Bleached Recycled T-Shirt Covered Recipe Book

Ugly old Photo Binder

 

Pretty New Binder

 


I have this really ugly photo book that I got for free that I have been using as a recipe book.  I write my recipes on index cards and put them in the sleeves.  I have been thinking about recovering it with fabric but don't have any scraps at the moment.  I do however have this old t-shirt that I accidently ruined with superglue that would look awesome with a bleach treatment.  I have never done the bleach treatments before so here is the tutorial.  Did a few things right and a few wrong.  Only way to learn!
 Supplies:
-Cheap paintbrushes (you don't mind if they get ruined)
-book
-old t-shirt
-bleach (I had general cleaner with bleach in it and it worked just as well as plain bleach.  I figured this out by accident, ruined a favorite skirt while cleaning)
-Glue (I used spray glue, modge podge works just as well)
-exacto knives ( used multiple tips that allowed me to get the curves better)
-contact paper
-pattern (optional, printed from online)
-Piece of scrap cardboard

I printed a clipart from online and put it on the clipboard with a piece of contact paper over top.  I used the exacto knives to cut out the clipart from the contact paper. 

Recipes on index cards in the recipe book.  The open book fits on the tee shirt.  I put a piece of cardboard between the layers of the t-shirt so it didn't leak through and make a mess.

To see exactly where to put the images on the t-shirt, I cut pieces of paper the same size as the front cover, binding and back cover.

And laid them out on the t-shirt

I then stuck the contact paper to the t-shirt where the pages were, leaving the binding paper in place as a reference.

 

Here is where things stopped working as I expected.  I used paintbrushes to brush on the bleach...and it bled quite a bit under the contact paper (as you can see from the design on the left).  To compensate, for the design on the right, I used a brush that was much smaller than the cut out area to allow for some bleeding.  I then peeled off the contact paper and hand painted a few flowers in the gaps.  It took about 5-10 minutes for the bleach to fully change the color.  I intended to leave it on for 20 minutes to be sure it set and then this happened....

Before.

After.  The bleach ate the brushes.  It was only a matter of time before it ate into the t-shirt too.

I Washed and dried the tshirt by itself.  I opened the book and laid it across the images.  Traced with a marker, leaving one inch extra on each side and cut it out.

I Rolled the image and press flat with my hands, making sure to get out all of the wrinkles.  Sprayed the front of the book with the spray glue.  Placed the roll on the book making sure to leave an inch around all edges.  Unrolled a little at a time making sure to pull taught to keep any wrinkles from forming.  It takes a little bit for the glue to set so if there is a wrinkle, you should be able to pull the fabric back up and press out the wrinkle with your hands.  Do this for the binding and the back of the book, being careful when spraying not to get glue inside the book. 

When I was done covering the outside of the book, I left an inch of fabric around each edge.  I Used modge podge and a brush, put glue on the book around the edges and press the fabric down flat.  I was not too concerned with flat edges so I didnt cut the fabric very straight (I don't have that kind of patience).  I left it open for the glue to dry. 

Front

Back

 

DIY Recycled Can Cookie/Cracker/Playdough Cutters

I recently came across this blog with instructions and a recipe for DIY Goldfish Crackers and thought it was a wonderful idea for a rainy day for the kids.  Again, I felt the need to make a few adjustments when I made mine.  Instead of making goldfish cutters, since it is the season for Valentine's Day, I made heart cutters.  Also given the edges of the cutters are very sharp when made out of recycled soda cans, I put masking tape around the edges of mine so the kids would have a safe place to grip the cutter without hurting themselves (please note the bottom of these cutters are still sharp, so please supervise your children while doing this activity).  As it only took 15 minutes to make these, they are disposable which makes for easy clean up (since they have tape on them, they wouldn't really be washable, although I suppose they could be reused with playdough).

How to make Heart Shaped Cookie/Cracker/Playdough Cutters:

Step 1: Cut a strip out of the middle of the can about 1" wide

Step 2: Take a piece of masking tape and place it along the top 1/4" of the strip

Trim it to 1/4" and then wrap it around the other side of the strip.

 

This will make the edge you grab when you are making shapes and protects your hands from getting cut.  

Step 3: Using a pair of flat needle nose pliers (or the edge of a ruler if you don't have pliers), bend the middle of the strip at a 90 degree angle. 

Step 4: Use a marker to wrap the strip around, making the top curves of the heart. 

 Step 5: Use the pliers again to make another 90 degree bend for the bottom of the heart

Cut off the excess metal about 1/4" past the bend you just made.

  

This is what the taped edge looks like.  It is ok if it looks uneven or not shaped quite right.  The side that matters is the bottom sharp edge.

  Step 6: Wrap the two sides of the heart around to meet each other.  Make sure the sharp sides match up flat (the top side with the tape does not matter if it is uneven). 








 Step 7: Tape the outside edge together.  If the inside edge sticks out like this, you can trim it.  Sometimes you may need to wrap the side around the marker slightly to make the inside edge lay flat.

Note: You can make yours any size you want.  Mine ended up being about an 1" as I wanted to make these goldfish size.  The oval shaped one I made to make the petals of a flower.  You can make any shape you want.  Be careful of the creases, anything more than a 90 degree angle can actually break the strip in half; at least that's what happened to me!