Recycled Game Pieces

 Welcome!

DesignDistressed; Etsy

Recently I have been bitten by the 

Spring Cleaning Bug.

 I’ve been going through boxes that I haven’t looked at for a very long time. I am determined to get my craft room and basement organized! Everything has a place or out it goes.

Yikes!

I am finding all sorts of treasures. Which brings me to today’s theme -

Game pieces

Most of us have a favorite game tucked away with missing pieces, but we can’t quite bear to throw it away.

Etsy

Let’s get those out and craft something with it instead!

I have grouped ideas by game piece type, starting with Monopoly.

Monopoly money is a natural to use as a decoupage paper:

K G

Here is a playful way to add some fun to your family room:

Messy Mimi; Pinterest

The money is also a perfect size for bookmarks:

NovelIdeasByHannah; Etsy

This clever crafter turned it into a rolled paper money bracelet:

Etsy

You can turn almost anything paper based into kitschy little notebooks:

BeachBumPanamaCity, Etsy

Shannon Klint; Pinterest

Which brings me to the property cards and a unique necklace:

Bridget VanGinkel; Pinterest

I’m not forgetting the board itself; here are a couple clever recycle ideas:

Emily Minter-Phakos 

A cork bulletin board!

Or perhaps a jewelry box?

Pinterest

I found several different styles of purses made from game boards:

ReFunktionJunktion; Etsy

Mugwump; Etsy

Smith Galleries; Pinterest

You can easily find directions on how to make these on Pinterest.

Here’s a larger notebook, using the game board:

Artsy Lady Book by photos; Flickr 

There are so many creative ideas out there for repurposing the Scrabble tiles. Here are just a few:

A resurfaced side table:

Daniel Aisenbrey; Pinterest

…clever coaster sets with scrabble tile words-

Nana; Pinterest

Pinterest

Why not make a few custom keychains as gifts?:

Handmadebyjmt; Pinterest

Next I have some ornaments. You can take just about any ornament idea and adapt it to these game tiles-

ScrabbleTileOrnament; Etsy

Marie Huerta

Original scrabble tile ornament by inkspired

Here’s a clever idea if your dishwasher has metal on it:

EtsyCA; Pinterest

How about a message board for jotting down notes, poems or inspirational ideas? I like this one that is metal, covered with old dictionary pages. Then each letter has a magnet on the back-

Homemade is better; Pinterest

If you have been around kids at all you have probably come across a stray Lego piece…or two. Next I have found a few ideas about things to create with Legos-

Pinterest

I like the idea of a little platform at each hour, so you can change your Lego clock pieces around to suit the seasons or your mood.

Next, 2 uses for a cup shaped from Legos-

Photo Grid; Pinterest

…and a tissue box cover-

Found many styles on Pinterest

Office decor more your style?-

BuzzFeed; Pinterest

I love this Lego cable guy!

You can make tacks easily, although I would glue them together so the tack doesn’t fall apart with use-

PillarBoxBlue; Pinterest

This color coded key rack would be perfect for a house with many cars, or padlocks, mailboxes, etc.-

Awesomer Media; Pinterest

Let’s finish today with some ideas for all those dice that are rolling around in your game drawer. Spiff up the family room decor with drawer pulls!-

Dollar Store Crafter

Add in some cool wall decor-

My Artist’s Home

…and a charming bracelet for that game girl you know-

Etsy Ireland

I hope you have been inspired to try out a few of these ideas. I know I have!

Check with your friends also, they may be very happy to give you game pieces from partial games they no longer play. I have found several pieces at garage sales too.

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Jewelry Alphabet Letters

 Welcome!

Found on eBay

I’m so happy you’re here!

Today I want to combine a few of my favorite things into one blog -

1. Jewelry

2. Alphabets

3. Anything Sparkly

4. Anything Crafty

Let’s get started with an alphabet made up entirely of old, discarded jewelry.

Elo 7

B Juliana Leo

To make your own monogram, start with a papier-mâché letter. My local crafts stores have these.

Paint it a base color. Pick a neutral that will show off the sparkly jewelry you will be adding.

Or

Choose a color in your decorating palette.

Etsy

Michelle Harisson, Etsy

Gather a LOT of broken and discarded jewelry pieces. You can many times find bags of jewelry at thrift stores for a small amount of $$.

Ask friends and family to save their old jewelry for you also.

eBay

This artist chose to mount their work onto a piece of lace, stretched in a frame.

Start laying your jewelry pieces out until you get an arrangement that pleases you. The better looking ones I have seen do not skimp on the amount of jewelry you use to fill the design out.

To make your design stand out, try to collect jewelry in one color family.
For instance, all warm oranges and yellows, or all cool blues.

Leslie Martin

Ms. Martin chose to use Red and its complimentary color of Green.
If you cannot find the letter you want in papier-mâché you can draw your letter onto a simple piece of linen. After finishing you may frame it as shown above.

Teresa Lester, Pinterest

I love the inclusion of a watch face in the above sample.

This next one has used alphabet beads and small charms to fill out spaces in the letter.

STF, Pinterest

Pinterest

Don’t you love the pink frou-frou pin at the end of that ‘J’?
Don’t be afraid to go outside the lines, just keep the basic shape of your letter intact.

Etsy

Once you have an arrangement you like, get out the glue!

My favorite glue is Aleene’s Tacky Glue in the gold bottle.

Etsy

Juhana Begum, Pinterest

Take your time and glue down one piece at a time. You can use binder clips or clothespins to help hold some pieces in place. I have even used small plastic bottles to help prop up pieces until the glue is dry enough on its own.

Etsy

Take a look at the letter ‘O’. It uses some great design principles that are good to know.

First, use 3 or 5 items that are similar. The ‘O’ has large pearl jewelry for this.

They are evenly spaced out without being rigid in placement.

Bobbi Wolf, Pinterest

Bobbi Wolf has used another good design principle - choose something to ‘tie’ it all together. You want the uniqueness of each piece of jewelry, but you also need a cohesiveness to make it pleasing. In the letter ‘P’ it is the chain that outlines the piece. Using the string of pearls on part of it does not detract but still adds to the overall feel of ‘this belongs together’.

I couldn’t find a ‘Q’ so this is my substitute.

Mary Garrett, Pinterest

Your brain likes to make sense of things. Using a chain, or perhaps small beads to fill in gaps, or a repeating theme such as white buttons makes your brain happy!

Principle #3- symmetry is ok too! In the ‘Q’ the artist used 4 large pieces to anchor the design, spaced evenly.

Elo 7

Gemsandjewelsbyangie, Etsy 

In the letter ‘R’ a pretty brooch has been used as a focal piece, almost like a big bow, at the top corner. In the letter ‘S’ the focal piece is the large owl, placed at the end of the S stroke. Both work!

Etsy

Grandmajosworkshop

I recommend, by the way, Tacky glue and NOT a hot glue gun. Hot glue leaves those ugly strings unless you are a real pro using it (I am not!). Costume jewelry is made from a variety of materials. Not all of them may be compatible with hot glue. Use a low temp glue gun? You could, but you have to be exact in your placement.

I like the option of sliding my pieces around a bit to fit better.

Sonya Lovely-Bagley

Desiree Weinandt, Pinterest

‘X’ and ‘Z’ are not popular letters to be found in a Craft store, so I will end with the letter ‘Y’.

Etsy

I do hope you try this beautiful craft. Send me photos!

‘Til next time,

inkspired