In this day and age of digital media, print is quickly losing its relevance. Instead of sending your much loved print titles to the landfill, why not make 3-D book page art out of them? It’s as easy as recycling an old frame and learning a little origami. For the project shown, I found a book page flower tutorial online and followed the instructions. I then painted the flower with milk paint and added gold for effect. Next, I framed an unaltered book page, then glued the flower to the page and voila! There are so many possible interpretations of this project. Why not create an origami bird instead of the flower, or frame a beautifully illustrated vintage book page without the 3-D origami?
Use a Bottle Top to Seal Plastic Bag
YouTube’s Russian Hacker shows us how to use a bottle top to seal plastic bags and preserve food freshness in the process. This is great for opened bags of rice, dried beans, popcorn or whatever you could possibly think of. All you will need for this hack is an empty plastic beverage bottle, scissors and opened bag of food.
Muffin Pan Drawer Organizer
Put a new spin on those old fashioned muffin tins by turning them into muffin pan drawer organizers! I’m all about reduce, reuse, recycle, anything that involves less crowded landfills. Flea markets, estate sales, thrift stores and yard sales are the perfect hunting ground for old fashioned kitchen ware which can be up-cycled in untold ways. I especially love the way these muffin pans allow me to divide and store my little office supplies without the drawer becoming one big junk drawer.
Attach Rubber Bands to Slippery Knife Handles for Extra Grip
When it comes to cutting things, I’m all thumbs. Others in my house break out in a cold sweat when they see me pick up the butcher knife. I recently discovered that if you attach rubber bands to slippery knife handles for extra grip, you may just save your loved ones from having to drive you to the emergency room. Perhaps it’s not that dramatic for you, but using elastics on knife handles will make all the difference in your chopping endeavors. Use caution with any of the bonus hacks shown in this video, we cringed during several, including when they demonstrate that you should cut away from yourself by first showing someone cutting towards their hand – Yikes!
Up-cycle Old Picture Frames with Milk Paint
Milk paint is a non-toxic, water based paint with pigment added for color. You can make it yourself (online tutorials abound for this) or purchase one of the many brands available on the market today. It comes in powder form and has an almost forever shelf life as long as it is not mixed. To use you just mix it with water according to the manufacturers instructions. I love to breath new life into old picture frames with milk paint. You can get a multitude of interesting effects layering different colors or lightly sand each layer to create a distressed look. You can even create that ultra in vogue crackled paint look by using a specially formulated additive such as Old Fashioned Milk Paint’s Antique Crackle. For the ones pictured, I simply sanded some old frames, added a couple layers of milk paint, then finished with pure tung oil mixed with mineral spirits. For solid coverage and for paint to adhere to non porous surfaces, most companies sell a bond to mixed with the milk paint. I personally like to experiment and there are a multitude of online resources to research before you even lift the brush. Have fun with it!
Make an Antique Window Frame into Art
Spruce up an old window frame and turn it into art. Discarded windows are great finds at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores. Photographer Ruth Rosenfeld of Georgetown, Colorado took this curved Victorian window and used it to frame four of her own photographs of doorways and windows from around town. From one pane to multiple paned windows, the creative possibilities are endless. You will need an old window frame, photograph/s, paint (if you plan on painting your frame) and wood or cardboard. Choose a favorite photograph and have it printed to the size of your window pane. Slide the photograph into window, then apply glue to edges of your wood/cardboard cut-out and attach to frame behind photograph to hold into place.
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