Repurpose Recycle Reuse Archives - Bigger Than the Three of Us

Upcycled Kitchen Lighting (DIY Pendant)

November 5, 2014 by Ashley Mayes 41 Comments

It’s time for another “Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse” project post. I really do love these posts that we do on the first Wednesday of each month. It gives me the extra boost to get something done and it’s inspiring to see what you can do with so-called “junk” items.

This month, I tackled this $5 pendant lamp from a thrift store. Originally I had thought to use upcycled kitchen lighting in our kitchen remodel, but then I stumbled onto this beauty.

I’ve had this light on my mind for the kitchen table since day one. At $600, it just isn’t happening right now. While walking around a few months ago at a thrift store, I spotted the pendant above. It kinda – like squeeze one eye and hop on one foot, and try really really hard to see – might resemble the gorgeous $600 one. Ok, well no, probably not. But they are both glass, right? Actually, I did see something in the $5 pendant, so I snagged it up.

I knew right away that the top part (vase cap) would have to go as well as the candelabra part in the middle.

First thing that I did was take it all apart.

Then I measured the opening on the top so that I could order another cap (actually called a “vase” cap) to fit. I found the piece on Ebay and, because it was so large (17 inches), it cost me about $16.

In the above picture, it’s sitting on top of the pendant just to see how it fits. When we hung it, we had to slip it in from the bottom and then the pendant hung on it.

I also ditched the spiral holder thing (see below) for a more stream-lined one that I took off the existing chandelier that hung above the kitchen table.

We also took the chain off the old chandelier and added it to the ‘new’ chandelier. Just to jog your memory, this is what the old chandelier looked like and what our kitchen looked like about 6 months ago:

I had to pick up one socket and a spool of electrical wire to finish off the new light. We wired it all up and then hung it back up. It’s off center right now, which will get changed a bit later. I have a few more plans for the room and don’t want to move the wiring in the ceiling just to move it again if some of the plans don’t work out.

But, people, look how far we have come:

I’ll admit, Luke and I weren’t blown away when we hung the pendant. We’ve had it for about 6 weeks now and it totally fits in there. It’s not my dream light, but it’s definitely growing on me and, for under $25, I totally love it.

*Edited to add: Here’s the light against the plank wall.

As always with this monthly collaboration, you have to check out what the other ladies came up with!

Wine Bottle Cover

Modern Fall Wreath

Vintage Slide Lampshade

Upcycled Photo Display

Linking up to:

Found and Foraged, C.R.A.F.T., Your Designs This Time, The Makers, The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Stories A-Z, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Outside the Box, Work It Wednesday, Think and Make Thursday, Fry Sauce and Grits, Liz Marie Blog, The Inspiration Gallery, Creativity Unleashed – The Bold Abode, Remodelaholic, Whipperberry, The Creative Collection, Tatertots and Jello, and Frugal Crafty Blog Hop.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

Upcycled Pillows

October 1, 2014 by Ashley Mayes 21 Comments

What do you guys think about chain reactions? Probably depends, right? Well, earlier this year, I shared my “30 Before 30” list. One of the things on that list was to start being healthier. Well, I’ve been doing that. I’ve been working out and eating cleaner and that has resulted in some body changes. With those changes, I’ve taken a hard look at my closet. I’m coming to the realization that I would rather have ten pieces in my closet that I absolutely love than one hundred pieces that are just ok. So, over the past six months, I have purged and then purged again. Anything that didn’t fit right (or has never fit right) immediately got purged. This project is a by-product of that purge. Take those purged clothes and make some upcycled pillows!

Take these two outfits, for example. The dress on the left is cute but has never been long enough. The waist sat too high and, you can’t really tell from that picture but, the pockets in the back came way higher than they should have. With some weight loss, the top part was just sloppy. So, purge number one. The skirt on the right was just too full. It wasn’t flattering, because it just added emphasis on my belly button region. So, purge number two.

I loved the pattern on both outfits, so why not use them? This project is so simple that I hate to even share steps, but I will. =)

Grab an old throw pillow to use as your insert.

Cut your fabric slightly larger than your insert and turn the fabric so that what you want on the outside are facing each other.

Sew three sides of your pillow; making sure to stay at the same seam allowance.

Turn your pillow form inside out and stuff your pillow.

Tuck your fabric under so that you have a clean line.

Hand-stitch your last opening closed.

Pillows are so easy to make. Next time you are doing a closet purge, just think about what kind of new pillows you could make!

Are you ready to see what the other ladies did this month?

Lovely Etc. shared an Upcycled Keyhole Necklace.

Thrifty and Chic shared a Repurposed Sunburst Mirror.

Life as a Thrifter shared her Upcycled Fan Belt Display.

Linking up to:

C.R.A.F.T., Project Inspired, Restless Arrow, The Makers, Outside the Box, The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Stories A-Z, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Work It Wednesday, Fry Sauce and Grits, Liz Marie Blog, The Inspiration Gallery, Think and Make, Creativity Unleashed – The Bold Abode, Remodelaholic, Whipperberry, The Creative Collection, Tatertots and Jello, Link It or Lump It, and Frugal Crafty Blog Hop.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

Upcycled : Ikea Table to Floating Nightstand

August 6, 2014 by Ashley Mayes 9 Comments

It’s the first Wednesday of the month again, which means it’s time for a round-up of repurposed, recycled and/or reused projects. Sometimes, ideas just come to me for our monthly collaboration and, other times, I really struggle with coming up with a project. This was in the latter group. I have lots of half-finished projects around the house, yet I wasn’t really excited about finishing any of those. So, what does the sane person do? Why start another project of course. =)

Let me just say that this is a super simple project.

A few years ago, we went to Ikea (the closest one is 8+ hrs away) and bought a few Lack Tables.

We’ve used them around the house in many different ways. At one time, they were our nightstands in the master, stacked on top of each other. They became a bookcase of a sort and then, finally, we used one in Greyson’s room as his nightstand.

Ignore the “DIY: Firetruck Lamp” on the photo… this gal was too lazy to search for a photo without writing.

Anyways, in photos the Lack table looks ok, but in person it was way too big for the size of his bed. So, we decided to modify that table to make a floating nightstand.

The table is square so we cut it a little over the middle. We used a jigsaw and it worked like a charm.

Once we had it cut, we put “L brackets” or Lowe’s calls them “Corner Braces” on the bottom of the cut side.

From there, we attached them to the wall.

We may or may not add legs to the shelf in the future. It is definitely sturdy enough for a book and decor item, but we have a bouncing toddler in there, so we will see. But, overall its a great improvement over what we had and it only cost $3.40 out of pocket. Yay.

Are you ready to see what the other ladies did this month?

Cannonball Bed Redo – Life as a Thrifter

Upcycled Baby Food Jars – Lovely Etc

Bar Stool Nightstand – Thrifty & Chic

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

DIY Tiled Table

April 2, 2014 by Ashley Mayes 15 Comments

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and that means that it’s time for another “Repurpose, Recycle and Reuse” post. This one has been a bit in the making and we just finally got it done. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

We repurposed an old plant stand and piece of plywood to make a newly-updated plant table. We had all the supplies on hand (thinset, grout, tile nipper, wood veneer, plant stand, plywood, and yarn), except for the penny tile. With $10 out of pocket for the penny tile, this project came in super cheap.

First, Luke drew the diameter of the circle. Then from there, we used a jigsaw to cut the circle out.

From there, we used a grinder to grind off the hooks on the feet. They were pretty rough looking after using the grinder, so I covered up the spots with yarn.

Next thing we did was mix the thinset and lay the tiles. I had already dry-stacked the tiles and cut some of them with the tile nippers. This went really fast, but it was nice to have two people helping out.

We let the thinset dry overnight and then the next day I grouted.

The side of the table where the tile/thinset met the plywood was pretty rough looking. I hot-glued wood veneer around the edge to help hide the rough spots.

The veneer didn’t completely cover the tile and grout edge, so I went back in with my finger and re-grouted up to the edge of the veneer. This seemed to work pretty well.

For a fraction of the cost of what a real table would cost us, we are pretty happy with this little one.

So, I’m thrilled to be able to say our master bedroom is DONE! I’ll have a full room reveal on Friday. I’m so excited to have it done and Luke and I are thrilled with how it reflects us and what we love. Make sure to come back on Friday to see the whole thing. =)

Make sure to check out what the other amazing ladies in this group have come up with!

Thrifty and Chic – Wall Art from Napkins

Lovely Etc – Trinket Box

It All Started With Paint – Dinosaur Necklace

All Things G&D – Reusable Produce Bags Made from T-Shirts & Onesies

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

Repurposed : DIY Light

February 5, 2014 by Ashley Mayes 19 Comments

I’m teaming up with an amazing group of ladies for a new blog series called “Repurpose, Recycle, Reuse”. Our goal is to get ourselves thinking creatively on how to use things we already own and make them better or more to our style. I’m super excited about doing this and am happy to show you what I have come up with for February’s challenge.

I’m a huge sucker for those 70% off signs and especially if those signs happen at Target. I have a really hard time saying no to something if it’s under $5. I mean, it probably was $15 or more, so $4 is really nothing, right? Well, sometimes that works out and sometimes not so much. Take this candlestick holder for instance:

Cute, right? That’s what I thought so I bought it back in November. I soon realized (like a month or so later) that it fits the taper style candles and I just don’t see myself having those around the house at this time. I can totally see them being taken out of the candleholder and used as a sword or something like that (mom of a boy problems). So, I bought the candleholder for $4 and it just sat there. Three months later, I finally found a great use for it and I’m so happy I did.

I made it in to a light.

Not only is it pretty, but it’s also functional for our lifestyle. I’m not sure the moral of the story is to keep buying $4 decor items, but this time it worked out. So, I’m happy.

I know you probably don’t have this exact decor item to make a light out of, but this tutorial could be used on many different items. I was thinking I might try to make a light out of glass vase and also a block of wood. Both would be fun alternatives to this.

So, you need to gather your supplies. *I bought my cord, switch and socket separate (so that they would fit in the candle base), but it would be much simpler to buy them as one unit. These run about $6.

Next, Luke drilled a hole, large enough to accommodate the wires, in to the candle base.

Insert the wires up the bottom of the decor item into the holder. For this part, we had a space constraint so we took off the bottom metal piece from the socket. If you didn’t have space issues, then you would just leave this on (see below, right).

Check to make sure your socket fits securely and make sure the wires and screws are insulated from the decor item.

Take the cardboard piece off of the socket and color it gold. This really helped make the socket piece less noticeable.

Put a lightbulb in and turn it on.

This came in at around $10. I love how unexpected it is. It totally fits us and our house and I really couldn’t be happier. I’m on a mission to turn other things in to lights, so be watching.

Be sure to check out all the amazing things that the other ladies have come up with.