Editor’s Note: Today’s craft month project of the day is the first post in an exciting new series called Junk to Jewel by C&T author and editorial team member, Sue Astroth. Junk to Jewel will chronicle Sue’s upcycling adventures with thrift store finds.

Unlike our other craft month projects, this post doesn’t offer a specific materials list or step-by-step instructions. What it does offer is a look inside the mind of C&T’s resident upcycling queen, and the inspiration needed for you to set out on your own thrift store expedition and find that perfect piece of junk to turn into a jewel.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Once a week my friend and I go thrift store shopping…what a blast! As we help each other select our purchases, we brew up all sorts of creative uses for our finds. There’s nothing more exciting than visualizing the transformation of an item into something completely different! I thought I’d chronicle my journey of altering and upcycling thrift store items here on the C&T blog.

The Junk

At lunch time a few weeks ago, I headed to the thrift store. I went through the housewares section and nothing was jumping out at me. I even went through the clothes to see if I could be tempted by a designer shirt for a fabulous price…but no such luck. I was about to gather my friend and leave the store when I saw IT.

Lying there on the pile of old notebooks and tupperware containers was a wooden tennis racket and frame. Now I wasn’t too interested in the tennis racket, but the frame…boy did I instantly see the possibilities. An oversize “pincushion” of sorts, it can hold notes, objects of inspiration, jewelry, and anything else you can tack to it. I just loved how the wooden frame was held together with a screw in each corner. So simple, honest and clean-looking.

After a quick wash and polish of the racket frame, I was ready to start playing with fabric. Immediately I knew I wanted to use linen for the pincushion surface. I’d recently seen and coveted many of the wonderful linen treasures in a popular home decor catalog. I loved the style but not the price. This was my chance to create my own fabulous piece of linen home decor, and all I was investing was my own creativity and a little bit of time!

My idea was to use a piece of cardboard (cut to size) for the base of the pincushion, the decorative piece of linen fabric for the cushion surface, and some batting in between the base and surface to make it all “cushiony” of course! I would tighten the screws to sandwich everything together within the frame. I tested a few different combinations of fabric, batting and cardboard to determine how much of each material I needed for my project. My tests confirmed that the fabric surface should be cut a little bit smaller than the dimensions of the base.

I used a piece of linen from a vintage embroidery kit a friend found for me at a garage sale for the pin cushion surface. Stamping the letters and numbers on the linen was easy: I used Liquitex^® paint and a set of foam alphabet stamps I’d saved from my stamping days. I gave the linen a good press with a very hot iron, which made the linen straight, stiff, and optimized for stamping on. I finished the edges of the linen with a wide zig-zag stitch which worked perfectly. The finished edges made it easier to handle when it was time to assemble the layers inside the frame.

The cardboard ended up being too flimsy to be the racket base. Luckily, I found a scrap of foam core board I had stashed in between two bookcases in my studio (I never throw anything away) and it worked much better. I trimmed the sides of my piece of foam core with a craft knife to make it fit just inside the outer edges of the frame.

The batting needed to be cut in several pieces of different sizes, starting with one the same dimensions as the foam core. On top of that piece I layered additional pieces, each one a tad smaller than the previous one. The last piece was about the same size as the fabric.

I secured the fabric and batting to the foam core, placed ( OK, shoved) the pincushion into the frame, and tightened the screws. All I had left to do was the embellishing!

Now for the Big Reveal…

The Jewel

I leave my tennis racket frame pincushion sitting on my sewing table so it’s always ready and easily movable to wherever it is needed. If flat space is at a premium in your studio, you could add a saw tooth bracket to the back of the wooden frame and hang it on a wall.

If you aren’t in need of an oversize pincushion, consider using this as a way to display some special or favorite jewelry on your dresser. It would also be cute as a mini bulletin board for the office or kitchen.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Next month’s junk: Weird felt messenger bag with fake plastic grass

what in the world will Sue make out of this?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

March is National Craft Month and we are celebrating by posting one project every day this month! If you are joining us late, click here to see the full list of Craft Month projects that have been posted so far.

Related posts:

1. Junk to Jewel: Old Candlestick to Elevated Felted Pincushion
2. Junk to Jewel: Swing Frame Album to Decorative Scrapbook Page Display
3. Junk to Jewel: Heirloom tomato pincushions
4. Junk to Jewel: Messenger Bag to Reusable Gift Wrap
5. Junk to Jewel: Gift Basket