Upcycled Design Lab Blog

New Year New Blog New Name

Hello friends,

 

Just a quick post today to let you know that this will be my last post on Upcycled Design Lab.  It is a new year and I am finally tackling a goal that I have had for some time now, to move to the Wordpress platform.  So all my future post will be there under the name Upcycle Design Lab.  It is a little scary to make this move and I have a lot to learn but I believe that it will be best in the long run and will allow me to ultimately build a better blog.

My plan is to, some time in the future, move the posts from Upcycled Design Lab to Upcycle Design Lab but for now everything will stay where it is and new posts will be added to the new blog.

I can't thank you enough for visiting my little space on the ever expanding internet.  I hope that you will come back here when you need some inspiration and also join me in my new little home on the web.

 

Here is a short video re-capping some of the projects from 2016.  I look forward to sharing some new projects with you in the coming year.

 

 

Wishing you all the best in 2017.

Big Box Upcycled Holiday Decoration (Christmas comes early for the Cat Monsters)

I know last week I said that I was finished decorating but well inspiration struck and I guess that makes me a fibber. It started with a big box and an idea. The idea was that even though we don't have a Christmas Tree this year, we could still have wrapped presents. The only problem with that idea is that I am not one of those people who has all their Christmas shopping done in November and it wouldn't be Christmas Eve if I were not in a last minute panic to get everything wrapped. So I decided to wrap... Read more →

Bed Sheets and Bath Towels Upcycled Christmas Stockings - Dogs vs Cats Episode 7

Hello, Have you finished all of your Christmas decorating yet? I think with this weeks project I am pretty much done. If you have read some of my other posts you may know that we have several new furry friends this Christmas. Their presence in our house has been the impetus for many of my recent projects and has prompted the Cats vs Dogs series. If you have followed this blog for awhile you may also know that the end of last year was quite difficult in terms of losing several of our fur babies in a very short period... Read more →

Upcycled TP Tube Advent Calendar

Hello, I am very late with my post this week since this is actually last weeks post. Still with me? :-) My timing is all messed up with the Thanksgiving Holiday. Anyway if you are in the States I do hope you had a lovely holiday weekend full of good food, family and friends. I will be brief today since I am so far behind. I am trying to get a few "Pet Proof" Christmas decorations up, no Christmas Tree with all the new furry friend this year, but I still wanted a few decorations so I decided to make... Read more →

Quick and Easy Upcycled Christmas Decoration Light Boxes

Hello, Today I have an easy and fast project to share. I have been seeing these pretty glass boxes with Christmas lights inside. Well you know me or maybe you don't but I don't have any glass boxes and I do like to use up the stuff I already have laying around. Awhile back I cut up a bunch of CD's to make some placemats. I know some folks think that is terrible to cut up your cd's but I didn't want them any more. So, sorry if I am making you cringe. Anyway the placemat project left me with... Read more →

Cat Clawed Curtain Camo Repair - Dogs vs Cats Episode 6

Hello from the battle field otherwise known as my living room. The latest casualty is our living room drapes. If you saw the tin can table top cover up post then you know that the big picture window in our living room is one of the favorite locals for both the Cat Monsters and the Dogzilla's. And over the course of the last several months the drapes have taken quite a beating. The Dogzilla's do deserve some credit for a couple of dirty paw prints but most of the credit for the demise of the drapes does have to go... Read more →

The Battle Over Bedding - Dogs vs Cats Episode 5

Our new pups have official turned one year old and while I have explained to them in detail that they are now officially adult dogs, it says so right on their bag of dog food after all, they persist in their endlessly energetic puppy behavior and continue pursuing one of their favorite pastimes.... Chewing. Awhile back we purchased a new foam mattress and with my must save everything DNA I cut up the old one to make dog beds. In what can only be referred to as horrifically lazy, but with the hope that the beds would stay cleaner, I... Read more →

Upcycled - Felted Dryer Lint Minnie Mouse Ears with Faux Wool Roving

I know what you are thinking. Yuck! Right? But really what is dryer lint? It is recently washed and dried fibers from something you wore or slept on or dried yourself off with. And then of course in my case there is a lot of fur from my four legged friends but the hair in the dryer lint is actually cleaner then the pets with whom I snuggle and pat. If you are still grossed out, fear not you can substitute extra wool roving or cotton batting. But me, well I love to use stuff that would by most standards... Read more →

How To Paint Minnie Mouse Costume Shoes

Hello and welcome to the third installment of Minnie Mouse Month. Today we are going to paint some shoes. If you follow this blog you may have seen some previous versions of Minnie Mouse shoes that I have painted. Normally I don't repeat my projects but this is a fun project for me to make and so over the years I have painted quite a few of these shoes. You might be wondering what on earth I would do with several pairs of Minnie Mouse Costume shoes. Well in one of my other lives I sell stuff in My EBay... Read more →

Easy Minnie Mouse Purse Makeover

It's Minnie Mouse Month here is the Lab. In this weeks installment I have an easy purse refashion to go with last weeks Minnie Mouse Skirt Refashion If you are looking for the homemade glue recipe used in the video you can find it here. Happy Upcycling, Read more →

No Sew Minnine Mouse Skirt Refashion

Halloween is just around the corner so I thought I would share this quick and easy skirt refashion. Happy Upcycling, Read more →