my thrifty upcycled projects

 Today I wanted to post some of the projects that I have been working on this past week .
I started paper beading thanks to Paper Bead Girl, you can also find her on Facebook and Etsy.

Anyways a few months back she held a contest for some supplies and I won! I finally got around to trying to make some of them and this is what I got so far.

 Last summer I found some great garland on Etsy for sale and decided I would give it a try. They are tons of different paper garland strands on Etsy in every color shape and size For Christmas my family gave me a gift card to Michale's Arts and Crafts. I used it all up buying knitting supplies and yarns to make a blanket. But i got one of their awesome 40% off one regularly priced item coupons. So I went out a bought a circle punch (I love circles). In my continuous effort to be more green I decided that I would use old bill envelopes (I have a million). On some of the envelopes there are these great patterns and I thought that with a bunch of different ones all mixed up it might turn out pretty. I think it did. 

 I got to work punching and sewing the circles together. These are just some pictures of my finished work.

This was my first attempt at knitting. I love the colors, textures and feeling of yarns that are just meant for knitting. I decided that after one of  my visit to Gift and Thrift in Harrisonburg that I would start a scarf (that's an easy first project). I got this pink yarn for only  $1 at Gift and Thrift months ago a put it away with the rest of my unfinished projects. I had the grey already and they looked like the same kind of yarn so why not use them together. The scarf is for my niece's birthday she is turning five. 

 I needed to do something about all these strings.

 So I weaved them back in but thought since I really didn't like the way the finished ends looked I would change it up.

 I folded over part of the end to make a pocket for my neice's small hands. Isn't that cute and it will keep her hands warm.