I’m starting a new series! Yippee! I ranted a teensy tiny itty bit the other day about my 10 part series (The Feast of the Flower which is still going on btw… and, yes I’ll finish it…). But I can’t help myself. I have a 3-part series that’s taking up valuable space in my tiny brain and I have to purge it to make room for thinking.
This series is called “And Then There Were Tree”. Because it’s about making trees. I like plants, K? AnyWAY, I was inspired by Arlette over at the wondrous crafty blog Polka Dot Pineapple. She makes these really cool recycled denim coasters using the remnants of jeans. And so I ran with the denim disc idea and came up with three simple little crafts of my own.
Series 2: Part 1
Today I begin with a tree mirror. Place the mirror in your child’s room or gift it to them as a back-to-school locker decoration!
You will need:
- the long jean seams that SEEM useless but aren’t (I used the seams from 2 pairs of jeans for all 3 crafts in this series.)
- those little decorative metal buttony things on jeans
- a small round mirror (I thrifted mine for pennies.)
- box board (I used a cereal box.)
- craft paper (A gift from my artist friend Bubby.)
- pencil
- craft glue and a glue gun
- scissors
- pins
1. Making Denim Discs:
Take a jean seam.
Apply a dab of craft glue on the end of your seam.
Start coiling the seam around itself.
After some coiling add another dab of glue.
Continue this glueing and coiling process until you have a disc. Pin the end in place. Let dry.
Make a bunch of these discs of all different sizes.
2. Mirror Design:
Take your mirror and play with the arrangement of denim discs around the mirror. Once you have your design, draw out the shape onto the box board and the craft paper. Cut out both the box board and the craft paper shapes. Don’t forget to cut out the hole for the mirror.
Make a hanger by sewing a loop of denim onto the top of your box board shape.
Now glue the back of the mirror to the box board shape.
Using a glue gun, glue the craft paper shape to the front of the mirror, and THEN using craft glue attach your denim discs to the craft paper.
For a final fun touch, glue on those little decorative metal buttony things from your jeans.
And your arboreal mirror is DONE!
Enjoy!
P.S. Today I’m linking!
SO CUTE!! 🙂
Michele these are great! I can feel the excitement coming through your post. Love it and will try it if you don't mind? Hugs Nat
Michele you are an artist!! I LOVE this, it looks stunning AND it's made from stuff which you might think there was no use for. I want to make one soon.. You are definitely Queen of Thrifty Crafts 🙂
So clever! A great way to make use of those seams which I would normally throw away. I usually save old jeans for patching other clothing.
I want your tiny brain! 🙂 What a great idea!
..they would make fantastic gifts – love it!
xxh
Michele! What a great project. Love the mirror. Glad to see that you enjoyed the tutorial.
Aloha!
This mirror is adorable! WHo knew you could make things with the seams from jeans, I've always tossed those away!
And I just purchased my first glue gun too! Thanks for this idea! 😀
This is wonderful! Recycled denim is my second favourite fabric to work with (right after vintage linens) and this is just so funky!
I am hosting a link party this afternoon and I would love it if you joined! (Adding any of your fabulous projects!)
Love it! Can't wait to see the rest of the series! Thanks so much for linking up on Craft Schooling Sunday, I look forward to seeing what you've been up to!
This is so awesome! Michele, you always have fantastic craft ideas!
Hi Michele,
this is really special, never seen before. This post and others of you made me today a fellower. Curious about what comes next! 😉
Anja
WOW!! Love it! Great way to use all those unused parts of my scrap jeans! Definitely going to try this out!
The book pages are adorable. This is a truly great way to recycle (or upcycle as I like to call it.) I love it and would love to see you post this at my linky party Upcycled Awesome!
http://tinyurl.com/Upcycled9 and come back to my blog for Stashbusting-September. I promise it will be worth your while!
Another wonderfully original project! Thanks so very much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday, the party is just so much more exciting with you there! all the best!
Found you via Until Wednesday Calls. I love this project and love finding Ontario crafty bloggers. I am your newest follower.
Hi!
Wanted you to know I posted link to all three parts of this tutorial today on my blog, PaperFriendly.
Nancy Ward
PaperFriendly
http://www.nancywardcrafts.com