Monday 11 January 2010

Repurposing? Altered Art?

I hate to admit it, but the men in the house did a lot of snacking over Christmas. And I let them. Why? - Because now I have a rather large stash of party sized cheeselet tins, hulahoop tins and twiglet tins. I love them! They are great for storing all sorts of tall and thin things.

But.... they are not the prettiest things, so they have to be tarted up, lol. The look has to be altered. Hence the altered art bit in the title. Except, of course, I am no artist, and my first effort is nothing special. And of course its repurposing as well, because the humble hulahoop tin now has a new lease of life as a knitting needle holder.

You may wonder why on earth I have THAT MANY knitting needles when I don't even knit regularly. Well, I bought a couple of vintage knitting bags a while ago, and one of them had this huge bundle of needles in it. I don't think I will ever need to buy another knitting needle for the rest of my life, lol.


I really love messing around with old papers, photos etc. For this tin I used one page from a tatty old sheet music book, copy of a vintage photo of a girl with her knitting, various bits of illustrations from Victorian knitting patterns and a few words in nice fancy fonts, with the edges darkened to age them a bit.

Definitely an improvement on the original hulahoop tin. And I really got the bit between my teeth now. Need to make pencil holders, scissor holders, errrrmmm, what else? Stuff holders, lol. We'll see.

Thats enough for today, just a short post, too busy making stuff! Actually, I am also trying to sort out things to sell now, as I seriously have to think about parting with about 9/10th of my much loved collections before moving to France.

xx

20 comments:

Michela said...

Lizzie, it's just gorgeus! xxx

Anonymous said...

Hi Lizzie
What a great idea - and so pretty! I inherited my late Mum's knitting needle collection and in spite of her having LOADS I still never seem to find the size that I need...

sadie said...

love it. Simple, useful, beautiful. Just as things should be!

:O)
x

Marigold Jam said...

Lovely and miles nicer than my selection of cocoa tins covered with samples of borders from the DIY wallpaper department. Must add a little something to mine now!

Jane

Victoria - Florence and Mary said...

WOW that looks fantastic!!

Victoria xx

Beki said...

I love altered art and i'm very impressed with yours, it's lovely. You're going to be hooked and have loads of pots everywhere.
If you don't have her on your blog roll then check out Sandy at http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com/
She is very talented and does some amazing stuff.

Elizabethd said...

Inspirational! I shall look at all my tins when we get back.

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Oh dear what a job ahead of you! It's going to be a struggle isn't it dear Lizzie? Anyway love your new tin! I have a tin or two like that so I'll have to remember to do something special with them at some point.

Getting stuck into Lucy's quilt at the moment as her birthday is in a couple of weeks. Nothing like a bit of pressure is there?

Lyn said...

Clever, I like this idea, might have a play around with some tins myself!
Love
Lyn
xxx

Serenata said...

Oh I just love it - absolutely perfect - appeals to me on many levels, my love of music, crafting and knitting. You are a clever lady.

Croap Queen said...

That's very nice madam. Clever old stick.

However, I have to just mention in your shell-like - do you REALLY need another hobby? Snigger.

harmony and rosie said...

I admire your resourcefulness, very impressive and great results too. My daughter raids the recycling bin to do her altered art so we're forever falling over egg boxes in our house!

x

Helsie said...

Love what you've done today and it is so useful too.
Moving to france? Permanently or just on an extended holiday? More information please!
Cheers
Helen

JuanitaTortilla said...

Well, I like the whole idea behind re-using and re-purposing. Nothing should be wasted! Cute little phrases on the tin!

When is this big (or light) move to France?!?!

Andi's English Attic said...

Love it, love it, love it. I had a similar idea about converting a whisky bottle tube but haven't done anything with it yet. Thanks for the pointer and the reminder to get going on the project. xx

Unknown said...

What a great display! You don't NEED to knit when you have a wonderful arrangement in a charming container to enjoy!

Moving to France. To you know how incredibly dreamy that sounds? Especially to someone like me, a million miles from the French countryside.

MarmaladeRose said...

Thats a fantastic idea and so pretty but what I want to know is... what are you keeping in the knitting bags now the knitting needles are in the tins? Hmmmm?

Glad you're joining in with the 20 minutes a day crafting. Forgive me if I don't check in with you every day as I now have 19 bloggers joining in. If I check everyone every day I won't be able to find time for my 20 minutes. Lol.
Anyway there is enough of us now to all encourage each other.

Keep posting your work though.

Love Fi x

Floss said...

It's really well done, Liz - miles away from covering a tin with sticky-back plastic, which is what we used to do in the 70s!

About your needlework magazines - they might interest some of my swappers. Shall I mention you as a prospective swapper and see if anyone sounds keen on the needlework theme?

Suzy's Vintage Attic said...

Hello Lizzie

Happy New Year! I love what you have made with the storage tins and jar! I've been catching up with your past posts. Your dogs look like they love the snow. My cats look funny in it as they try walk through.

Those yarns are absolutely gorgeous. Since getting in to crochets, I love buying yarns even without a particular project in mind.

Take care
Isabelle x

vintage wil said...

Lizzy Your blog is Gorgeous ! iam
happy i find you.

Thanks for you lovely comments on my blog.
xxxWil