Tissue Box Cover

The first project for the juice pouch bathroom makeover is done.
This is the prototype for the tissue box cover.

I was glad to find the juice pouch was just the right proportion to make a box big enough to cover the tissue box. It took ten juice pouches total to complete it and I think it came out pretty well. One of the things that I have to work on is the opening in the top. I think the opening needs to be a little wider so that the tissue comes out more easily and doesn't pick up the whole box when you grab one. Another design feature that I will want to include in the next one is some sort of bottom piece to keep the cover securely on the box. I think I will be able to add that feature to this one and test it out to make sure it works.
The next project I think that I will take on is making a trash can out of juice pouches. Should be pretty simple but let's see if I can make it a little more interesting. I could just make a box shape the right size but that would not be a challenge and very boring.
The shower curtain is going to take the most work so I am saving that one for a rainy day.

The Bathroom Challenge

Inspired by a "how to" video that turned empty toothpaste tubes into a toothbrush holder, I got to thinking, what if I could do an entire bathroom with juice pouches? Shower curtain, tissue box, toothbrush holder.... The possibilities are endless and it would be quite the challenge.
So today I decided to start small, but still challenging, with something that I have not tried before. I have already made small containers that can serve as tooth-brush holder so that's not much of a challenge and I will have to work up to the massive project that making a shower curtain will be so that leaves me with..... the tissue box.
Here is my plan-
Step one- measure the tissue box
Step two- figure out a pattern with the juice pouches
Step three- figure out how to make the slot in the top of the box. (that's the challenging part)
and
Step four- sew it all together
Thankfully my sons' bathroom makes the perfect testing ground for my creations. We'll see how I can transform this small bathroom into juice pouch craziness with some juice pouch know how, a lot of imagination, and a little bit of design.

Other Trash to Treasure

I have a love of taking things out of the trash and fixing them up. When I was growing up in Colorado my friends and I would go to a dumpster behind the thrift store down the street. It was a treasure trove of things.
I don't go dumpster diving any more but I have been known to pick things up from the side of the road and I even enlist my family for help. After telling my dad that I wanted an old desk for my son's room, he and my husband got in the truck went up the street and picked up one that had been set out on the street for trash pick up.
I love mixing old things with new things in my home decor and I love finding new uses for things that no one has thought of. I have come to believe that if you look closely you can find the beauty and usefulness in just about anything and all it takes to bring it out is some cleaning, maybe a little paint, some glue, and a screw or two.
Getting "Locked Into Design" is not just about recycling juice pouches. It's about using art and design, imagination, and a little elbow grease to turn even trash into beautiful things.
Here are some of the things that I have recovered.



The chair I found at a thrift store for $5. It was originally blue and white with paint splattered all over it. I spray painted it, recovered the seat and the back, and replaced a few of the screws. It sits in my kitchen and serves as step stool, time out chair and extra seating.
The shutter I found at an architectural salvage yard and it cost me $2. After cleaning it and sanding it I decided to leave it the natural wood and just replace a few of the slats. I added a knob with a brushed nickel finish to dress it up and make it easier to open. It adds a really nice touch and privacy to my bathroom.
The Canada Dry box my husband brought home for me from the junk yard. (He often brings me home presents from the junk yard instead of flowers) All I did was clean off the dirt and put a piece of wood on the top. The boys use it to put their shoes on and my 4-year-old loves to hide things in it that I'm looking for.
And then there's the desk. Some paint and some new screws and you wonder why it was ever discarded. It holds all of my son's crafting supplies and gives him a place to do his homework away from his brother.
As I find more trash I will let you in on how I turn it into treasure and I hope that you will take the time to find treasures of your own or maybe just stop and think before you throw something away. Does it just need a new coat of paint? A new screw? They have those things at the hardware. It's not hard to do, it keeps things out of landfills, it saves money, and it adds character to your decor. Plus, you won't have the same chair or side table that everyone got from the same big box store. You can not only help the environment but find your own sense of style in reusing old things.

Flagstaff Community Market

This last Sunday was my first day to sell at the Flagstaff Community Market. I spent all winter collecting juice pouches, sewing, and getting ready for my favorite time of year- community market season! The night before, I loaded up my car with tables and stands, bags and boxes filled with juice pouch items, and I went to bed anticipating the next morning.

I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30 took a shower, got dressed, and had breakfast. I took inventory of all of my things to make sure that I had everything I needed and then trucked down to the market.
I love getting there early. Most of the large growers are just setting out their harvest and I am the only one in the middle of the parking lot setting up my little stand. As every thing comes out of the bags and boxes my little makeshift shop takes shape and then I get to sit back and watch the rest of the activity as plant growers, fudge makers, bee keepers, and others set up their goods. Some of the vendors walk around to check out everything before the market begins. Everyone smiles and says good morning.

The market is really a small community that comes together every Sunday morning and the camaraderie among vendors always makes me smile. The vendor next to me had help from three others to guide his truck into place. Narrowly missing my rack of bags and the canopy behind him. The wind had everyone on edge, keeping watch over canopies. Half way through the market my two display racks blew over and the gentleman behind me came over and gave me two of his weights that he wasn't using because he had decided to go without his canopy. A smart move with possible 40 mile an hour gusts.

Little by little the customers start arriving and you can find some real characters at the market. I sit on my chair, smile, and say good morning to the passer byes. Most people stop for a moment to look at my things and exclaim what a clever idea I have or how wonderful I am for recycling.
Now I have to mention something important here. What people don't realize is that the people who make things out of recycled materials are not the heroes. The people who buy things made out of recycled materials are the heroes saving the environment.
It doesn't matter how clever my idea is, how creative, or how much I recycle. If people don't purchase the product that I am offering then I cannot continue to make them. I will not have the money I need to buy the thread to sew them together and if no one buys them they may as well have been thrown away in the first place. If we want to save or natural resources, prevent trash from going into landfills we have to create a demand and a market for reused, recycled and up-cycled goods.
But I smile anyway at the people who don't care to buy and appreciate their kinds words. My favorite incident on Sunday were to gentlemen who passed by and told me I had such a wonderful idea that I was going to start selling my things at Wall-Mart and become a millionaire. As they walked on they told the vendor next to me that I was going to be a millionaire and that the fact that I was pretty as well would help me. Little do they know that Terracycle already beat me to it.
In four hours time you meet all kinds of people and have enough stories to last you the rest of the week. Like these two little girls who were very curious about my bags. They were trying to find a pouch that still had juice in it. The older one kept asking, "Juice?" I had to keep telling her that all the juice was gone and it was just a bag now. She was very disappointed.

In the end I packed up all of my things (thankful that I was a few things lighter) settled my account with the market manager and went home wishing that next Sunday was not so far away.
If you live in Flagstaff you should come check it out. If you have a community or farmers market in your area you should go. You might be surprised what you find. I have to congratulate the organizers of the Flagstaff Community Market. They have managed to put together a market that gives you a taste of everything and stays true to their purpose. I have heard people from out of town say more than once that our market is better than their one at home or that they don't have a market at all and I think that ours is doing a wonderful job.

Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth

A few years ago I was asked about public art. Whether or not we should invest in public art projects with the current state of the economy and what public art should look like and what is appropriate.
In Flagstaff we have a lot of public art, from bronze statues in the square to murals on the sides of the downtown buildings but my thoughts went to the public art project of the Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth.
We meet the people behind the project through my mother-in-law who was helping them at the county fair. They had a large mountain lion sculpture that they were asking kids to come over and paint. My kids of course obliged and I got to learn about what the organization's goals were and what they were trying to promote with their art.
The Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth is dedicated to the development of children and youth through community programs and outreach. Their mission is "To provide leadership in developing community-wide strategies that enhance the well-being of children and youth in Coconino County, AZ".
In the style of Cows on Parade, their public art project called PAWS (Promoting Assets With Art) seeks to promote and educate people about 40 developmental assets that are believed to be essential to raising successful children. They hope to have one sculpture to represent each of the 40 assets, sponsored by a local business or group, and painted by a local artist. The original mountain lion sculpture was created by artist Dion Wright. To this date there are only 7 sculptures that have been painted and put on public display.
The colorful mountain lions add a welcome cheer to our public areas and whether or not you agree with spending money on such things during a time of tightening our belts, we all benefit from such a positive expression of ourselves.

Eco-Napkins by Stacey

I love selling my juice pouch items on the internet through Etsy.com. I have met a lot of really great people who make a lot of really nice things. One of the most recent things that I have discovered is Eco-Napkins by Stacy. Stacy promotes the use of her handmade 100% cotton reusable napkins as an alternative to using paper napkins saving trash from being thrown away. Anything that is a practical and functional way to keep things from being thrown out is right up my alley.
We all have a set of cloth napkins tucked away in a drawer somewhere. They come out on special occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner but we should really consider using cloth napkins on a daily basis to wipe dirty hands and mouths and to clean up little messes. Instead of using a paper napkin once, you can use a cloth napkin over and over again rinsing it out and washing them as many times as needed. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to clean off sticky little hands with a wet paper napkin only to have it fall apart in my hands and make a bigger mess than I started out with.
Stacy's Eco-Napkins are perfect for everyday use. After I washed the napkin for the first time I was surprised how well the bright colors held up and didn't fade. I also expected it to come out of the dryer all wrinkled and that I would have to iron them but none of the edges curled under and it came out relatively wrinkle free.
I was so inspired by her hundreds of patterned napkins that I decided that her funky eco-friendly creations needed a napkin ring that was just as fun and eco-friendly so of course I took the liberty of making some out of recycled plastic juice pouches.
I started by cutting the juice pouches in half lengthwise and sewing them into strips. One strip I tied into a knot around another strip for a little decorative touch. Then to make the ring I used a metal eyelet to hold the two ends of the strips together. An Eco-Napkin By Stacy with a juice pouch napkin ring was the perfect finishing touch to my juice pouch place setting and perfect for any special summer occasion.
For every day use I made a juice pouch basket to store those napkins in a convenient place right within reach. I wove strips of juice pouches together to make a square basket. The process took a lot more juice pouches than I thought it would and a lot longer to make. I don't think that I will be making another one any time soon. At least not until I come up with a more efficient way to make it.
To get your own Eco-Napkins you can visit Stacy's Etsy shop or visit her website at www.eco-napkins.com. They really make life a little easier and a little cleaner. The hardest part is having to chose from all of her wonderful designs.

Photography By Terri

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of having local photographer Terri Attridge set up a photo shoot for me and take pictures using all of my juice pouch bags. The day the we were suposed to meet was overcast and I was worried all day about rain being in the forcast but as the photo shoot rolled around the clouds broke and the sun came out. We met in down town Flagstaff. She brought models Samantha Lake and Sami with her and her lighting assistant Noah Vickenstien. She took photos of the girls carrying my bags until the sun faded away and we were all cold from the wind. We got the photo shoot done just in time because the next day it decided to rain and then snow. The photos are beautiful and I couldn't be more thankful to Terri for choosing my bags as her inspiration.
Originally Terri is from Clinton, New Jersey. She came to work at the Grand Canyon last June and has been living and working inside the national park ever since. She is currently work for a small local newspaper as a photojournalist. She has a BA in communication and a minor in French from Rutgers University. She worked in a studio for many years and is now expanding her experiance and portfolio through an internship with celebrity photographer Christopher Barr.
As an event photographer Terri travels all over Norther Arizona including Flagstaff, Sedona, Presscott, and surrounding areas. If you are looking for a photographer who can capture formal group photos, modern compositions and/or candid moments of your event Terri Attridge can certainly deliver. Her style of photography and her great eye always capture people in their best light. These are the photos that she took for me. To see more of Terri Attridge's work visit her website photographybyterri.com