Recycling Works!

Turning rescued and recycled materials into useful and beautiful items.

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I am recycling an old music book into origami wreath ornaments for a Christmas tree. A little cutting and folding gets me here. I have to add a nylon thread hanger, drop of glue, and spray acrylic before they are ready. Staying busy during the stay at home.

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I create wonderful origami wreath ornaments from rescued wallpaper samples. I cut and fold the wallpaper into beautiful Christmas tree ornaments giving it a beautiful second life. A add the sections with a dab of glue so they won't fall apart. I finish each off with a nearly invisible nylon thread hanger and they are ready for unique decorating. Wallpaper comes in such a variety of colors, textures, finishes, and patterns. It is nice when I find the same pattern in several colors. Many samples are only big enough for a few wreaths. Recycling really works. Perfect for an ornament exchange or a unique ornament collector. Visit my shop for one of a kind Christmas decorating!

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Christmas die cut flowers in a festive holly print. These five petal flowers in a holiday design are ready for card or bookmark making, collage, scrapbooks, or any altered art project that needs a special Christmas flower.

Please see my shop for interesting die cut sets. I work with designer samples of fabric, leather, wallpaper, and interesting prints.

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Polar bears made from my acid free 110 pound white cardstock scraps. I have some brown wallpaper bears in my shop too along with fabric, leather, and vinyl flowers. Wonderful recycling in action!

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My husband has been making and playing guitars for many years. I ran across a pick punch online and he will never buy another of his favorite picks again. He prefers to use the larger 346 rounded triangle pick instead of the smaller standard 351.

I looked at a cat sand jug before tossing in recycle, and just look what it has become! I cut the flat sides out and washed off the dust. He has been playing with his new green picks and says they are a medium weight. Find them in my shop.

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A big thank you to those who donate their used cards to SCRAP, Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts, in San Francisco. I glue rescued white card stock to the back and die cut out the cutest Christmas gift tags. Unwanted cards are given a second life of usefulness, and may even be used as charming bookmarks.

Please visit my Shop for a selection of recycled cards to enjoy year round.

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10 posts! I hit the first milestone. What a surprise.

With the redefining of handmade going on, it is nice to know that zibbet is a truly handmade by the artist market. No manufactured items allowed. Each piece is lovingly made and sold by the artist. Stop by and visit my shop. Give them a try!

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Ready for Valentine's Day. Some rescued fabric from SCRAP and a paper tube heading to paper recycling are transformed into this fabric lined gift pouch. The bottom is rotated 90 degrees from the top in this special design.

► About 4.5 inches tall, 11.43 cm ► 2.5 inches wide, 6.35 cm ► Fabric lined with choice of ribbon color

The perfect size for a small treasure, earrings, a bracelet or necklace. If you give a gift of cash or check year round to a loved one, this special ‘envelope’ will really make an impression.

Visit my shop for a selection of unique gift wrapping.

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I needed a gift bag for my brother's birthday. I made good use of the Sunday comic section, and that was the beginning of my comic gift bag collection. I glue weekday comics on the inside to give the paper more strength. Rescued green yarn is crocheted into handles and there you have it.....a very unique gift bag. Visit my shop and I will make one for you.

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My husband grew up in Central America where pine trees at Christmas were scarce. A coffee tree would be used, either painted white or wrapped with white material, to hang their ornaments.

When I needed a craft fair display for my ornaments, he went to our yard and made one. It’s not from a coffee tree, but it worked beautifully, and he was able to reminisce.

These can tab flowers will be a new offering in my shop this year. Inspired by pop cap creations, here is more proof that Recycling Works!

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Exclusive Fabric Gift Pouch –

I make reusable fabric gift pouches from charming rescued fabrics, perfect for any small treasure. A paper tube is the base for this exceptional fully lined fabric envelope. The ends are closed at 90 degrees from each other in my interesting design.

This eye-catching wrapping adds anticipation and excitement resting on a Christmas tree branch. The perfect way to dress up any gift of cash or check. Makes a beautiful year round gift basket addition. You can even use them for special hunting prizes at Easter.

These treasure bags measure about 4.5 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide.

Stop by my shop to see a selection of fabulous pouches.

If you are looking for ‘WOW’ factor for your special gift giving, look no further!

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The Upcycled Berry Basket, elegant and useful -

Fabric and plastic heading for landfill come together in my charming decorative baskets.

How many berry baskets have I tossed over the years? I look at them quite differently now. It may be possible to cover nearly anything: Take careful measurements, make a pattern adding seam allowance, cut it out, and sew it up. The actual construction may require a blend of machine and hand stitching or glue, but with some trial and error, and steadfast persistence- voila!

Use a basket for mints at your desk or a craft fair - what a conversation piece! I keep one at my desk to corral bits and pieces. I even stick stray pins on the side.

They make great gift baskets for wee treasures. Stop by my shop for more beautiful baskets. This berry basket has truly been upcycled!

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I wanted a very unique gift tag for my dad on Father's Day. I was looking over a frozen pizza box to read the cooking instructions when I celebrated that aha moment!

It will also make a wonderful bookmark for the book I gave him.

Stop by my shop to see an array of unique and interesting gift tags.

Recycling Works!

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Paint Sample Flowers

Rescuing recycled materials usually means working with limited color choices. Discarded paint samples diverted from landfill come in an unbelievable range of colors with amusing names, and my one-of-a-kind selection is ever-changing. With such small paint cards, I unfortunately am able to use each color only 1 to 4 times with my larger die cuts.

Can you believe all this useful crafting material was heading to the dump?

If you are looking for flowers ready to use in your crafting projects, please stop by my shop for a pleasant, dynamic selection of colors and designs. Most of my flower sets are presented sewn to paper in a cellophane bag, making them the perfect eye-catching addition to any gift basket for a crafty person.

I use a Sizzix die cut machine and dies to make my garden of paper flowers. These designs are copyrighted by Sizzix and used with permission per their angel policy.

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Designer Fabric Gift Tags

Gift wrapping sets the tone for your present’s presentation, adding value and increasing anticipation for its contents to be revealed. An eye-catching fabric gift tag makes a statement about your unique and thoughtful packaging. My fabric tags are backed with white cardstock ready for your message of good cheer, and make useful bookmarks, adding an additional little gift to your present.

I get many of my fabrics from FabMo, a wonderful nonprofit that diverts discontinued designer samples from our local landfill. These rescued textiles have wonderful patterns, textures, and colors, which make beautiful and unexpected gift tags, and are the perfect focal point for a solid color coordinating wrapping paper. Most of my white cardstock is recycled making these 100% recycled – upcycling at its best!

My tags are available in 3 sizes: ► 4 x 2.25 inches, 10.16 x 5.72 cm ► 2.75 x 1.5 inches, 6.98 x 3.81 cm ► 2 x 1 inch, 5.08 x 2.54 cm

I use a Sizzix die cut machine and dies to make my delightful gift tags. These designs are copyrighted by Sizzix and used with permission per their angel policy. If you are looking for a set of awesome gift tags that will have you tagging year-round with flair, please stop by my shop for a wide selection of colors and designs.

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Designer Fabric Pincushions

I like to sew, and admittedly use finger pinning whenever possible, but pins are necessary when working with unruly fabrics or for a complicated seam. Pincushion, pin keep, or pin corral, whatever you call it, having one handy for those tricky sharps, which are always wondering off, is essential.

  Anyone who sews needs more than one pincushion; one at the machine to collect pins, one in the mannequin’s neck, one or two in the cutting area, and one in each of your portable project baskets. It is so convenient to move these cushions between work areas as the pins migrate. Pincushions should be fun, colorful and add energy to your work area.

  The charming pin keeps I make are made of 100% rescued or recycled materials. I use discontinued designer upholstery samples and foam packing that would otherwise end up in landfill, and even get most of my thread from a crafter’s recycling shop, where thankfully unwanted items are donated instead of tossed. The recycled foam comes in many shapes making my pin keeps as unique in size as they are in fabric design. Since most of the pins I use are the long quilting ones, a piece of rescued plastic or chipboard sits on the bottom of the shorter pin keeps to protect your fingers.

Unfortunately I no longer offer pincushions online. Please visit my shop to see what exciting recycling I have been up to.

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Washing Machine Lint Traps

Many of the fabrics we enjoy today are made with synthetic materials and shed their inorganic fibers in the washer and dryer. Together with hair, pet fur, and other materials, a layer of sludge is created in our pipes, which over time can lead to blockages.

The tremendous amount of lint discharged from the washing machine will strain any septic system, and if you have a septic system, you know the importance of filtering inorganic and other indigestible materials. Reducing the sludge layer lengthens the time between pumpings.

For years I purchase aluminum filters from the hardware store, then one day I looked at a bag of lemons and the idea hit me - Why not use the mesh from the produce bag as a filter? Thus began the evolution of my washing machine lint screen filters, and I have never bought another lint trap from the hardware store!

Simply put: If you don't want it down the drain, you have to strain. I am a great fan of recycling and have used many materials over the years. No surprise that the smaller the weave, the more it is going to catch.

I tried old nylons, but found that the snags and runs do not strain very well. Nylons themselves have a tight weave and must be changed very often to avoid damaging the washing machine. Never restrict your washer's discharge flow rate.

I reached the happy medium between results and serviceability with tulle. Since I use rescued materials from various sources, the colors of my filters often change, but provide the same great filtering service. If you do not have the time or inclination to sew up your own filters, I am happy to make them for you and have several filter packs available in my shop.