How-To's Day: Upcycled Holiday Wreath Bases

One of the major staples of Holiday decorating is the WREATH! If you are a big holiday decorator I am sure a new wreath is something you get excited for every year.  Or maybe you know that person who goes koo-koo crazy for decorating and you want to bring them a new wreath for a hostess gift or holiday party. This is a simple and affordable way to create a wreath WITHOUT USING STYROFOAM!!!

While Styrofoam wreaths are the usual bases for crafted wreaths and are a very versatile base to create your own holiday decor, Styrofoam is majorly gnarly on the environment and I try to look for alternatives when personally making my crafts.

I am a huge fan of this method of creating a paper wreath form because it is basically free. Where as a Styrofoam wreath base will run you ~$5.

All you need to make the base is a brown paper shopping bag and a roll of masking tape!!!

After opening the bottom of the grocery bag - scrunch the top of the bag to the bottom, creating a scrunched paper circle. Make sure you take off the handles. The handles can be added to the scrunched shape while taping if there is an uneven surface that needs beefing up.

Using this bag method you will get approximately 11" diameter circle which is a pretty standard small wreath size. To get a larger diameter you can create the circle with paper packaging or tape the grocery bags together.

You can wrap the tape as tight or as loose as you'd like.  Try out a few different tightness-es and see what works for you :)

Normal taping will leave the wreath about 1" thick. If you want a thicker wreath you can add two scrunched shopping bags together, then wrap with tape. This will create a base that is ~ 2" - 2.5" with two and over 3" with three together. If you wrap multiple bases together you should tape everything extra tight and you will have a super strong wreath base sturdy enough for a holiday heirloom for years to come.

The best part of utilizing the paper base is when you want to have a different wreath next year you can recycle this wreath keeping harmful materials like Styrofoam out of our trash!!!

Last year we had a Holiday Making Party where we highlighted sewn fabric bows and we had these wreath forms so people could make their own holiday wreath. Hopefully we can host another party this year and share some ideas so you can host your own with friends too!

Here is a peek at one way to use the base and do a snow theme with old dryer sheets and junk-mail paper snowflakes:

We would love to see your wreaths if you try out this Eco-friendly paper base! Post a comment or leave a picture on Our Facebook to share your holiday decor :)

Happy Making!!! XOXO, KC

How-To's Day: Make an Upcycled Can Garland

Wanna make this Upcycled Can Garland? You can make one of your own with a short amount of time & minimal supplies. It is really durable and has an industrial feel.

The  upcycled aluminum makes a wonderful modern touch when it comes to materials.

Here is the supplies and necessary tools to make this project:

Clean, washed and dried cans, Fiskars Paper Crimper, Gloves, Box cutter or X- acto cutter,  1" circle paper punch, 1/16" hole punch, cotton crochet thread or sturdy thread & a needle with an eye large enough/ size of the thread. *Optional: Bone folder, extra sharp small scissors

Here is the basics on stripping down a can to utilize it as supplies:

I like to make the first vertical cut where the nutritional facts or writing is.  I marked in the photo where the initial cuts are made- you can mark it if you'd like, but I just marked it for this tutorial.

Once you cut up the middle you can move on to the top:

After you take the top off, use the same method to remove the bottom. Once you get the top and bottom removed you can flatten it out.  Anything with a 90 degree edge like a table. You can run the can rectangle across it to help flatten it out.

 Yay! Now the can is ready to be used in what ever project you may desire. ;)

 The next step is using your 1" circle punch to make circles out of the can.  

Until this project I had no idea you could use the paper punch on aluminum cans. They work great! If this is something that interests you/ you respond to the materials you should try other punches too.

I like to get as many circles out of a can as possible, which takes some patience- but I want to make the most of my materials. Plus, I think assembly line style saves time in the long run... Whatever you choose, get your circles ready and on to the next step. I made 100 circles in my garland. 

Finished length: ~8' (It's a bit longer + string length) I think it was a bit too long for the string strength. I would say get 100 circles made then see how much the smaller amount of thread described below needs.

Use the small 1/16" hole punch 2-holes across from each other.

The part that I think makes this project look "un-handmade" is this crimper.  The Fiskars Paper Crimper is available online or is a great addition to use one of those JoAnn 40% off coupons. When you run the circle through the crimper they end up coming out oval looking. I made sure the holes are parallel and in line with  the crimper lines.  Doing it other ways makes the shape different. Test out other ways if you'd like too. 

Once they come out of the crimper, I took a second to run the bone folder down the 2 sides to smooth them out.  This part isn't necessary, just an added step you can take.  Here is the finished circle:

Now to MAKE the Garland:

I took the thread and spread it arm to arm 3 times when I tried it the first time.  I think that  length was a bit too long to use... Towards the end, after the thread went in and out- rubbing across the aluminum so many times it made the string fuzzy towards the end. My best advise is to make the garland with 2 arms lengths of string and make it closer to 6' rather than using 3 arms lengths of string which made 8'.

Once you knot the tread onto the first circle you string up the back and out the bottom hole.

Loop it back through the hole before stitching into the side you want facing up. To make it shiny and reversible/ cool from both sides I flipped the side that showed so that every other one was the printed side:

The stitch connecting the next circle doubles back kinda like a figure 8 and holds everything tight and in place. To save time you can just stitch in and out through the holes- the circles will slide down on to each other. This way is easy and will pretty much look the same. With stitching each one together  and doubling back took me  the good part of the afternoon- it is a super afternoon movie watching project :)

Continue stitching them together until you:

A) run out of string B) It get's long enough for you to decide it's long enough C) You run out of patience or D) all of the above ;)


Then you are all finished! Yay!! Now decorate and use it- It is great to enjoy  the fruits of your labor:

We'd love to see your finished garland or other projects that use these "sequins" for your upcycled Holiday celebrations this year.

Good luck and happy making! XOXO, KC

Available for Special Order

We have a lot of different varieties of cans available for special order Reinbeers.  

The deadline to get custom orders made in time for the holidays is November 4th. 
Please get in touch with us before then to get your ornaments started :)

Here are all the cans available with  a 2-4 week time:

Modelo especial

Sapporo

Tecate

LaPlaya

Budweiser

Bud Light

Name Tag

Simpler Times Lager

Goldmine Lager

Pepsi- Throwback

Coca-Cola Zero

Coca-Cola Cherry

Dr.Pepper- Iron Man 

Dr.Pepper- Football

Diet Dr. Pepper

Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry

Sprite Zero

7Up

Canada Dry diet Ginger Ale

diet Vernors

Orange Crush

La Croix Sparkling water

Diet Hansen's Premium Soda

Classic Faygo Old- Fashioned Root Beer

Diet A&W Diet Cream Soda

IZZE Soda (variety) 

Hope you enjoy all the possibilities! We will gladly make them out of any other cans you may have too, we just would need the cans shipped to up before 11/4.  Please inquire with us for our address to ship the cans and we can do a custom order with the items you send to us :)

XOXO, KC & Kevin 

Reinbeers- Holiday 2011

The first batch of Reinbeers for Holiday 2011 are ready to roll out!

Currently we have multiples available in these varieties:

Beer-

Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR), Modelo Especial, & Heineken.

Soda-

Regular Dr. Pepper, Retro Dr. Pepper, Coke, Coke- Holiday Can, & Diet Coke

How- To: Fun Coin Ornaments

This last minute How- To is all about making Fun ornaments from Coins and Pressed Pennies.  We have been geeked out for TRON Legacy for a while.  It was one of the longest production schedules Kevin has worked on, and it was his first time being a Lead, which makes it even sweeter! So when we got the opportunity to go to the elecTRONica set up in Disney California Adventure and check out the retro Flynn's Arcade we reverted back to the old days.  All the machines took tokens that we saved as souvenirs.  I was also on the hunt for the pressing penny machines.  It is kinda my thing. I also have a best friend that collects the pennies as well, so it is a must at tourist destinations.  I am constantly evolving ways for us to collect these pennies and here is a great project for an ornament that highlights the coin.

Coming Up This Week: Last Week Before Christmas

Last week/ this past weekend we had some epic fun!  We  had an amazing time seeing TRON and living it up at DD's Holiday Party!!! We had so much fun it feels like it took forever to recover in this nasty weather. We finally braved the rain and saw The Social Network yesterday.  It really made me wish I was better at computers- on the weird, genius, billionaire level. I have all these great apps that I wouldn't say are the next Facebook, but where are these Apps??? Here is one of the many ideas for shortcut tools and organizational  spreadsheet kinda apps that I have.  It would be super badass if I knew away to get them made- please share around if you know any programmers who do apps :)

Weekend Wrap-Up and Patchwork Long Beach

 We had a WONDERFUL weekend!!! Yesterday the weather held out.  The sun came out.  And besides the harsh and extreme winds, everything went with out a hitch!

The REINBEERS fended well with the wind and proved to be a show stopper as always. We got a TON of Miller Lite requests...  If there are any readers who drink Miller Lite or any friends that want to come over and drink it while we make REINBEERS, please let me know- We can even issue some coupon codes for our Etsy shop in exchange for your cans.

Coming Up This Week: Nov. 15th- 21st *PATCHWORK SHOW*

This week is our last week before our first HOLIDAY show.  Where did the time go??? Last week we got some great sales and traffic on our Etsy site.  The free shipping on REINBEERS went amazingly well and depending on how the Patchwork Indie Arts & Craft Festival goes we are scheming a fun Black Friday/ Cyber Monday Sale .

Kevin went back to work yesterday on a new project and I am super excited that we had that nice break together.  We had the best time.  Kevin put together some new furniture together for our Living Room/ Dining Area that is finally free of my "chair"- we'll have to get pictures up soon.  Right now my main priority is to make as much stuff as possible to have ready for these shows.  Kevin has been busy at night getting record stands ready.  Hopefully next week we will get a ton of items up on Etsy before Thanksgiving.

Back to work- XOXO, 

KC

Flavors and Styles

The REINBEER Sale is going GREAT so far!!!  We have already started shipping out these wonderful ornaments for this upcoming Holiday Season.  

Here is the "Menu" of cans we have made this year so far-

Beers:
PBR- Pabst Blue Ribbon
Budwiser
Modelo
Icehouse
Oranjeboom (Dutch)
3 Horses (Germany)
Henninger (Germany)
"Old Speckled Hen"
Olde English
Simple Times Pilsner
Simple Times Lager
Natural Ice

SODA:
Coca Cola
Dr. Pepper
Dr. Pepper Holiday
Vernor Ginger Ale


We have just sold this amazing 12-pack below.  It is a "Beer Lovers" assortment and highlights the range of cans we have saved and collected.  I think I will start getting together pictures of a similar assortment and post them on Etsy to help ease the confusion of what we have in stock. 

 Well, back to the grind.  And glitter...

Patchwork Long Beach Nov. 21st

We just found out we will be vending @ Patchwork in Long Beach on Nov. 21st!!!

Last year we had a wonderful time at Patchwork, and I am super glad to start of the Holiday Season down in Long Beach!!! For more details check out their AMAZING website here.

We will be sharing updates for everyone on this blog, Facebook, and Twitter you can link up for updates on any, and all of these avenues.

The Reinbeers Are Coming!!!

The Reinbeers Are Coming!!!

Yesterday, my mother-in-law, Jane started pulling out the supplies to kick the Christmas Crafting Extravaganza into 1st Gear. She spent a large chunk of the day glueing down the patterns on the aluminum we have stored and sorted from all different types of cans.

Last year we tested out a couple of different ideas for ornaments and I will "pull back the curtain" and admit defeat with all the other styles we tested out.  After putting in a lot of time into products that didn't sell... A creative risk if you will- Kev and I have decided to see how this Christmas goes with putting more focus into them rather than some less profitable items.

I am okay with these cute little guys being the only Holiday "staple" we will be carrying this Christmas season.  All of our great products are good for gifts and make awesome Holiday purchases already- worst case scenario next year when I am feeling better we can make a wider range of Holiday items available.

I am really excited to have had this year to plan and gather cans for their bodies.  We ended up getting a ton of different beers and sodas after seeing what people radiated to.  PBR is always going to be a hot item- but I am scared that we have had fun collecting so many different types that are unique and may not be everyone's "beer of choice".  We will be selling Assorted 6-Packs that will have all kinds of varieties for the Beer Lover in your life :)

When we got the questions for certain types and flavors we don't personally don't drink we made sure to collect those items whenever possible.  We got requests for Coke (Which some how we both completely overlooked the fact that their are people who do full out Coke themed decorations!) Then the Miller, Coors, Budweiser questions...  We have been collecting them when our friends have them- (Memorial Day BBQ's are where its at!!!) BUT, neither I nor Kevin are changing our tastes for this endeavor.  I have lucked out and gotten a steady supply of Budweiser from a neighbor, but I however am a big supporter of craft and independent brewers and go for other choices.  Watch Beer Wars and you'll see why-

      The hopes is we will still have a great selection of all kinds of beer and soda varieties for Holiday 2010's batch without losing a sale to a "Big Beer Enthusiast"

I think an added point of interest come this Holiday season is to see the number of cans our household uses across the year.  We won't have a fully accurate count due to collecting a small amount from others, as well as recycling some types we had a ton of.  We sold more than expected of Diet Ginger Ale last Christmas- but I thought recycling down the large quantities of diet soda would keep production time focused where need be.

If there is a flavor or type you'd like to suggest for our "Must Have" list feel free to leave a comment.  

*Check them out for purchase here in our Etsy Shop*