Tutorial: How to make Stars

Last night was the Pleasant Grove Promenade event at the city's downtown park. It was so wonderful to share in everyone's evening and the weather was nice. (It was a wet week, so I was happy for a dry day, because I didn't have a tent!) I met all kinds of people and heard stories of all kinds, from the one about the mechanically minded grandfather right down to the one about the rickety sewing table.

My upcycle critters got admired by everyone. I met those that appreciated my upcycles, and those that were DYI people like me who were interested in my tutorials. I got requests for tutorials on my toddler aprons, and will be very happy to oblige. First, I am going to get the tutorials started with a simple project; the toilet paper roll star.

This may sound a bit unclassy, but I made and handed out lots of these last night, and many people seemed to really appreciate them. One sweet lady said, "I don't know what to do with this." I tried to explain to her what an ornie is, an ornament that is just to decorate and not necessarily for Christmas. She settled on saving it for Christmas. She was so cute!

First, get your empty toilet paper roll on a flat surface, and make it flat.
Next, use scissors to cut it width wise so that there are 5 equal parts.
Next, use white school glue to glue the bottom third of two of the roll parts together and hold them for 30 seconds to one minute until glue starts to hold.
Repeat 3rd step and then use the same method to glue the two "doubles" to eachother. Glue remaining roll piece in between the gap in the opposite side and hold once again until glue starts to set.


These cute critters can become a garland, they can be painted, and they can be expanded. Here is one of the stars I gave out last night. It was from an empty aluminum foil roll.

Enjoy! This is also an easy and fun one to do with kids.

Upcycled Menagerie

My name is Celeste. I have a public confession to make. I have some kind of disease where I have to create things. It can lie in remission for fairly long periods of time, but there will inevitably be another break out.

The most sustainable way to create is by upcycling. Old fabrics, scraps, and even some types of trash can be made into something creative, and maybe even functional. Here are some of the recent suspects in my zoo of upcycled critters.
Stayed tuned for tutorials on doing your own upcycling at home!