Padded Hangers

Most of us thrifty diy types know how to make a padded hanger from a wire one using old t-shirts cut into strips. But, did you know that you can also use all those bits of fabric scraps from sewing and craft projects?

 

Just cut the scraps into strips; you don't need to worry about fraying.  If the scraps aren't long enough, just knot together.

When you have several strips, just braid around the hanger.  You can keep knotting additional strips until your hanger is wrapped.  The knots just add to the padding.

You need to keep pushing the braid towards the "done" part of the hanger.

Here is a done one:

And a closeup:

For a cleaner, more finished look, you could substitute ribbon or cord, but then it wouldn't be quite as thrifty.  I do have one or two made with stretchy fabric tubing, but I actually prefer the wacky, sticky-outy put-together look of fabric scraps.

Merci Monsieur

Do you know what these are? They look like alien worms don't they? But no, have you heard of George de Mestral?

He is a Swiss engineer and is the inventor of Velcro. I should really say thank-you to him.  As you know, I am quite security conscious, and I swear by Velcro. It is sooo useful.

This purse for instance:

It reminds me of Mary Poppins' bag:

Unfortunately, when it's stuffed to the gills, the flap pops open.  It's because there is only the one handle at the top which tugs on the magnetic clasp.

There is a shoulder strap, but I'm more of a hand-bag or messenger bag person.

So Velcro to the rescue:

Now, even when it's stuffed, I can shake it up and down and it still won't flap open.  All thanks to M. de Mestral.

Embellished Scarf

Remember the scarf from last Monday?  Well, it has dingly-dangly things on it which I've always wanted to replace.  Half of the beads are missing from one end, although it's hard to see in the original post.

I wanted to replace them with one of these sets which I got from my favourite notions store:

Should I go Big or Small?

They were only 99 cents and were 50% off.

I decided on the small ones and measured to see how much I needed:

That's almost 45 inches!

My original idea was to just sew the ribbon onto the edge of the scarf. But, the scarf was wider than I thought.  I only had 2 packages of the smaller beads at 3 feet each.  I didn't want to go back to the store, so decided to cut up the embellishment.  I thought maybe it would look better with fewer beads, not so bling and showy.

I used tape to hold everything in place and just sewed right over it:

Then I just ripped off the tape.  I think this only works with that Magic Transparent Tape - the regular tape probably would not rip easily.

When all the bits are sewn, you have a lovely embellished scarf.

I think it looks okay!  What do you think?

Wreath Refab

It's Thrifty Thursday again.  One of the thrifty money saving things I do every year is shop at the Boxing Day sales.  I used to get a new ornament for the tree every year, but now I wait until Boxing Day to get several ornaments.  Since the tree is still up, I hang them up and we enjoy them for a few days until next year.

A few years ago, I wanted to put a wreath on our front door.  All the ones I looked at pre-Christmas were super-expensive and I considered making my own, I checked out the "ingredients" at Lewiscraft and Michaels, but it seemed quite pricey.  Then, on Boxing Day, I found a rather bedraggled looking one for about $7.  Still not cheap, but to get the supplies and make one myself would've cost way more.

The first year, it was a sorry sight.  Many of the ornaments had fallen or been ripped off - you could see the headless stems.  I added a few gift ornaments to it and left it at that.  Now, I'm always on the lookout for things that can spruce it up, and add to it every year.

Here is this year's pre-Boxing Day wreath:

Still a sorry sight

Originally, only the 2 beige-y things, and the three (you can barely see them) thin gold ornaments with tartan ribbon (2 trumpets and a violin) came with the wreath.  The red apples and pine cones were from tops of Christmas gifts which I snagged over the years for the wreath.  The 2 little ball-like things on the bow are actually hair ornaments!

This year, I got 2 candle holders, some tinsel and some bells. I wanted to add some sparkle and thought the bells might jingle.  The candle holders were cheap (50 cents) and red, so I got them too.

I attached the candle-holders using the tinsel and used some green twist ties to attach the bells.

I started with just one bell per twist tie, but you could barely see the bell in all that green-ness so I ended up attaching two or even all three for greater impact.  The bells don't actually jingle at all but do add a bit of colour.  And I like the sparkly tinsel, so might add more next year.

Here it is post-Boxing Day, ready for next year:

See a difference?

It's actually starting to look like a Christmas wreath!

Update:  Here is the wreath with the new bow from the Panettone:

Lovely Bow from Panettone!

I think it balances out those 2 other beige-y things don't you?  Hmm, I'm noticing the wreath looks lopsided.  It looks fuller on the left.  Will have to do something about that next year.

What do you think of this refab?  I've just added a "Rate This" checkbox to all the posts, so you can use that without having to comment.