Grandma's upcycled melon seed necklace

One of the things I learned from my grandma: creating a melon seed necklace. It might be one of my first experiences with re/upcycling. In fact, it is a very easy thing to do, with a very nice result, which I like to share with you: 

1. Buy a Galia melon
2. Cut it in pieces 
3. Remove the seeds
4. Wash them in water
5. Dry the melon seeds on a paper towel
6. Use thread and a needle to tack them up to a beautiful natural necklace.
7. Enjoy! (and don't forget to eat your melon)

Note: add some other natural colored beats, if one melon doesn't give you enough seeds for a long necklace! 

Yellowed embroidery pattern

I was looking up some thread in one of my 'treasury' boxes (I keep my crafting materials in a couple of  boxes in an empty bedroom), and came across an old embroidery pattern that I ones used in my teenage years, that was completely yellowed. This pattern consisted of all kinds of tiny patterns of leaves, letters, numbers and fruitbaskets.

In the past weeks I created some tiny cross-stitch art-works myself (of a heart and a boat), but I didn't have the courage yet to start stitching letters and numbers myself. This pattern was exactly what I had been looking for on the internet, and now I found it in my own home: a long forgotten treasure. I created some initial tags the day after, embroidering letters on tetrapak tags, which (I can image) are perfect for a wedding or a baby shower.

Upcycled paper and cardboard examples

Since a couple of weeks I started to collect examples of upcycled paper and cardboard. Many people are actually appreciate the beauty of cardboard and paper!

I collect these examples on Pinterest, which is a nice platform for collecting your own interests and combining them with the findings of other people. Check-out my Pinboard!

Tetra pack makes beautiful tag

Ever counted how many tetra packs go through your hands every day? They have the purpose to protect your purchases from any damage during transportation and to make the consumption of your food easier (they help to easilly poor and store your milk, for example). But in a couple of days or even hours you throw them in the garbage can.

Some of those tetra packs have beautiful graphic designs printed on them: besides the brand logo, the name of the product and many product details, they show fruit, grass or even baby's! On the inside tetra has this enchanting silver gleam, that is never seen by the consumer. Tetra is also very thick. It is much thicker than most of the paper or cardboard sheets that you can buy in the DIY store.

I layed aside a couple of tetra packs, to see what I could do with this material. Of course I had to wash it properly. And I found out that the tetra from the tomato soup had become completely red on the inside, which makes it useless. From the tetra packs for milk and juice, I was able to make some pretty nice tags. Using cutting tools for cardboard, I made pieces of 3,5 x 4,5 cm with a star cut-out and a small hole for a ribbon. If you haven't got those punchers to cut a shape out of the tetra, you could also use a sharp knife for detailed cardboard cutting, to create a cut-out.

The juice packs give the tags this extra exotic touch: on the backside they have lovely prints of pineapples, oranges and banana's. Decorating a gift or a treat with these tags is perfect for a birthday, a summer barbecue or even for christmas (although this is still far away :D)