized that the plants had grown so much that they were oxygenating the water and had taken the place of the pond pump. Our Hosta liked being near the pond so much it became a giant.

To see your pond sustain itself through four seasons without any help or maintenance from you is amazing and wonderful.

Sorry about my blurred dog in the pic above, the little stinker. The pavers in this pic were bought on clearanace at Lowe's Home Improvement Center for under a dollar each.

We transplanted this tree from the woods behind my brother's house. My brother has so many mature trees and pine trees that this little guy wasn't growing all that much and likes his new spot.

Another one of my dogs got in the pic. They like to drink out of the small pond.

This shows how much the plants had taken over the small pond. It is truly beautiful with it's natural look.



Copyright © 2014 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted
All Rights Reserved

Window Turned into Built-in Shelf

Hello peeps!
Did you ever have one of those moments when you realized you didn't think ahead enough? My husband's and my big idea was to make another room in our home by enclosing part of the front porch. The room build went great, but then after feeling elated that we had another room I plopped down on the sofa to see a window to no-where. We sure as heck didn't want to have to re-do the wall. What to do?    

   Money was tight after buying wood flooring, a new front door, drywall, a huge window and so forth so we really didn't have the money, energy or patience left to deal with this. Then it hit me. The window trim was still in really good shape and matched the other windows in the room. Uh huh! There wasn't enough floor space for a shelf for family photos and I didn't want to stick more stuff up on the walls. So here it is. Our built-in shelves specifically design for holding photos. I couldn't have asked for a better result. I still have some painting to do and the curtain hardware to remove (should have removed that and staged the area for a photo), but it's mostly done and usable.

Now for the rest of the house. Hmmm.

I used two packs of the wood plank tongue and groove paneling from Home Depot. The entire project only cost $35.00.  

Copyright © 2013 Angela Conklin - Heartedly Handcrafted
All Rights Reserved

Wreath Craft: using outdated metal wall decor.

I wanted to try making my own wreath for quite a long time before I actually tried it. I wasn't sure what to use and after an exhaustive web search I realized I could use whatever I wanted and I didn't have to run to the store and spend a lot of money.

I ripped an old wreath apart that had seen better days, gathered some fake flowers (some of which I got thrift shopping, some I had) and finally found a use for those metal vines and metal hummingbirds. To make the metal look less dated I added some sticky gemstones from my scrapbook stash, a couple glass rocks and intertwined the metal pieces with the fake flowers. I used hot glue to hold it all in place.

I also added a little basket that allows people who stop by to leave a note if I'm not home.

I love the way it turned out and the nice thing about the metal flowers, birds and leaves is that they sparkle in the sun and show up when the moonlight hits them. Couldn't have asked for more. I look forward to making my first Christmas wreath.

This project can be free to make if you have items in your home to re-purpose. If you need to buy materials, purchase them from a thrift store or yard sale. An ugly wreath from a yard sale is only ugly before you've ripped everything off of it and made it your own. Places like Goodwill will often have flower bunches for under a dollar. Everything I used for this was originally purchased at a thrift store.

 Happy Crafting!

Christmas Craft: using mismatched earrings

     Don't throw those earrings away when you lose one and if they're special to you, what better way to have them then on display instead of in the back of a jewelry box. I used a lot of sparkly earrings and the light that comes off this little tree is gorgeous. Unfortunately my camera found the sparkle a little overwhelming and faded everything out, but you get the idea. I decided to use burlap in contrast to all the shine, but this might be something you could try doing on a mirror or foiled background if you want to make the most of the sparkle and reflection.

   Give it a shot. I would love to see what you create.