Trash to Treasure Decorating

The Repurposed and Upcycled Life

Where have you been Michelle? Why don't you post very much on your blog lately? Are you still around?

I'm about to answer the burning questions. Or the questions you never had. I had my first book come out recently and I've been working like crazy to get my website updated, some blog tours set up, and some marketing work done. The to-do list is so crazy and I'm at the computer all day. My crafty and decorating project ideas sit untapped on my Pinterest page. I do have some new project ideas that I will be sharing here soon. In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to the object of my time-consumption:

The Repurposed and Upcycled Life: When God Turns Trash to Treasure

Book Trailer

All of my trash to treasure decorating gave me the idea for the book. I'm a speaker for women's events, and I often use objects from everyday life for lessons. It occurred to me that decorating with repurposed objects and flea market finds is more than an art—it also teaches valuable lessons about turning unpleasant life experiences into character-building opportunities. I realized how we value shabby chic decorations—flaws and all—so much more than we value ourselves and our friends despite our imperfections.

There is so much emotional junk surrounding many of the women I meet, and I have a passion for helping them see that some of it just needs some upcyling and repurposing. See what I mean by those terms on my website where I have a guest post available for bloggers on my virtual tour.I've discovered that some of my most frustrating experiences have turned out to be all part of making me a stronger, more empathetic woman.

I'm still looking for a few bloggers to read my book and review it on their blogs and on Amazon. Interested? Send me an email requesting information on how to be part of the tour.

More information about the book and about my speaking is available at michellerayburn.com.

What Would You Do Wednesday Wicker Headboard

A T2T reader named Barb asks, "I snatched this wicker headboard from a trash pile...other than the obvious, does anyone have an idea what wonderfully clever thing I could do with this?"

What do you think? For WWYD Wednesday, let's address Barb's question.

Repurposed: Decanter Turned Flower Jar

A long time ago on What Would You Do Wednesday, I asked what you would do with the decanter jar I have. See the original post

I really wanted to get a Beta fish, but then wasn't sure if I could remember to feed it. But, wouldn't that have been cool on my dining table?

The dear friend who gave me the jar gave me some flower sprigs at Christmas this year, and I knew it was time to do something with the jar.

I assembled my materials. I didn't have any regular or floral clay, but I had some old paper clay that need using, so I got that out. I decided to put an arrangement inside the jar so it would be easy to clean. The clay would help me get the flowers to stick. The paper clay wasn't ideal, since it didn't want to stay put int he bottom as I worked, but I flexed with what I had on hand.

Next, I pulled the stems apart. Gasp. I know, it seems like ruining it, but each type of material in a bunch is taped together at the base into one cluster. I pulled the cluster apart.

I used a kitchen spoon handle to push some clay in the bottom. Um, you can see the clutter on my table. Please excuse the mail.

I carefully inserted one cluster at a time, until they were all in there. I had to use a wooden spoon handle and some skewers to get everything poked where it looked best.

Then, I added some clear marbles that I also had on hand. These covered the clay. I know, you can't see much here. The picture doesn't do it justice at all.

Marbles. Some days, I'm losing mine, but this time, I think I came up with a pretty nice table arrangement.

Tried getting a good picture, but when you create something late at night, the lighting doesn't cooperate. You get the idea. Perhaps this angle is a better picture.

I love that it stays dust-free!

Upcycled Cabinet Door to Serving Tray

I'm going through some reader mail ideas that I have saved in a folder. But now, I have realized there were a couple that I never shared. Shame on me! I'm so sorry to those readers who shared their cute ideas and I neglected to share them. Ugh.

For example, isn't this a great idea? Kunika from the Pretty Homely blog [that's the title of her blog, not my description of her blog] turned an old kitchen cabinet door into a serving tray by giving it a fabulous finish and adding handles. It's that pretty?

I could do this! I have a kitchen cabinet door that I had painted like a flag. And I have some leftover handles too.

The only problem with mine is that it's a little big, and it's pretty heavy. So, i'll save the idea for the future. Thanks for the inspiration Kunika!

Reader Mail: Christmas Ornament Upcycle

I've been quiet over here on the Trash to Treasure blog because I have been blogging like crazy over on my other blog: Faith Creativity Life. I'm doing a Pinterest Project over there where I test out or try some project from Pinterest every day for 31 days.

I'm catching up on some reader mail, and I have an idea for you from Linn, one of my T2T readers. Right now, Christmas ornaments are 90% off in most places and you can find whole boxes of plastic ornaments for a few dollars. They aren't exactly trash, since they are new. But they are likely boring and dull.

Linn shared an idea for how she spruced hers up. You may or may not need to paint yours, but isn't the added ribbon super? Be sure to read the full post on Linn's blog The Home Project.

Before:

After:

Thanks for the great idea Linn! If we all started our Christmas ideas right now, we wouldn't have any trouble feeling relaxed at Christmas.

A Creative Way to Hide Kitchen Clutter

I have a vintage table in my kitchen that is too small for our family to use for dining, but it's perfect for extra work space. I know it doesn't look vintage, but it's part of a set that belonged to my great grandmother, so it's been around for a little while.

I've considered replacing it with a stainless steel utility card with storage underneath, since I need a place to stash the punch bowl and a few things I don't use to often. But, I realized that a utility cart wouldn't help reduce the cluttery look. And I like my table, anyway.

So, I put the stuff that I store under the table on a little cart (which is really a board that my kids put casters on for something else and they no longer needed). And then I worked on hiding the stuff.

The table makes a nice coffee brewing station.

I knew I couldn't block the baseboard heat, but wanted to hide the stuff. So I picked up two spring-loaded curtain rods and some fabric. I was thrilled to get it for half off.

I sewed a rod pocket at the top and used the full width of the fabric so I could use the salvage edges on the sides and didn't have to hem those. On the side of the table, the spring loaded rode fits between the table legs.

I didn't think too carefully about lining up the plaid on both sides. I wanted to save fabric, but now, considering how it would only have been a few inches of lost fabric...it may have been wise. Oh well!

The curtain on the longest side is split in the middle for easy access to the stuff.

I love it! No one has to see my clutter, and the whole thing took me less than 2 hours.Total cost: around $10 for curtain rods and $16 for fabric. I only covered the two sides that are visible to the room.

How do you hide clutter in the kitchen?

Upcycled Vintage Shutter - Seasonal Display Center

It's Transformation Tuesday and I've had this shutter that I picked up at the Apron Chick's Sale back in the spring. I hung it up on the wall as it was, waiting for inspiration to strike.

Some of you gave me some fantastic ideas on What Would You Do (WWYD) Wednesday a while back. Someone suggested a memo center and someone else suggested a photo display.

I tried out the photo idea first. I did sort of a fast version by printing some photos on my color laser printer to see if I liked it. My photos weren't quite the right size, but I liked the concept.

For the clips, I just attached some scrapbook paper to office clips using 2-sided tape.

But then, Christmas came and I got to thinking how I'd like to decorate that shutter for Christmas since it's right in the middle of my living room. I had some metal Christmas trees that I had picked up at a yard sale. They had the letters on them, but they weren't very readable, so I went over them with white. Then, I borrowed a couple of ornaments from my stash.

I still need to do some adjusting, but this is my draft of the Christmas decoration. I'm thinking I'll try to come up with something seasonal to do on this after Christmas. Like maybe a snowman display. I could save a few snowman ornaments from the tree when I take it down in January and maybe come up with a different saying.

The berry garland was a yard sale find too. I doubt I'll keep it there forever, but it gave me a great place to hang the metal trees.

It isn't a dramatic transformation, but I thought I'd share my progress. I'm always looking for additional ideas, so feel free to share.

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