Week 3 - Crafty Projects for Gleaners - Paper Beads

This weeks project for Gleaners is paper beads.  These beads are made from recycled magazines!  This is a fun project for kids and adults.  Follow the steps below to make your own!

Step 1 - Tear colorful pages from magazines.

Step 2 - Cut magazine pages into strips that are wider on one end than the other.  They will look like really skinny icecream cones.

Step 3 - Put craft glue the whole length of the strip of paper except for the first 1 inch on the wide side.  Roll beads up starting from the wide end.  Use a toothpick to roll them on. 

Step 4 - coat beads with a spray sealer in a well ventilated area.  Let dry and use as desired.

These make great beads to string as a necklace or bracelet.  You can dress them up by adding other beads in between. 

Hope you enjoy this weeks project and Happy Gleaning!





Week 2 - Crafty Project for Gleaners - Scrapy Quilted Cuff

This project was so simple to make and is very stylish.  What a great look and practical.  Will keep your wrists warm this Winter!

Made with just a few scraps of material, old buttons, and some embroidery floss and ribbon.

Step one - cut a scrap of batting to the size of wrist.

Step two - layer the batting between muslin cut to the same size.

Step three - use scraps of printed material on top of muslin to create desired look.

Step four - sew straight lines through all layers with sewing machine to attach. 

Step five - sew on embellishments such as buttons, french knots, etc.

Step six - add large button and loop of ribbon for closure.

Step seven - enjoy and wear with pride!

Another great project to clean up scraps and waste nothing!  Happy gleaning!

How Beautiful!

Today I just wanted to share this great picture that my husband took.  I am sure to glean the beauty from this photo.  Taken at the land we are buying it is a wonderful show of the winter months here in rural Nebraska.  Hope you all enjoy it as well. 

Winter Wonderland

Today feels warmer but it is still winter here.  However the shop is looking more and more like spring!  We have new fabric coming in from Art Gallery Fabrics this week.  Here is a small preview.  Enjoy!

Week 1 - Crafty Project for Gleaners - Trash Mail Paper Cranes

Today is this first week for Crafty Projects for Gleaners, and todays project is trash mail paper cranes!

This is a great way to use up your junk mail and will change the way you look at your mail forever.

Without further procrastination - here are the steps to create your very own trash mail crane!

Step 1 - Find an envelope in your mailbox and discard the contents.

Step 2 - Open the envelope carefully to show the printing on the inside.

Step 3 - Cut the envelope into a square using sissors or a rotary cutter and ruler.

Step 4 - follow the diagram below to fold your square into a paper crane.

Step 5 - Enjoy the paper crane you made!

You can make as many as you would like and there are lots of fun things to do with them.  You could send them to a friend as a gift, or hang a few in your window from string.

I hope you enjoy this project and look foward to next weeks post for more Crafty projects for Gleaners!



New Year Challenge

Since this blog deals with "gleaning" I have decided to have a special post every friday to challenge myself.  It will be called "52 Weeks of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Crafty Projects for the Gleaner"
My challenge is to post a crafty project every friday that reduces, reuses, or recycles material that would otherwise be discarded. 

The rules for this challenge is the material used in the project must have come from the trash or from a garage or rummage sale and it must cost less than $5 to make. 

I hope that this challenge will help me as well as others beautify the world and satisfy their creative spirit. 

Stay tuned for tomorrows post to see the 1st project!

Welcoming In the New Year!

Dear friends and family,

I have decided to start a blog to help me appreciate all the great things that this world has to offer.  I have titled it "GLEAN" which I hope everyone will come to understand as the greatest gift of all.  The ablitiy to see in life the great possiblities and beautiful things that might otherwise go unused and unseen.

In the course of this blog you will see what I have been gleaning in life.  From new and creative projects that reuse what was once discarded to the beauty around us. 

Let this be an inspiration to all!