Guess the Mystery Thing: An Ornate Silver Flower Pendant.

Whee!  I think it's time for a brand new round of GUESS THE MYSTERY THING!  Anyone can play.  Yes, anyone!  Just take a gander at my latest upcycled necklace:

And see if you can guess the mysterious secret ingredient.  In this case, the oddly shaped, semi-flowery, silvery base of the pendant.  What is that doohick?  I know some of you will recognize it...especially, perhaps, some of my European readers.  It's sort of an Old World Mystery Thing.

How it works: Leave your guess in the comments.  There will be two winners: first correct guess and one random guess.  That's right, a random winner!  So even if you're stumped, guess anyway - you could still win.

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere.  (You don't even have to be a follower of the blog, although I would lurve it if you were.) 

The one and only rule: 

1.  If your email isn't available in one click from an online profile, be sure to include your email address with your guess.

Ready?  Set!  Guess the Mystery Thing!

UPDATE: THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS FOR PLAYING, EVERYBODY!

The Mystery Thing Revealed: is there an Ickthyologist in the house?

Time to reveal the freaky answer to the question "What the heck was that dang Mystery Thing that looked like fishlips, in Mich's most recent Guess the Mystery Thing challenge?"

Before the reveal, let's salute some of the funniest attempts to answer.  Here are this week's Honorable Mentions for Most Creative (Completely Wrong) Guesses:

Alex: half of the plastic body of a clicker for dog-training.

June: the key to Blueberry Muffin's secret hideaway.

Dena: dessicated fish faces sold to seagulls to use to flip shells to find treats.

Terri: eye of newt.  (Totally could be!)

Anne P: mini-DVDs with all of your secrets to making crafts.

Jessi: the little blue toilet cleaner cake from a garden gnome's bathroom.

Heehaha!

Okay, let's find out the answer...

Guess the Mystery Thing: Fish On A Wire.

Hey!  Who wants to play another round of GUESS THE MYSTERY THING?  Everybody, I hope!  If this is your first time, it's super easy.  (Bwahhahaha.)  Simply take a look at the photos of my latest upcycled jewelry creation:

If you are the first person to identify the secret ingredient in these necklaces, you win one!

In this case, the mystery is that round blue dealiemabob - yeah, the part with with those cute little fishlips.  What is that thing?  (Hint: unlike many of my Mystery Things, this time it's pretty obscure.  In other words - not a common household item or anything from the dollar store.)  Good luck, you poor dears! 

How it works: Leave your guess in the comments.  There will be two winners: first correct guess and one random guess.  That's right, a random winner!  So even if you're stumped, guess anyway - you could still win.

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere.  (You don't even have to be a follower of the blog, although I would lurve it if you were.) 

The one and only rule: 

1.  If your email isn't available in one click from an online profile, be sure to include your email address with your guess.

Ready?  Set!  Guess the Mystery Thing!

UPDATE: THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSED!  THANKS FOR PLAYING, EVERYBODY!

The Best Upcycled Rubber Grape Jewelry Tutorial I've Ever Written.

Say you have some rubber grapes.  Say you feel like wearing them.  You could go this route...

Or you could make jewelry.  My mom gave me the idea at an estate sale.  I was tossing aside a big buncha purple grapes as useless, when she said, "Could you use them as beads?"  Oh, brilliant!

You can easily use them 'fresh' off the vine - just treat them like any regular bead.

But I had even more fun with a little shape-shifting.  One simple cut, and look what you get: a cute, tulip-shaped bead cap!

Right now I'm going to show you how to make this pretty, vine-y, silver wirework pendant.

It's easy, adorable, and I am quite sure you will have fun!  Ready?

No-Sew Mini Lampshades, Anyone?

Hi, everybody!  Would you like to see my new tutorial for these cute little no-sew lampshades?

They're upcycled from some well worn, painty old work jeans.

Um, did I mention they're no-sew?  No-sew, people!

To DIY, simply CLICK HERE.  I'm guest posting on Michele Made Me, as part of her month-long series, Drop Dead Denim.

Hope I see you there!

Love Me, Love My Jeans!

Oh boyohboyohboy, September is going to be fun!  That amazing Michele person, over at the wonderful blog Michele Made Me, will be featuring a solid month of upcycled blue jeans!  Here's the event button, which is one of the cutest things evah:

Do not neglect to follow along.  (I shall whisper in your ear that I might just be making a little guest appearance at some point...woot!)

In honor of Michele's cool event, I wanted to share an idea that tweaks one of my very early tutorials.  Does anyone remember my shabby chic Jean Seam Wrap Bracelet?

Well, if you follow the same tutorial, but add a flower to one end - wheeee!  It goes all Boho, and you end up with this:

I am way giddy about it.  I just love wearing this thing.

And if you stretch it out, you get a flower on a stem...

Eureka!  Home decor.

That's a twofer.  And really, who doesn't love a twofer?

Oke doke, thanks for visiting today, you guys.  Check back soon for some more upcycled DIY!