Ivy Tower

More Twigs and Twine!!! Let's hope one of my furry babies doesn't destroy this one like they did with my "Let's Stick Together" project. I'm still peeved about that one!

So this was a quick project I stumbled upon. I was actually looking for ways to create an attractive tomato cage. Living in a condo means finding creative ways to have a garden. I came across Carolyn's site DIY tomato cages and then continue on to find her smaller version where she makes it a Mother's Day Centerpiece.Glancing up from my computer I thought my own ivy plant might be in need of an accessory.

My ivy plant... beautiful. The plain old stick in the middle of
the pot... ugly! Plus with my Updated Plant Stand I needed to
complete the entire project. And how perfect is this pot for this
project? It already has twine (or rope) wrapped around it.
A perfect fit!

You don't need many materials for this one! Twigs and twine
that's all, oh and a hot glue gun. I created 4 different stacks of
twigs. The 1st being the longest and then each stack going down
in size from there.

I started by building one "wall" of the tower so I could
be sure my measurements were correct. (You don't
want to make the tower first and then see if it fits in
the pot.) Use your hot glue gun to hold them in place.

Once I had one wall built I found it was easier to build
the other walls with them already inside the pot. The 2nd
wall I built was the opposite wall using my 1st wall as a
reference for where the twigs should be placed. Continue
on with the 3rd and 4th wall.

Next I brought out the twine and wrapped around each of the
joints. I am not a knot expert so I have no idea what you
would call this but I wrapped them in a cross-cross pattern.

Pull your longer pieces of ivy up through the top of the tower
and let some of the shorter ones fall on the lower twigs and
you have an Ivy Tower!

I admit, my ivy does look like it's having a bad hair day but with a few days of sunshine the leaves will flip over and it will figure out its way around the tower.

Upcycling ~ Wine Bottles & Corks

My latest craze... upcycling and vintage items. Most likely due to my genetics (my mom and grandma do the exact same thing) I've found myself keeping items over the years saying to myself, I could make something really fun out of this! Sometimes I do... sometimes I don't.

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT a hoarder. At this point in my life I'm finally able to look at these items and really ask myself; do I have a project in mind, is there room to store it somewhere and will I make the time to complete it. Ummm, well.... I'm starting with baby steps here.

So after all the Thanksgiving feasts I noticed a number of wine bottles sitting about and tried to find a few ideas. You can check out my Upcycle ~ Wine Bottles and Corks board on Pinterest. Otherwise most of them are below.

One of my favorite. Maybe it's because I love candles
but probably because I LOVE Grey Goose. :)

Wine Bottle Hurricanes

Home Tone has some creative ways to reuse Wine Bottles too.

Justina Blakeney also shows 12 ways to reuse bottles.
I'd loved to figure out how to make the hanging plants!

Cork Wreath

Dip them in Chalk paint. Decorate the bottles with a message
or table numbers. Also dip the bottom of your wine in the chalk paint. Your guest
can write their names on their own glasses.

Wit & Whistle's blog takes you through the steps of adding lights to bottles

A monogram cork! An easy gift to make for friends and family or make one for yourself.
greenisuniversal-reuse.com explains the simple steps.

Jaime walks you through the steps to create this adorable vase and
candle holder on her Crafty Scrappy Happy blog.

On A Yellow Bicycle blog they also have a few ideas for Bottle DIY projects.
I love this lantern and the tiki torch (below). Both are a must do before next spring

Bathmat made of Corks by Monica Ewing at houzz.com/

Get out your paint brushes and stencils.
I found both of these through Etsy

Another way to identify your drinking glasses from Craftzine

With instructions from Zero Waste Designs you can build a shelf

And if you don't have any painting, cutting or building skills there's even a few projects for you!

At Home Furnishings displays a beautiful centerpiece with various shapes
and sizes of bottles and tapered candles

And a few more centerpiece ideas from Curbly

If nothing else, use them as a border. Check out Trashy Wench: The Queen of Creative Reuse's
No Whine Wine Creations blog.

I'm realizing already people may start to think I have a small drinking problem if I do create all of these. Whoops. ;)