Altered Stationery Box Turned Sewing Stash Box

My son gave me a boxed set of stationery eons ago, and I have a thing for boxes and save everything he's ever given me, so this box sat empty in a drawer for over a decade.

I've recently fallen in love with altered art in all its forms, so it was only a matter of time before I remembered the existence of this box, and tried my hand at turning it into a useful item.

The image of the ladies came from a photocopy of an Advantage sewing pattern from the early 1960s and was printed using an office laser printer (Shhh!), and the embellishments were items I gathered up from my sewing stash.

I haven't quite decided it I've achieved maximum overkill with all the elements I've added because I tend to keep things simple, but it's growing on me.

I keep it on end table within reach of where I sit on my couch and it's filled with the items I am constantly in need of when I'm hand sewing, because I'm too lazy to run a flight of stairs to retrieve them.

Here's the before shot:

Upcycled Bucket to Clothes Peg Holder

I've been using a redneck Margarita cocktail bucket to store my clothes pegs in for three years now.  It's great because it keeps my pegs dry, I'm able to hang it from a post within reach from my clothesline, and it's just the right size.

It's become grody over the years, and since everything else about it is perfect, I decided to cover it.

I'll give you some tips on how I did it after the break.

Mouse In An Anchovie Tin With Tutorial

I made this mouse for a friend who travels around the world, and brings a similar mouse I made for him for company.  He shoots photos of Ivan the mouse bungee jumping in Australia, touring the Pyramids at Giza climbing Kilimanjaro, and the list goes on.  I think I counted 30 or more places in the world Ivan has been so far with my friend Jyriki.  I thought Ivan could use a friend other than a human, so I sent him Fu.  I'm placing a tutorial after the cut.

Altered Round CD Case

I altered this CD case which is holding my circular knitting needles.  The echinacea was simply cut out of thick woven cotton, each piece separately.  I stitched around the pieces and then coloured them with markers.  The head of the flower is done in french knots.

I love how the butterfly turned out, he was drawn onto thin cotton and then embroidered.  His body, legs and antenna are drawn in ink.

The zipper pull is an earring I haven't worn in ages, and I took the second one apart and glued down the beads.

The lyric was printed on tissue paper and Mod Podged, and it's still wet in this photo but will dry completely clear.  It says 'and I think to myself, what a wonderful world'  for those who are curious.

I know that I'm going to be changing a few things on this because it doesn't feel right to me yet. 

The basic construction is similar to the little tutorial I posted here

And here is the before.

  
I was in the process of removing the zipper and handle, and remembered to take a shot.

Recycled Battenburg Lace

I took down and stored some Battenburg lace valences when I redecorated a guest room and now I've used the lace to make pillows.

The valences were too narrow to make pillows, so I carefully removed the lace with a seam ripper and sewed it to the new fabric, then stitched up the new pillows.

 There is almost always a reason to hang onto everything!