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Michele Made Me

One birdie's attempt to figure things out. Oh, and crafts.

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Series 2: Part 1 – AND THEN THERE WERE TREE

August 6, 2010 by Michele

  Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me2

I’m starting a new series! Yippee! I ranted a teensy tiny itty bit the other day about my 10 part series (The Feast of the Flower which is still going on btw… and, yes I’ll finish it…). But I can’t help myself. I have a 3-part series that’s taking up valuable space in my tiny brain and I have to purge it to make room for thinking.

This series is called “And Then There Were Tree”. Because it’s about making trees. I like plants, K? AnyWAY, I was inspired by Arlette over at the wondrous crafty blog Polka Dot Pineapple. She makes these really cool recycled denim coasters using the remnants of jeans. And so I ran with the denim disc idea and came up with three simple little crafts of my own.

Series 2: Part 1

Today I begin with a tree mirror. Place the mirror in your child’s room or gift it to them as a back-to-school locker decoration!

You will need:

  • the long jean seams that SEEM useless but aren’t (I used the seams from 2 pairs of jeans for all 3 crafts in this series.)
  • those little decorative metal buttony things on jeans
  • a small round mirror (I thrifted mine for pennies.)
  • box board (I used a cereal box.)
  • craft paper (A gift from my artist friend Bubby.)
  • pencil
  • craft glue and a glue gun
  • scissors
  • pins

1. Making Denim Discs:

Take a jean seam.
Jean seam for Denim Tree Mirror
Apply a dab of craft glue on the end of your seam.

Glueing Jean seam for Denim Tree Mirror

 Start coiling the seam around itself.
Coiling Jean seam for Denim Tree Mirror
After some coiling add another dab of glue.
Coiling Jean seam for Denim Tree Mirror 1
Continue this glueing and coiling process until you have a disc. Pin the end in place. Let dry.
Denim Disc for Denim Tree Mirror

Make a bunch of these discs of all different sizes.

Denim Discs for Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me

2. Mirror Design:

Take your mirror and play with the arrangement of denim discs around the mirror. Once you have your design, draw out the shape onto the box board and the craft paper. Cut out both the box board and the craft paper shapes. Don’t forget to cut out the hole for the mirror.
Back of Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me
Make a hanger by sewing a loop of denim onto the top of your box board shape.
Hanger for Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me
Now glue the back of the mirror to the box board shape.
Back of Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me1
Using a glue gun, glue the craft paper shape to the front of the mirror, and THEN using craft glue attach your denim discs to the craft paper.
Detail of Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me1
For a final fun touch, glue on those little decorative metal buttony things from your jeans.
Buttons on Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me1

And your arboreal mirror is DONE!

 Denim Tree Mirror Michele Made Me
Enjoy!

P.S. Today I’m linking!

Funky Junk's Sat Nite SpecialKeeping It Simplemmm buttonCraft Schooling Sun.Post logo

NightOwlCrafting  http://www.thethriftyhome.com

Filed Under: And Then There Were Tree, denim, denim, reuse, Tutorials Tagged With: crafts, home decor, recycling, tree, tutorial

Previous Post: « In the Making: Dolly Donations Part 2
Next Post: In the Making: Crochet Ripple Throw Part 4 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Imperfect Momma says

    August 6, 2010 at 1:39 pm

    SO CUTE!! 🙂

  2. Notjustnat says

    August 6, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    Michele these are great! I can feel the excitement coming through your post. Love it and will try it if you don't mind? Hugs Nat

  3. Anji* says

    August 6, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Michele you are an artist!! I LOVE this, it looks stunning AND it's made from stuff which you might think there was no use for. I want to make one soon.. You are definitely Queen of Thrifty Crafts 🙂

  4. Catherine says

    August 6, 2010 at 9:54 pm

    So clever! A great way to make use of those seams which I would normally throw away. I usually save old jeans for patching other clothing.

  5. Dresden Quilter says

    August 6, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    I want your tiny brain! 🙂 What a great idea!

  6. Sewing Daisies says

    August 7, 2010 at 12:18 am

    ..they would make fantastic gifts – love it!

    xxh

  7. Arlette says

    August 7, 2010 at 8:33 pm

    Michele! What a great project. Love the mirror. Glad to see that you enjoyed the tutorial.
    Aloha!

  8. Eve says

    August 9, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    This mirror is adorable! WHo knew you could make things with the seams from jeans, I've always tossed those away!

    And I just purchased my first glue gun too! Thanks for this idea! 😀

  9. Melissa says

    August 9, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    This is wonderful! Recycled denim is my second favourite fabric to work with (right after vintage linens) and this is just so funky!

    I am hosting a link party this afternoon and I would love it if you joined! (Adding any of your fabulous projects!)

  10. creativejewishmom.com says

    August 9, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Love it! Can't wait to see the rest of the series! Thanks so much for linking up on Craft Schooling Sunday, I look forward to seeing what you've been up to!

  11. Olga says

    August 9, 2010 at 9:09 pm

    This is so awesome! Michele, you always have fantastic craft ideas!

  12. Anja says

    August 9, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    Hi Michele,

    this is really special, never seen before. This post and others of you made me today a fellower. Curious about what comes next! 😉

    Anja

  13. Roeckers says

    August 11, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    WOW!! Love it! Great way to use all those unused parts of my scrap jeans! Definitely going to try this out!

  14. Robin says

    August 11, 2010 at 11:53 pm

    The book pages are adorable. This is a truly great way to recycle (or upcycle as I like to call it.) I love it and would love to see you post this at my linky party Upcycled Awesome!
    http://tinyurl.com/Upcycled9 and come back to my blog for Stashbusting-September. I promise it will be worth your while!

  15. creativejewishmom.com says

    August 13, 2010 at 5:30 am

    Another wonderfully original project! Thanks so very much for sharing on Craft Schooling Sunday, the party is just so much more exciting with you there! all the best!

  16. KJ@letsgoflyakite says

    August 18, 2010 at 9:58 am

    Found you via Until Wednesday Calls. I love this project and love finding Ontario crafty bloggers. I am your newest follower.

  17. Nancy Ward says

    September 15, 2010 at 2:01 pm

    Hi!

    Wanted you to know I posted link to all three parts of this tutorial today on my blog, PaperFriendly.

    Nancy Ward
    PaperFriendly
    http://www.nancywardcrafts.com

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I am ecstatic if you choose to link to this site, use a brief description, one photo, or link back to any of my posts. Do not republish entire posts without my permission. Tutorials, patterns and printables are for your personal use only and are not to be used to make items for sale. Thank you.

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