Thrift of the Day- Vintage fabrics + pretty trims

Thrift shopping and dumpster diving are two of my favorite things to do on the planet. I absolutely love taking things that some people consider "trash" and transforming them into something new and awesome. On my most recent thrifting adventure, I found these beautiful vintage fabrics and trims in nearly perfect condition. Ohhh, now off they go to the fabric shelf until I decide what to create with them. Any suggestions? Send thoughts to pyramidcult@gmail.com!

Whittney's Handmade Starry Sky

Many of my friends are fellow artists/crafters/bloggers and to say the least it inspires me. 

Whittney is one of those people. She loves cats and art time, and eating and watching The Dark Crystal and for these (and many more) reasons, I love her.

This project totally made me have to sit down the first time I saw it. It's AWESOME. It's made with 2 boards of wood that Whittney painted black. She glued HUNDREDS of mirrors all over it meticulously by hand. The project is hung up in 2 separate pieces so it can be taken down and moved with ease (smart).

Whittney has lots of other neat projects and project ideas that I'll tell you guy about someday (sooner than later). She's a master of hemp jewelry, mixed media collage, really neat custom occasion cards and lots of other random cuteness. :D 

I asked her to email me some photos of this project, and she threw in the photo below for giggles. HAIR BOW! How cuuute. Here's how to do it!

Sparkly recycled shoe rack pyramid

I love turning what most people would consider trash into functional forms of art. I was lucky enough to come across some extra large (and super sturdy) shipping tubes, and rescue them before hitting the trash pile. They made for the perfect recycled shoe rack pyramid project.

You'll need...

• one large tube
• white spray paint (feel free to go wild with whatever color/paper/fabric you please)
• gorilla glue (awesome stuff)
• strong clamps 
• sanding sponge or sand paper

Start off by sawing the tubes in 12" pieces.

Sand the edges of the tubes with a sponge sanding block to smooth out the edges...

*Gluing the tubes together requires just a touch of patience as this type of glue takes at least 2-3 hours to cure...though 24 hours is preferred.

Start the gluing process by applying a line of glue straight down the length of a tube (this type of glue expands quite a bit when drying so go easy with it).

 

Next, match it up with a second tube and clamp the tubes together. this would be tricky to do without clamps. If you don't have any, try using a belt to hold them together (I've not tested this method so don't hold me to it- just an idea :D)

Let the tubes dry for at least 2 hours then repeat the process until the bottom row is complete. Repeat these steps for each row of your design (I went for a pyramid shape, you can do any shape you'd like!)

When all rows are glued and cured, begin constructing your shoe rack by gluing the rows together starting from the bottom row up.

I used mod podge to seal the edges and to create a smooth painting surface. Allow 24 hours for this project to fully cure.

Then comes the really fun part (finally). Decoration and finishing! Yay!

I finished my shoe pyramid with a clean, glossy white spray paint with sparkly white glitter around the edges.

The possibilities are seemingly endless in my brain for the things one might do with large cardboard tubes. I love making things out of trash...and I love you for reading this! Hope you feel inspired to create. <3