Craft Lightning Recycled Edition

I am delighted today to be participating in another great round of Craft Lightning.

This time it is Recycled Crafts in 15 Minutes or less.

Today I am going to show you how to use dryer sheets and a few simple supplies to create this sweet angel.

You will need

dryer sheets

scissors

a scrap of yarn or twine

a piece of lace ribbon

a wooden doll head

glue (I used hot glue and a glue gun)

Optional :

DecoArt Chalky Finish Paint

vintage sheet music

Decoupage from DecoArt

wooden wing shape

paintbrushes

sandpaper

Flatten and stack 3 (or more if you desire) dryer sheets.

Cut them in half so you have the longest pieces possible.

Cut the dryer sheets into thirds to create strips.

Neatly gather all  the strips into one pile.

 Use one of the strips and tie it around the middle of all the strips.

Fold your yarn scrap in half and tuck the ends into the hole at the bottom of the wooden head bead.

Add glue.

Use the tip of the scissors to push the center of the dryer sheet strips into the hole as well.

Allow it to dry.

Smooth out and stack 3 more dryer sheets.

This time cut them in strips the short way across the dryer  sheets.

Again use a strip to tie them together in the middle.

Glue these wings to the back of the angels head.

You may also want to glue the yarn up the back of the angel's head a bit to keep it from tipping forward when it hangs.

Optional:

You can add wooden wings in addition to or instead of the dryer sheet wings.

Paint the wooden wings with DecoArt Chalky Finish paints.

Once dry, trace the wings on a page of vintage sheet music.

Cut it out and use DecouPage to attach it to one side of the angel wings.

When they are dry, use a piece of sandpaper to remove any paper that extends over the edge of the wood.

Glue the wings to the back of the angel.

If you don't want to hang the angel, substitute a skewer for the piece of yarn.

Just use the skewer to poke the dryer sheet body into the head.

Leave it there to dry.

Now you can stick it in a plant.

That would be perfect for Mother's Day...

Or you could add it to the garden for a touch of recycled whimsy.

For another variation, you could dye the dryer sheets.

Our gracious hosts for Craft Lightning this time are:

Country Chic Cottage

30 Minute Crafts

and Creative Green Living.

You can pop over to any of their blogs for a complete list of participants and projects this week.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs this week.

Grinch Face Mug

Time for Craft Lightning again.

This time around is Seuss Crafts in 15 minutes or less.

That is right up my alley.

I love Dr. Seuss.

I went with a Grinch mug.

I got this green mug at the thrift store.

It is perfect for this project.

I used Sharpie markers.

I got my basic drawing instructions here with this video.

Let me show you step-by-step how to draw the Grinch face.

Then I colored my pupils gold for a more evil look.

You can leave them black, uncolored or red.

Ready to go...

Once it is done you can bake it to try to make it more permanent.

  I did not bake this one. 

 I will just hand wash it.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs...

Arm Knitting Infinity Scarves

Ok, so I have been known to get a bit obsessed when I learn to do something new.

I fall in love with the process or the finished product and go a little crazy for a while.

I must say...

Arm knitting recently became one of those obsessions.

Have you seen it?

They look wondrously complicated.

They are NOT....

I bought a scarf that I loved in December.

I had heard of arm knitting but had not seen it.

About a week after I bought it, I saw a cool wreath on Hometalk where she finger knitted to cover a wreath form....

While I was watching the video for the finger knitting, I noticed one in the side bar for arm knitting.

Which led to a new Pinterest board....

And two days of watching the videos.

And then a yarn run....

And then a night of trying it out.

I had trouble casting on for the longest time.

Then I made three the first night and ripped them all back out and started over.

So after 5 days I had no scarves.

The next night I made 3.

And so it began.

I love that you can really change the look by doubling/tripling the wraps.

As you can see here.

I like that people can wear them however it suits them best.

Long.

Or short and cozy.

I also love how using different yarns gives you an entirely different look.

These are all arm knitted using the same method.

I have big hands and wrists so my loops are big. 

I cannot make them small.

But I have seen others that are much smaller.

I do different lengths.

Sometimes this is on purpose.

Sometimes it is because that is how much yarn the skeins have.

I learned that 5 or 6 weight yarns work the best.

The yardage per skein varies so check that when you are buying your yarn.

For most, I double the yarn.

You can make a scarf with only one skein but you need to double it.

That seems like a lot of work to me, so I just buy doubles of each color/kind of yarn.

Makes the doubling easier.

I don't have to unwind the whole ball that way.

Lion brand has a great Wool-Ease Thick and Quick yarn that I learned on for these.

They have so many colors.

I love the cozy wool.

It is a blend so it is not scratchy.

There are also acrylic blends which are much softer.

And sometimes offer even more color choices.

Pattons also makes this neat Cobbles yarn.

I do not double this one. 

 It is so thick, you don't even need to.

Some of the yarns are mixed within the skein...

Love that!

I did mention the word obsessed, right?

I think you may be starting to see what I mean...

This next one was an experiment with some funky yarn remnants.

It is very quirky.

It reminds me of being stuck in a snow flurry...

I have kept a couple of different colors and styles for myself.

And I sold a couple dozen locally before Christmas.

I will be adding several of these to my Etsy shop soon.

I find it super relaxing and fun.

It is a great diet exercise.

While I am watching TV, my hands are busy so no mindless snacking....

I am off to make a few more colors...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...