All things new!

I mentioned that I am trying to repurpose and recreate things from old. I did dye some clothing. And for the most part that worked good. But I am LOVING (and I mean LOVING!) remaking some old jewelry. I borrowed hubbies tools and got to work, with a $4.50 pack of jewelry supplies. I have no idea what I am doing, but it's been so fun. Everything is really basic, but I am not fancy so it works for me. So for $4.50 I have a whole new jewelry wardrobe.

An old necklace that had broken, remade into a pair of earings and bracelet

This bracelet I got in Hawaii, it broke, and so my sis in law added some smaller beads, and I used the left over big ones to make earings

This was a necklace I got a year ago at the local thrift store for $1. I loved the beads but it was always too long. I have never worn it. So I shortened it, used some of the bead in the bracelet above, and made earrings too.

Another old necklace that I never wore. Took it apart, made a pair of earrings, bracelet and pendant for my sis in law and myself. This is maybe my favorite.

I am also very pleased with this. My cousin Amanda gave this necklace to me for my 30 th birthday. It had two strands of recycled glass beads- made in Ghana by women.  My cousin is an amazing person and this necklace is a real treasure- but it was too long and too heavy to wear. So I took it apart and made it a little more me. I had beads left over so I made a bracelet. Fun! And its totally unique.

Another cheap necklace that was too long so  I took it apart, shortened it and made earrings from the leftovers.

Worth more than the money I spent to make these pieces is the experience I have been having with recreating and repurposing old things. I am really energized by this experiement and challenge.  

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new again!

Amazing grace how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost but now am found

was blind but now I see.

I was doing some dyeing of clothing and I thought about how I once was discolored and stained (still am actually) and the Lord did something beautiful in me to make me new again. I once was lost but, now I'm found. He took the time to work in me, and often still does, the results aren't perfection, but He is making me more beautiful. Sometimes the changes require breaking me, taking me apart, or just a little sprinkle of something pretty. But the result is always better than it was before, if I just let Him do the work.



This is what I've done with dyeing clothing.

There were 9 pieces of white clothing that had gotten yellowed and needed new life. I bought 4 boxes of RIT dye for $10 (purple, black, blue and red). And I went to work. I am thankful that the laundry room is connected to the kitchen because I could pop back and forth and be with the kids when they needed me. It really wasn't hard at all, and hardly took any time.

 I just used ice cream pails in the sink and mixed and experimented and had lots of fun. Overall I was really excited with the results. Some of the pieces of clothing were pretty worn out, and even a new color couldn't save them, but it was worth a shot. The pieces that did work were more than worth the time, effort and $10 that it cost me to do this! Of the 9 pieces I tried to dye, there are 5 I love, one maybe and 3 that went into the trash. I was prepared for some failure so it was all good.

black, grey, blue and purple

black, grey, purple and red

 

This is the best shot my 4 year old could do...shows the red and grey shirts.

The grey shirt is more than 4 years old... and there was another shirt that I had bought second hand over 6 years ago! So exciting to bring new life to them!

A couple days ago I started fiddling with jewelry too. And I LOVE, love, love it. I don't have pictures of the stuff I did lastnight, but by taking apart a few tired, or broken pieces of jewlery, I have some really great new jewelry that I like way better than the original. Very exciting.

I know that in my life, though Christ made me new years ago, I am often in need of a little repair or shining up. And the thing that I love about my Lord, is that even if the process is long and hard, and the results don't work out the way intended, He doesn't discard me (like I did with some of those shirts) but the keeps trying again and again until something works.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come." 1 Corinthians 5:17