I gave my NY Knicks Lin shirt — with “Linsanity” printed on the back! — the Miss Stefanie upcycling treatment. I cut out the neck to make it scoop, added a braided denim neckline from a recycled pair of jeans, and cut and rolled sleeves.
Key Charms: New Etsy Necklaces
New to my Etsy shop [editor’s note: the shop has closed]: Keys covered in words from a recycled old book (a paperback copy of “The Awakening” by Kate Chopin with yellowed pages and a missing cover). Here are two out of a dozen recently added to Miss Stefanie’s House of Crafts & Collectibles.
DIY: Wine Cork Necklace Holder
I’ve collected quite a lot of wine corks, with vague notions of getting crafty with them one day. My need for a better necklace holder was just the incentive I needed to upcycle a bunch. This was very simple: all you need are wine corks, a piece of cardboard, a glue gun, small nails, and a sawtooth hanger.
Cut a piece of cardboard from a cereal box, about 1-inch wide. Use glue gun to evenly apply glue to the back of a wine cork and place it on the cardboard to stick. Then glue a small amount to the side of the wine cork before applying the next, so the wine corks are glued to the cardboard and to each other. Continue until the cardboard strip is filled. When glue has solidified, gently push in a small nail into each wine cork. On the back of the cardboard strip, attach the wall hanger in the center. I applied my corks a bit unevenly so each side curves down a bit, but you could also make it straight. Voila.
Fashion Flashback: High School Rings
During a recent family visit, I found the high school ring of my cousin’s husband and suggested that my cousin wear it on a chain as a necklace. That’s when I wished I had my own high school ring. I wore rings in high school and had already developed a fondness for jewelry, but I had no interest back then in a high school ring. Then Mr. MVP told me he didn’t get one, either. So this sent me to Ebay and Etsy to search for castaway high school rings. I found this one on Etsy and chose it for its color (iridescent blue, so dreamy) and high school name (Pleasant Grove High, which sounds like the name of a school in a book that would be made into a dark indie movie with a really great soundtrack). The Etsy seller wrote that she purchased the ring with a lot of others from an estate sale; it was dirt-cheap and now I have it hanging on a black cotton string made from a recycled T-shirt, with two other childhood rings.
Denim Lover: Pet Rock
I have loved upcycling denim since I was a kid. Here is my childhood pet rock with a DIY denim hat.
DIY: Key to NY
I found an old key to a NY apartment and was inspired to make it a necklace. Simple DIY decoupage job: I tore words from the yellowed pages of a thrift store paperback copy of a favorite book (“The Awakening” by Kate Chopin) and glued them on one side of the key. The key is hanging from a chord made of a strip of black jersey from an old T-shirt.
How to Look Punk (Or, Well, Almost)
I love this ’zine from the ’70s on “how to look punk” and its declaration that the symbol of punk is the safety pin (via Boing Boing, via threadbared). One of my favorite ’80s accessories was a watch with a band made entirely of safety pins (similar to this one). Lately I’ve been wearing a vintage gold-toned safety pin with faux pearls on a string (made of excess fabric from a recycled T-shirt). Not quite punk—but a nod in that direction.
Recycled Fashion: Always a Bridesmaid Dress
I’ve been in two wedding parties; Cori chose a navy crepe sheath for the bridesmaids, while Kristen chose a silky lavender halter dress. I was lucky to like both dresses; we’ve all seen horribly poofy and pastel bridesmaid dresses in movies (and it’s likely you’ve seen one or two monsters in real life, too). As a regular thrift shopper, I’ve also seen discarded dresses on the racks—if these dresses were living and breathing, I’d say they hang hopelessly. Which is why I liked reading today about a new site that recycles old bridesmaid dresses, Newlymaid.com. Now, if you’ve got a bridesmaid dress taking up space at the back of your closet, you can ship it to Newlymaid, where they’ll use the material to make upcycled creations or donate the dress to Clothes4Souls. Then you receive a discount on one of the site’s little black cocktail dresses made from recycled fabric. Voila: More closet space and less for the landfill… . Oh, and I cannot wait to see “Bridesmaids.”
Hankie Friendship Bracelets
Are you ever too old for friendship bracelets? I say no. These upcycled bracelets are made from an old handkerchief; I simply braided strips of the fabric and secured the end with a few stitches. I like the slight messiness of the stray threads and ties. I also like making something new from an item that was collecting dust in a drawer or closet. I used a lavender and floral-printed hankie for this trio—for me and two friends going to see a Prince concert. (Accessorizing in purple seems necessary for the Artist Once Again Known As Prince.)
Better Than Before: Upcycled Bracelets
My favorite DIY projects are ones that involve taking something you have and making it better—more functional or simply more fun and stylish—using materials I already have. Before I added some embellishments to these two bracelets, they didn’t come out of my jewelry box very often. The one with the subway tokens now has the addition of glass beads from a broken chandelier I found years ago at a yard sale, along with some freshwater pearls from a broken bracelet. The silver Tiffany ID bracelet now has tulle ties from a leftover roll of tulle I got when I made a hair accessory for a family wedding.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Opening day for baseball means summer’s right around the corner. I grew up a Yankees fan and still love ‘em (still have all my old baseball cards, too). But now I’m also a Dodgers fan. (What can I say? I love LA and am happy to call it home—but when you grow up in New York, well, you learn to make your own rules. Besides, the Dodgers started out as a NY team.) I don’t know any woman who likes to wear a big boxy T-shirt (except maybe for working out or sleeping) and I’ve found that the sports shirts I upcycle are among my best-sellers. The remade Yankees shirt pictured was already sold, but the Dodgers one is available from my Etsy shop, along with one-of-a-kind shirts for the Angels and Mets. (Other team shirts coming soon.)
Crocodile Love: Making it Work
Photo: Courtesy of Lacoste/Catherine Malandrino
Photos of Catherine Malandrino’s collection for Lacoste were released today (on sale next month) and I’m looking to it for inspiration on how I can up-style the Lacoste polo shirt already hanging in my closet. It’s been worn only a handful of times and I want to love it; the fit is great, the crocodile is adorable, it’s can’t-go-wrong-black, but it’s so…. preppy. I like preppy on other people, but it doesn’t feel quite right on me. So up-styling here for me means de-prepping. Because I always try to shop my closet before acquiring anything else, accessorizing with jewelry is my best and easiest option. I’m most likely to wear the shirt with denim cut-offs or jeans and black Chuck Taylors or strappy sandals, but I might try to pair the shirt with a long maxi skirt and Obi belt. Shown with DIY bleached Levi’s, two vintage black beaded necklaces with a clear one made from a yard sale chandelier’s crystal beads; also shown, a black beaded necklace layered with a vintage cameo on a leather cord and an upcycled vintage rosary bead necklace (I replaced the cross with a mermaid charm)… Music in my head: Elton John’s “Crocodile Love.”
Rock On: Upcycled Fashion at the Oscars
As a dabbler in creating upcycled fashion and accessories, I love to see something shiny and like-new recreated from something unwanted and old—rescued second-hand pieces from a dusty rack that are given new life. I frequently find items of clothing at thrift shops that look promising until I find a stain across the chest, a tear near the neckline, or some other wear-and-tear defect that makes the garment undesirable in its present form. But then I think, hmmm, maybe there’s hope. While so many eyes were on Colin Firth at the Oscars (smoking hot in Tom Ford), I was particularly interested in a closer look at his lovely wife, Livia, who owns a shop that sells eco-friendly merchandise and writes a blog for Vogue UK on green fashion. Livia Firth has become a stylish ambassador for green, making it her mission this year to always wear clothing at events from designers who use organic fabrics and employ eco-friendly practices in the creation of the garments. She calls it her “green carpet challenge.” For the Oscars, Firth’s Oscar gown was upcycled, created by Gary Harvey with material from 11 vintage dresses. Great detail: the dresses came from the same era as “The King’s Speech,” the movie for which her husband won the Academy Award. Gorgeous.
Leopard Love
My friend WendyB has written frequently about her love of leopard. Take a look at the Patrick Kelly leopard dress on her. She positively roars in that leopard, but I’m more of a fraidy cat (yep, puns intended). I have a fondness for leopard print, but I’ve always been shy about it and stick to a few choice accessories. Best ones: the London Sole ballet flats I wear with jeans (skinny or wide-legged look best) and a black top or sweater; and a long skinny scarf I wear in my hair on good or bad hair days. (See the scarf modeled above on Buttons, my childhood teddy bear.) I’ve been less inclined to wear leopard clothing, but found a blouse during one of my recent thrifting missions for my Etsy shop. It’s got a leopard print with roses and seemed like a good find on the rack, but I wasn’t sure of the shirt’s age or origin and I won’t sell list anything in the vintage section of my shop unless I’m sure of its history. Then I tried it on and it became mine. Another recent thrift store find was a jersey T-shirt in a leopard print, but I discovered a hole in it after bringing it home so I’m using the fabric to make accessories, including hair bands and jersey necklaces like the one pictured. Next up: upcycled shirts with leopard fabric details I’m adding to the neckline. On a roll…. Wendy also posted that fellow blogger Sheila has declared this to be leopard week. Today, I’m representing with my flats.
Grown Girls Dream of Unicorns, Too
Wise people say you should do what you love; for those in business, that translates to selling what you love. When I shipped this vintage unicorn locket/pendant to a buyer, I packed it up slowly, thinking a bit woefully about how I liked it enough to want to keep it. When I shop for my Etsy shop—for everything from vintage clothing, jewelry, and accessories to T-shirts I then remake into upcycled styles—I choose what I love. In the beginning, I wanted to keep it all. Now, I will sometimes get to the point of photographing an item when I reconsider—just for a moment or two. I paused with the unicorn pendant. A unicorn pendant! Of course, I’m happy to make a sale and excited that someone out there will wear it and treasure it. But I’m going to be on the lookout for another unicorn pendant to call my own.
NY, I Love You: Token Necklace
I pulled out a roll of black tulle from my craft box and began to play around with adding tulle details to some upcycled fabric necklaces I’ve been making for my Etsy shop. A little tulle goes a long way and two small pieces tied together make a pretty little poof, as seen here on a jersey necklace (made from a recycled T-shirt) with a New York City subway token. It’s the only token I have from this era (1995-2003, a period of time when I lived in NYC and rode the subway daily; see and read about the history of the tokens on the New York City Subway site), so I’m keeping it—wearing it today, in fact—but I will be on the lookout for other tokens and coins to incorporate into designs like this.
Crafty: Book and T-Shirt Holiday Wreath
After crafting a recycled Christmas tree using pages from “Vogue” magazine, I decided to make a paper wreath for the front door. I used pages from an old paperback that was falling apart (“Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh), and simply taped the cut leaves to a cardboard base. The idea for this was borrowed (and I cannot locate the blog I landed on that showed a wreath like this); my own personal detail was to add a bow made from an old T-shirt. Voila.
Stef McDonald Communications 