Several years ago I used recycled wool sweaters to create these Christmas stockings for our family.   Each year we get to experience the pleasure of filling each other’s stockings – giving each person a wide selection of small yet thoughtful tokens of love.  For instance, Bill knows how much I adore the scent of lemon verbena so he often hunts down special lotions or soaps that are infused with this fresh smelling fragrance.  And since Brook loves shimmery lip gloss, I always tuck several of these treats inside her stocking along with many other “thinking of you” items.   We don’t actually fill our stockings until Christmas Eve, but I like to hang them up early with some scrunched-up sheets of tissue paper inside.   This way we get to enjoy them a little bit longer, extending the holiday spirit.

Yesterday I whipped up a few mini-stockings (also made from recycled wool sweaters) to hand out during the holidays.    After this impromptu sewing session, I still have a decent pile of recycled wool remnants left over which will be perfect for making Valentine’s Day gifts.   Since we’ll be staying home for the Christmas holiday break, I’m planning to fit in some special time with Brook, and maybe do some art projects together.  Brook is very much like me.  She loves to spend countless hours making all kinds of things, especially teeny-tiny things, using lots of this n’ that.

But before I move too quickly towards Valentine’s Day projects, here’s another Christmas holiday project that I created using a recycled wool sweater.    This Advent Calendar (published in Somerset Life – August 2008) has tiny pockets made from recycled dryer sheets.  Inside each pocket I tucked mini birthday candles with numbered tags (1-24) tied on with plain cotton string.   The “Peace on Earth” tag is also made from a natural material (peat pot) and the hanging star (purchased in a local shop) is made from organic cotton batting.    There seems to be an endless supply of natural and recycled materials all around, which is sure to keep me busy all year round.

Soon it will be needle felting season again and I’m sure that I’ll be busy making more birds.  This year I plan to experiment with different bird poses by possibly placing them inside of something.  We’ll see.    Anyway, here’s a look at a couple of my past pieces.  

And here’s a fabric book that I made to display a collection of vintage bird cards.   To create semi-transparent pockets for the cards I used recycled tea-dyed dryer sheets. 

Imagine what you can do with nothing but a bunch of recycled and free materials. That’s what I do most of the time, and this is an example. Here’s a list of what was used for this “free bird”:

1.  bird base – scrap fabric cut and sewn into a bird shape and stuffed with more scrap fabric
2.  bird’s eyes – black-tipped straight pins from my sewing supply stash
3.  fluffy bird texture – created from hand torn pieces of tea-dyed used dryer sheets
4.  “imagine” detail – from my scrap paper pile
5.  bird stand – two stacked garden spout handles

By the way, does anyone remember the Lynyrd Skynrd song “Free Bird?”  Back in the day (high school for me) this song was a huge hit and all the guys in school were freakishly crazy for it.   Does anyone remember how most of the leather-jacket-wearing-guys used to play air guitar (lol!)  I never fully understood the draw, but I probably didn’t bother to investigate it much either.  Anyone care to explain?  Wikipedia reminded me of the lyrics:  “If I leave here tomorrow would you still remember me?”   As I read these lines I could practically hear the tune in my head.   Isn’t it interesting how music has the power to stick with you even after decades have gone by?  And while listening to, or in this case merely thinking about a verse, I was instantly transported to another time, another place, another me (?)  Totally bizaare!

Practically nothing goes to waste in our household.  Here’s a batch of miscellaneous materials that were just given a coffee bath.   For a time-worn look, I dye ribbon, trim and used dryer sheets in a mixture consisting of coffee leftover from the morning’s brew and tap water (a 50/50 blend.)      Notice that this batch sits on top of a brown paper grocery bag which I’ll most likely use again since it’s now nicely stained with coffee.

This might seem a bit frugal but I think that it’s a good idea to reuse what I already have on hand.    This way I won’t be wasting any unnecessary time or money running out to buy more supplies.  Instead, I can use  this precious time to play around in my studio…while drinking a cup of coffee!