More Thought to Recycling

Large piles of empty ribbon spools had begun to take over my craft room. The byproduct of making ribbon lei are loads of empty ribbon spools. It really bothers me to send so much to the landfill. In good conscience, I just couldn't. So....another recycling project was in order.

I grabbed one of the empty spools and began pulling off the chipboard from one side. The most obvious stood out. A frame. A round frame with a built in photo mat. That sounded like a good start. Perhaps a garland made from frames would make a lovely addition to the lady bug party if done in the right color scheme. With a bit of red and black paint and some leftover black and white patterned paper, I began decorating each of the spools.


I apologize for this less than stellar picture as it was taken in haste as my sister was coming over soon and I wanted to give the garland to her. The inside of the first frame was left empty to accommodate a photograph of the little birthday girl.


The frames were connected with short segments of ribbon. I tied red, white and black ribbon between each frame to add visual interest to the piece.


I had some leftover chipboard alphabets from a previous project so I used it to spell out her name. I "sugared" each letter with iridescent glitter prior to attaching them to the inside of the frame.


I really liked how this turned out, but like many projects, what you envisioned is sometimes not what you end up with. Having had several leftover picture frames, I decided to create a keepsake box.

I added a tab made from the double thickness of card stock. A small piece of velcro was added for the closure.


A small piece of ribbon was used to connect the frames and to act as a hinge on the box.


I decided to make a butterfly to embellish the top of the box. I chose a colorful page (a pizza ad, pizza with pepperoni and yellow bell peppers to be exact) from a magazine. I placed glue onto the back of the page and glued it onto a piece of clear acetate. The acetate is from the packaging of a product that I recently purchased.


I made a butterfly template from scrap paper. I placed the template on an interesting spot on the page and traced around it in pencil.


The shape was then cut out with scissors. Glue was placed onto the acetate side of the butterfly and the piece was glued onto another magazine page to give a finished look to both sides.

Once dry, I use an emery board in a sanding motion (front to back) to remove the remaining paper. This is an easy method of removing paper from small curvy areas with very little aggravation involved.

Crease the butterfly's body in the center, lifting both wings to emulate flight. The butterfly will retain this shape due to it's acetate core.


To create the body, I took a page from a magazine largely filled with type and cut out an elongated triangle the length of the page. If you have made paper beads before, this is the same concept.


Begin by rolling the larger end of the triangle around a skewer.


Continue rolling until you've reached the end. Apply glue to the tip and glue into place to secure the bead. Slip the bead off of the skewer.


A recycled wired tie (manufacturers use it to hold their product in place) was used to create the antenna. I folded it in half and clipped it to size.


The folded end of the wired tie was glued into the hole at the top of the paper bead. The body was then glued to the center of the butterfly.

I chose to ink the edges of the butterfly in black and to add glimmer mist for a bit of extra sparkle.


I have been glimmer misting many of my paper projects. I use paper towels to protect my work surface from over spray. I have been saving the paper towels (gasp!) because they are very sparkly and too pretty to throw away.


I separated the layers of paper toweling to expose this lovely pattern underneath.


To add durability to the napkin, I glued it onto a piece of card stock. I then put it through my scalloped paper punch. The paper towel adds an interesting texture to projects. I have stamped on it before and it always turns out really lovely.


The scallop was glued to the center top of the box. The butterfly was glued to the top of the velcro tab. The box was decorated with assorted doodads that I had laying around my desk. The flower center is a 3/16" brass brad that must have fallen off of someones denim jeans. I found it on the living room floor. Finders keepers....hehehehe!


Okay, now that you have read through this post, I bet you are wondering if I am a hoarder and if you will soon have the opportunity to see me and my "collection" on television. I bet that tiny brass brad that I found on the floor (and kept) really sealed the deal for you, didn't it? Well, I am happy to say that this is not the case.

I prefer an uncluttered home and here's proof.


Aren't you relieved? Whew, you and me both!

Have a wonderful evening.

Live Aloha,