To celebrate Earth Day today we have, Tiffany Threadgould of RePlayground.com and Terracycle.net, here to teach us how to re-purpose an old t-shirt to make these adorable flower pins. Tiffany just launched her first book, ReMake It! (by Sterling Publishing). It’s super adorable and is a pretty fun book to have on hand whether you have kids or you just love to re-purpose. We’ll be doing a giveaway for 3 of these books at the tail end of the tutorial with a BONUS PRIZE, so stay tuned!

T-Shirt Scrap Flower Pin

MATERIALS:

T-shirt
ruler
washable marker or pencil
fabric scissors
twist tie
button with two holes
pin back or safety pin

Use one T-shirt to make a single color flower, or mix it up and use strips from a few different shirts for a flower with different colors.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Measure and cut ¾-inch wide strips from the bottom of a T-shirt. From those strips, cut eight 8-inch long pieces.

2. Pull on the ends of each strip and stretch them until their edges curl. Snip three holes into each strip—one in the middle and two more, each ½ inch from the ends. Be careful not to cut across the whole strip, just to make small holes.

3. Slip the ends of the twist tie through a button, and pull it through so it is snug across the front of the button. Twist the ends of the twist tie together tightly until they are completely twisted at the back of the button.

4. Thread the end of the twist tie through the hole at the center of one of the T-shirt strips. Then, thread the twist tie through the holes on the ends of the T-shirt strip. Repeat this for all the rest of the strips

5. Holding the T-shirt strips and button together, untwist the twist tie ends. Insert them through the holes in pin back or wrap them around the safety pin (whichever pin you decide to use). Adjust the twist tie until the flower and pin are held firmly in place on the pin back. Remake a whole bouquet of flower pins and grow a garden on your shirt!

More About The Author

Tiffany Threadgould is a design junkie who gives scrap materials a second life. She’s the head of design atTerraCycle, a company that collects and creates products from waste. She also keeps up her own green biz,RePlayGround, where you can find ReMake It recycling kits and oodles of DIY projects. Tiffany thinks that garbage has feelings too and can sometimes be found talking to her pile of junk at her design studio in Brooklyn, N.Y.

THE GIVEAWAY!

Tiffany was so kind to send us three (3) books to give to you! We are going to do another random pick from the user comments on this one. So if you’d like a cool copy of ReMake It! You must do the following:

Leave a comment telling us what your favorite art/craft style is be that a link out to your most favorite craft blogger(s) or just list your top 1-5+ most favorite things to work with be that modge podge, sewing, quilting, re-purposing, scrapbooking (traditional or digital), card making, painting, etc. The sky is the limit in the craft world!

BONUS PRIZE!

Bonus Prize is a $25 Gift Card at COLOURlovers partner, Spoonflower.com.

I will be posting this article on the COLOURlovers Facebook wall. All you have to do is:

1) LIKE the COLOURlovers Facebook Page
2) SHARE the article on your facebook wall
3) Leave a comment on the article I posted on our fb wall which should include your COLOURlovers USERNAME.

We will be conducting a random drawing from the facebook post commentary. As long as you followed the steps, you will be included.

If you have already LIKED our facebook page, then that step is done. You won’t be able to see the SHARE or COMMENT on the COLOURlovers facebook wall until you have LIKED our page.

I’ve posted THIS (the above image shows what it will look like) blog article to our facebook wall. Re-Post it to your wall by clicking the link on it, SHARE (see red arrows in the image). And then make a COMMENT letting me know you shared it, and let me know your username on COLOURlovers. The facebook contest is ONLY for the $25 at Spoonflower.com. If you want the book you must ALSO comment on the blog post here.

You may play and qualify for BOTH prizes (ReMake It! book AND the $25 at Spoonflower.com). The contest will run from today, April 22nd, 2011, until Thursday, April 28th with winners announced Friday, April 29th, 2011. You must be a COLOURlovers user to qualify for either prize. So register if you need to!