How to make a Vintage Inspired basket from Chicken wire - Hardware Store Crafts

Free Project Tutorial! 

How to make a basket from Chicken Wire

I took inspiration from my Mother's old broken bits and pieces of broken jewelry to embellish a basket I made from chicken wire!. 

In this FREE project tutorial, you'll learn how to create a  basket from chicken wire. These make great gift baskets and organizers too!! Oh and don't forget the spray paint

Hardware Store Chicken Wire Baskets 
by Linda Peterson

Chicken wire – any size depending on the size you want your basket (ours is approximately 6 x 9”)

Old bits and pieces of jewelry (optional)

20 gauge stainless steel wire

Wire cutters

Pliers

Metal file (optional)

Krylon outdoor spray paint gloss in your choice of color (optional)

Protective gloves (optional)

*Caution*:  The chicken wire can get a little naughty and cause cuts, so be careful when cutting and wrapping the wire.  Use protective gloves to be safe.

Cut the desired size from chicken wire.  Ours is approximately 6” x 9”.  Hint: cut from the selvage edge of the wire to create a finished look

Fold ends together  

Match pattern and wrap wire ends around opposite side to secure.  This creates the cylinder for your basket 

Fold in the bottom and wrap ends to secure.  Cut off any excess wire and make sure there are no sharp edges.  File edges smooth if necessary.

Loop a length of 20 gauge stainless steel wire in your hands 2 or three times. 

 Wrap the end of the wire around the center to secure loops and create a handle.  Add additional wire if needed to finish. 

Bend in half

Attach handle to basket with 20 gauge wire 

OPTIONAL spray with desired color of spray paint.  Allow to dry.  You can distress some of the paint away as we did with a little bit of sandpaper to give an aged vintage look.

Thread wire thru jewelry findings and wrap onto basket where desired. 

Be sure to check out more of my videos on my youtube video channel LindaPetersonDesigns
and friend me on facebook!  

And here's a collection of my Featured Craft Project Tutorials and Videos

How to make jewelry with Friendly Plastic - New Friendly Plastic Video

How to use alcohol inks with Friendly Plastic!  New Video

Rich vibrant corals, hot succulent pinks and  juicy purple color combine to create this stunning floral pendant.

In this episode, Linda Peterson shows you how to use alcohol inks to create a stunning floral pendant.  Get out your broken jewelry - this is a great project to upcycle those pieces as well.  Enjoy!

 




Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Eco-Friendly Project just in time for Earth Day by Melony Bradley

Dear Packrat, and you know who you are,

Do have stacks and stacks of old magazines that you just can't bear to part with. Are you a magazine hoarder.  Are those stacks taller than your house? Okay maybe that's a little exaggerated, but I can bet that some form of the above is true....Right?

 I can relate.  I will keep a whole magazine just for one page and I wind up with stacks and stacks of magazines taking up space.

If this phonemena is happening to you, this project is a perfect solution!! Recycle, Reuse and make a great  bag, gift bag or any time bag with upcycled magazines.  Yes, sorry you'll have to tear them up! But look how great they can be!

Designer Melony Bradley creates a Gift Bag from repurposed Magazines. - Save those pretty ads!!!

Learn how to make Melony's repurposed and upcycled gift bags in this free project tutorial from FaveCrafts

If you need more project ideas - Click here to see all my projects courtesy of FaveCrafts

How to make a mixed media crown by Candace Jedrowicz - Cool2Craft Jewelry Box Week Featured video

I'm so delighted to be sharing today's featured video!

This week at Cool2Craft we're all about jewelry making.  Candace J, digs into her jewelry box to make this adorable mixed media crown.

<  Watch a new Cool2Craft show each Monday on the Livestream channel. Noon eastern, 9 Pacific

How to Make Window Screen Bracelets by Heidi Borchers - Inside the Cool2Craft Jewelry Box

This week - Cool2Craft is taking a look inside the jewelry box.

In this episode, eco-Heidi Borchers shows you how to make a window screen bracelet.

How to make a vintage inspired Headband - New Video - Linda Peterson on Cool2Craft

Love love love my Monday mornings with Cool2Craft.  It's a great way to start the work week with a little crafty inspiration from the whole gang.  As of this episode, I'll be appearing regularly along with all the other Cool girls.  I couldn't be happier about that.

This week is all about Mixed Media Jewelry and Accessories, so into the studio I go to upcycle some dollar jewelry finds to create this vintage inspired headband.

CRAFTY THEME OF THE WEEK - COOL2CRAFTS JEWELRY BOX

The Cool2Craft Jewelry Box show

Hmmm, wonder what's in our jewelry box??  It's all things jewelry and jewelry related next Monday April 16th on Cool2Craft and I am pleased to join all my totally Cool and crafty girlfriends to bring you these fun episodes.


Watch a BRAND NEW show each week on the Cool2Craft community channel on Livestream  at Noon eastern, 11AM central and 9AM pacific
Chat Live with the Cool2Craft gang too!

This week we will feature:

How to Make Window Screen Bracelets by EcoHeidi Borchers

How to Make Mixed Media Crown Brooch by Candace Jedrowicz

How to Make Embossed Foil Water Bottle Bracelets by Tiffany Windsor

How to Make SavvySparkle Bling Rings by Savannah Starr

How to Make a Vintage Inspired Floral Headband by Linda Peterson 

Can't watch the show today?  No worries, it's aired all week long 24/7 - Crafts on your schedule!

When delete...isn't deleted....... Recovering deleted files

I seriously do not know why on earth someone would spend their time writing malware, spyware and software that will totally destroy and infect your computer and destroy precious pictures and software. Seriously EVIL PEEPS? Can't you find something better to do with your time?

Well..enough venting, that didn't solve anything but I do want to share just a couple little tidbits I learned and I'm blogging it - for one, because I might need to refer to this again, and for two, maybe one of you out there is experiencing or has experienced the same thing and hopefully this will save you a little money.

Saturday night, Dana's lap top came up with this error that wouldn't let it write to the hard drive, as we opened picture files, those files were deleted and we literally watched icons disappear on the "desktop" in front of our eyes. Dana was just sick that he lost all his hunting pictures!

My first thought was to just dump the whole system and reload it fresh since it appeared that the files we wanted we're deleted, what did we have to lose?  (first of all - major lesson in backing up anything of value, sensitive or precious hunting photos)

Most people think that when you delete something *permanently* off your hard drive, it's just that...deleted...but it really isn't.  Actually, in real people non nerdy, sorta geeky terms, the computer loses the link to the deleted file and marks it as "okay to write over" if it should happen need that space in the future.  So...until the computer  needs that space it is still there and possibly recoverable.  This is why it's important not to download a bunch of stuff or add/copy a bunch of files to your drive because these new files, might replace and write over  the old files that you are wanting to cover.

The first thing I had to do was to do a system recovery and set the system back to the way it was before the problem happened.  Typically in windows you can do a search for "system recover" and it will walk you thru.

Once that is finished and your computer is fairly stable, download to a zip drive a "unerase" program that will look at all the files on your hard drive and recover those you specify.  I downloaded one that was freeware from the internet, but eventually had to pay $30 to have it recover my files because it was a trial version (still cheap if you really want those files back).

Once you download the unerase program, run it and scan your hard drive.  Generally it will come up with a list of files on your computer.  In this case I was looking for two specific files on my desktop and all the "My Picture" files.  Once you select the files you want to recover, click the recover button and make sure that you also write these to a zip drive not to your hard drive as it may write over some files that you want to recover.

When it was finished...viola!  I had recovered all my hubbys hunting photos (photos he can't replace) and he's a happy camper.

Now...to permanently get rid of whatever it was that infected the computer, I'm safe to wipe and reload....

I sure hope I never have to do this again !!!

Meet Linda Peterson and enjoy Free Friendly Plastic Demonstrations

Meet Linda Peterson and enjoy free Demo's of Friendly Plastic and Cloud Clay Demo's Saturday April 13th from Noon to 4pm Sunday - Cloud Clay Class at Noon to 1:30 (must pre-register) Come on out for a fun weekend of Creativity! See you there!! :)

 

Duck Tape Jewelry on Safari - A little Zebra love!

My jungle love...Oh we Oh WE OH! - well, I'm not going to the jungle or at least I don't think I'm going to the jungle, but I AM going on Safari to Africa in 26 days!!! It's the countdown!

I grabbed my zebra safari print duct tape and went on a little crafting safari of my own.  Believe me - I got lost in the craft jungle.

Watch how I create more duct tape jewelry with duct tape on an upcoming episode of Cool2Craft.  I promise your tweens will love this too and I think you'll be surprised at what I use to make them.

How to use Friendly Plastic Pellets in your Mixed Media Projects - New Video

In this episode, learn how to use Friendly Plastic Pellets with molds to create unique mixed media and found object artwork.
The best challenge is to use what you already have and incorporate it into a piece of finished art! It's lots of fun and the possibilities are endless. Enjoy! We'd love to hear your comments and feedback.





Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

A short road trip for Pizza - Ranked Missouri's #1

They say there are 6 degrees of separation.  Inevitably, when I meet someone, I find that they are friends of friends of friends or share some similar connection with me.

A couple weekends ago when I was in St. Louis for Missouri Art Ed, I met an art teacher from Reeds Spring, Missouri.  Seeing her ID badge with my home town, I engaged her in a conversation.  You see, MANY moons ago and maybe even rock ages ago, I went to Reeds Spring Vo-Tech and took graphic arts from Mr. Lear.  (poor Mr. Lear, I gave him such a hard time.  I wasn't a bad student, more of an onry one...but that shall be another story)

As it turns out Teacher Jeanette, knows Mr. Lear, who has since become the Mayor of Reeds Spring and the owner of the popular Reeds Spring Pizza Company, which was rated by the travel channel as one of the top Pizza joints in the whole country and most recently #1 in Missouri.

So last week Dana and I declared "Date Night" and headed on a little road trip back in time to my "home" (sorta) town to see just what this pizza was all about.  It truely is a destination as Reeds Springs sits down tucked away from civilization, a quaint little town with a couple of antique shops and a tea room.

Immediately, you grasp a sense of good ole hometown hospitality.  The restaurant is quaint, not fancy, but very very comfortable. Don't forget to bring a sharpie so you can leave your mark on the walls.  Here graffiti is COOL and encouraged.  You'll read testimonials from all over the country written in indelible ink on the bright yellow walls.  Where we sat, people had come all the way from Boston MA just to sample the pizza - WOW! Really?!?!?!   Along one whole wall is a museum of camera's and photography - WAY COOL too!

The menu is full of artisan style pizzas and probably the most bizzarre pizza I have ever heard of is the Nutty Blu Pig pizza.  Topped with bacon, red peper, cheese, spinach, pecans (yes I said pecans on a pizza) and a homemade lemony dressing this pizza is not only unique, it is absolutely incredible and to die for.

So Mr. Lear if you're out there reading this, I have to say THANKS - not only for being a great teacher and inspiration (I use what you taught me EVERY SINGLE DAY) but also for giving me a great destination every time I'm in the mood for pizza (which is nearly every week).  Oh....and sorry Charlotte and I were such a handful! We'll make it up to you in pizza sales.

Check out this link for a news video on Reeds Spring Pizza Co