Candy Everybody Wants

For a while now I have been thinking about how I can create some cute upcycled items for Purplelicious. At the same point that I had that thought I saw a little girl in Target wearing a Skittles headband. That was pretty much all I needed. I started asking everyone to give me candy and snack wrappers. It is funny how the people at work feel like they are making some sort of weakness confession when they hand me candy wrappers. The prize for who collected the most goes to my daughter who would bring home 6-7 snack bag wrappers everyday from school. It caught on so much that one day she was absent and her best friend collected them from her. Here is just a small sample of all of the wrappers I have collected. What's your favorite?



The first creation made with the candy wrappers were bookmarks which I talked about in a previous blog. I have recently made one for myself from a Reese's wrapper.


Then I tested out some wristlet keychains. I brought these to a craft show and I sold a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup one to a guy named Reese. The candy wrapper keychains can work for guys too!


And then of course I made headbands. The headbands have a solid grosgrain ribbon on the back which is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. I had a few more styles of these but they sold at the craft show. Don't worry, I will make more, look at the pic above, I have PLENTY of wrappers!


I can even make custom items with your favorite candy. These were a special order for some good friends.


I am really having a lot of fun making these items and it feels good to convert trash into something fun to wear. I will slowly be adding these to my Etsy shop to keep your eyes peeled! These are a great way to enjoy your favorite candy without the calories...unless of course you are the one giving me the wrapper!

R.I.P. Iron, its been real

Anyone reading this who sews, cooks, crafts, etc knows that you work best on your home turf using the supplies and tools that you are used to. Anytime you have gone over to someone else's house to create your art, it just doesn't feel the same using their tools. There is an exception to this, when I go over to sew at my moms, I have no issue, since all of her sewing tools are pretty much the best you can buy. Though you will still catch me using my own scissors, which are inferior in quality than those at my mom's but it just feels weird using another pair.

About a year ago my sister came up to do a craft show with me and was forced to use my work area for her crafts. Well let's say this was a little difficult for her, mostly in the area of my iron and ironing board. Making my accessories requires a lot of iron use so my ironing board and iron take quite a beating. At that time there was not much left of a my ironing board cover. My sister was kind enough to buy me a new one, which was later destroyed. What I didn't know was that she secretly took a picture of my iron and sent it to my mom. Let's just come right out and say that my iron is a potential safety hazard. It is so old and it has fallen so many times that the plastic cracked at the handle where the wires are. Mind you it still works like a dream and that occasional shock when it is filled with water is normal right?

Fast forward to last month when my sister was in town again and discovered that while I did buy a new ironing board cover (purchased by me a few days before she arrived), I was still using the same iron. I arrived at my mom's one day and was informed that she got me a present! It was a Rowenta Iron!!! This is one of the tools at my mom's that I adore using and might be one of the best irons. I was instructed by my mother to stop using my old iron immediately because it is a safety hazard and start using the new one. Well old habits die hard, that new iron is still in the box but I am busting it out today...no really I am. Before you hate on me, don't act like you don't have something similar to this in your workshop/kitchen. If you do I would love to know what it is and if it is a safety hazard may this blog serve as your intervention that upgrading from a hazardous tool to a shiny new upgraded tool isn't such a bad thing! :-) Happy Creating!