Upcycled Jean Pocket Coasters

Upcycle jean pockets into coasters (new sewing required)

I’ve been working (like everyone else) on purging items from my home that no longer belong. I’m not so much in the “does it spark joy” camp, as I am in the “why do I still have this sh*t” camp.

I’ve actually found the clothes closet the easiest place to work – I have a small box in the back and anytime I put something on, only to take it off again because it isn’t right somehow, I drop it in the box. Maybe it doesn’t fit, maybe it has a hole, maybe I have never found a matching shirt, whatever it is, if I keep on not wearing it, it has to find a new home.

Of course, the box does present a dilemma – donate or turn into crafts?

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Roasted Chickpeas

Roasted chickpeas come together with just a can of beans, spices and some oven time.

Roasted chickpeas (or garbanzo beans) are another one of those recipes that is more of technique than an actual list of steps and measurements.

And it’s been posted in some form or another all over the food blogs.

But I’m going to put it here at SuzerSpace, too, because it’s a staple in our house.

It ticks all the boxes – super simple to make, inexpensive, tasty and good for you.

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Teeny Tiny Tip: Folded Plastic Bags

Just about everyone has a bag/box/drawer full of plastic bags from the grocery store. And there is no denying they have a seemingly endless list of uses (dog pick-up bags and trash bag liners for small trash cans are my top two).

But storing them in that tangled mess is not great.

Fortunately, if you ever went to fourth grade and played flick football, you already have a solution. Or we can call it origami and sound much more upscale! 🙂

Flatten out each trash bag and fold it in half so the loops line up.

Fold plastic bags into a football shape to save room

And fold that in half again.

Fold plastic bags into a football shape to save room

And then start folding in a triangle from the non loop side.

Fold plastic bags into a football shape to save room

Twist the loop over the finished football shape and you are done. A pile of these takes up much less space than a pile of squished up bags.

Fold plastic bags into a football shape to save room

 

Show and Tell: Rolled Flowers

Testing a cut file to make a rolled paper rose wreath

I almost always test cut projects out of 80# white smooth coverstock.

This project came to me from my Pinterest feed, and landed me at Unoriginal Mom’s post on Paper Rosette Wreaths.

She credits another crafter for the inspiration. (Side note: I totally love the craft blog community. It doesn’t feel competitive as much as it feels cooperative.)

In her post, Unoriginal Mom is even friendly enough to give away her cut file.

Which works perfectly. I test cut several flowers of various sizes. They are easy to assemble. And I can see how her process of making all the flowers and gluing them while binge-watching TV and then assembling the wreath would work.

But I can also see I’m not going to follow through with this one.  I’m sure it would be worth it, but I don’t want to end up with a big paper bag of roses that never become anything.

I do have visions of cutting them out of pastel paper and making magnets or gift wrap toppers.