Handmade furniture for kids from Little Red Industries

While putting together my daughter's study space (remember this post?), I came across this amazing handmade furniture by Sydney-based Natasha Dickins of Little Red Industries. This gal can wield a power tool! Natasha creates original designs as well as revamping preloved furniture to create beautiful  pieces like this special table which would make a great study desk:

Ellie Beck recycled skateboard jewellery

Hang on - super-cool necklaces and bangles handmade from recycled/upcycled skateboard decks? I'm in! My friend Ellie Beck and her husband Sam Messina make these amazing jewellery pieces using their stash of broken skateboards in the hinterland of Murwillumbah in Northern NSW. They're bright, fun, sustainable and each piece is one-of-a-kind - totally my style.

These bangles are cut, sanded and finished by hand. Each has a coloured side and a cool scratched-graphic side to amp up the cred.

Most skateboards are made from seven-ply of Canadian Maple in a rainbow of colours.

The rainbow skateboard deck bead necklaces are incredible too. Each is strung on a vintage brass chain.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with any of Ellie and Sam's skateboard pieces - either for yourself or as a gift. Head over to the Ellie Beck online store to pick one up. I love them all.

Images: Ellie Beck

Make: vintage hankie bunting and curtain

Do you have any cute vintage kids' handkerchiefs stashed away somewhere? (ask your Mum!). I have quite a cute little collection and as it's not looked fondly upon by institutions to have a hankie stashed in your sleeve anymore (oh the germs!), my old hankies from childhood have been collecting dust.

So! I thought I would come up with a few ideas to use them, and wrote an article about it for eBay's Mum's Business website. You can head here to read it.

First up was some very simple bunting, which I used for my little one's vintage toy-themed 3rd birthday party. I didn't even sew it together, and just used washi tape!

Next was a simple frame with a hankie inside for displaying in a toy room or child's bedroom.

And third is a lovely, light, airy curtain for my little one's room. I secured the hankies together with tape for the trial and will now sew them together as it's just too cute. It also makes a great little table cloth for the kids' table.

What have you done with your hankies, or vintage fabric scraps?

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Make: get crafty with old tshirts

I've been getting crafty over the school holidays. There is a big pile of Mr Bondville's tshirts sitting in my fabric stash that I have been meaning to upcycle for a long time. Well an article that I wrote for eBay's Mum's Business was the incentive I needed to start cutting into those tshirts and to get crafty.

As well as framing them, using them for rags, and making an apron, I cut the tshirts up to make tshirt yarn, and tried weaving, knitting and sewing with it. Here are some of my fun projects:

1. Coil bowl
After a bit of practice, I whipped up this cute coil bowl to hold my rings using this great tutorial by Lisa (the red thread).

2. Braided bracelet
I love my new braided bracelet, inspired by this tutorial by Henry Happened

3. Tea cosy
I knitted a simple rectangle using the tshirt yarn and secured with neon Brickie's Line to make this stretchy tea cosy for the tea pot. Super easy.

and.... Baby wipes
The simplest of all - I cut a soft tshirt up into 15cm squares to make a pile of baby wipes. Just add a little Sorbolene and you have an eco-friendly, inexpensive and kind-on-baby's-bum way to clean that little toosh when you're at home. (you could also parcel up in your nappy bag).

As my friend Steph (Moobear Designs) said, I'll never throw away another tshirt again. Head over to Mum's Business to read the whole article. How do you upcycle your (or his) old tshirts?

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

MAKE: a cool house doorstop with fabric scraps

I've been wanting to make a fabric doorstop for a while, with all my fabric scraps and lovely samples that I have picked up in abcd meet-up goodie bags and from textile designer friends. There were lots of pyramid-style doorstop tutorials online, but I wanted something a bit different. So I made my own! Presenting, my house-shaped DIY doorstop:

I love it! Useful, cute and reduces waste. I used some great fabric from Sydney quilter and crafter extraordinaire Siobhan (Beaspoke Quilts), and will make more with some upcycled tea towels and left-over deck chair fabric from my stash. I used bits and pieces that I had around the house - scrap paper, an old nappy box and a recycled ziplock bag.

If you would like to make one too, head over to eBay's Mum's Business website where I have written a tutorial for my house doorstop which includes instructions to make a house-shaped template. I promise, it's not hard at all - and may even make a fun handmade Christmas gift for family and friends.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Twice Designs handmade brooches and greeting cards

I met Sarah Bartnett from Twice Designs at an ABCD Meetup in Sydney this year and loved the typewriter greeting card that she contributed to the goodie bag. And then last week, one of Sarah's cards was featured in a Bondville kids bedroom tour. I had to find out more...

So on top of her fun old-world greeting cards, Sarah also manages to find time to make lovely brooches, cufflinks and scarves. Even better, many of her one-off pieces are made from recycled and repurposed materials.

I'm dying for the laser-etched eye chart wooden brooch. So fun and a great conversation-starter. Know any budding photographers that would love the camera brooch? I think I've now got birthday presents sorted for a bunch of my girlfriends.

You can find Twice Designs in the Etsy and MadeIt (Australia) stores. If you head over the online stores now, there are sales on, including brooches from $2 and buy-four-cards-and-get-one-free. For more information on the latest designs, head over to the Twice Designs blog.

Images: Twice Designs

REread upcycled brooches

Did you notice the cool brooch that Sun on Masterchef was wearing this week? It was handmade by our very own Haylee Lees of REread in Brisbane.

Hayley salvages children's books that are being thrown out, or from markets to create her one-of-a-kind animal brooches, finished with resin. Anyone who reads the REread blog or follows Hayley on Twitter will know that she has a wicked sense of humour, and this is evident in many of her quirky brooches. Perfect to pin on coats, scarves and beanies with this chilly weather!

You can find REread brooches in the Etsy store as well as various markets (keep an eye on the REread blog for details).

REread brooches will also be available this Saturday at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market in Brisbane (an excellent market!), 9th July, 2011, 9am-2pm at St Augustine Church Hall and grounds, Racecourse Rd, Hamilton, NSW. In fact, this was the very market that I bought a REread cat brooch at for my sister in Vancouver a few years ago (hope you like it J!)

Images: Top images - REread. Bottom image - Steph Bond

Craft: Recycled Tissue Paper Pom Wreath Tutorial

Here is a quick and easy Christmas project that you can make at home *tonight*. I was trying to think of a craft project to make at home with my big girl using only items I had around the house. This Christmas Wreath is made using the same principles as for tissue paper poms (still a big trend) and only recycled/upcycled material. I think it looks pretty nifty.

All you need is a piece of cardboard (I used a mango tray), used tissue paper from all the presents that you have been receiving (I fished my crumbled tissue paper out of my wrapping paper stash), some old ribbon or string, scissors, a pencil and two pot lids (one big, one small). I even nicked an ornament from our tree to give it a little pizazz. Give it a go!











Images and Tutorial (c) Steph Bond 2010