Re-purposing

I've been very into creating as of late. Probably because I don't have school anymore (whoo hoo) so I have time to tackle all those projects I've been dying to create.
I've seen on several craft blogs (which I love to peruse) people taking clothes and turning them into something new. I had a box full of mission clothes that I just don't wear anymore, but I can't bring myself to get rid of. So I decided to try my hand at re-purposing and I turned this pale green sweater-vest:

Into this little dress for Esther:
It's by no means perfect, but it was fun and I think I'll do it again! I added some purple ribbon for a sash around the middle and created a few ribbon flowers, and viola; a new dress for Esther. She's yet to wear it, so hopefully the size will be good. I sized it against one of the dresses she wears now and it's slightly bigger, so she should be good. :)
Now this next project wasn't a re-purposing project, but I'm pleased with how it turned out, so here you go. I've been wanting to make a pinecone wreath for a while now, but couldn't bring myself to buy the pinecones at the craft store. But, while we were in New Mexico at my parent's place over Christmas break, I found these beauties. While we were living in that house years ago we planted 4 evergreen trees (no clue what kind...). They were a good size when we planted them, but now they are over 30 ft tall and drop these beautiful pinecones. So I packed up a couple boxes of them and had them mailed to myself in Wisconsin. It took a while for them to get here because they were mailed as cheaply as possible. In the mean time I shopped the after Christmas sales and found this wreath for $2! Love those sales. I was so excited when the box arrived, I got started right away. Instead of hot gluing the wreaths in, which I've seen done, I decided to wire them into the frame of the wreath, in hopes that the wreath will last longer.
It's a bit plain for now, but I'll jazz it up this fall when I pull it out. I think I'm going to keep it on the door November through January and just change out the decorations according to the season (orange berries for Thanksgiving, red and green ribbon for Christmas, ice like crystals for January). Oh, I'm excited about this.
Since I'm on a roll, I might as well post about my crocheting. I've known how to crochet a single chain for, well as long as I could remember. Then after high school a friend showed me how to make a shell stitch to make an afgan. But then I never learned to how do anything else. Until lately, that is. My sister showed me how to make a hat over the break, so I made a purple beanie for myself. But then I wanted to learn more, so I went online and learned a ton of different stitches by watching youtube videos. I made a hat for Mike's birthday, one for Esther's birthday and one for me (so I matched too!).
They were really fun to make and actually not as hard as I thought they would be. I learned how to make flowers and stuff to and made a ton of those to accessorize...well whatever I want! :) I've used them on hats, purses, shirts and I've just worn them in my hair a few times.
I've got many many more projects I want to do, so maybe I'll post on here some of my more successful attempts. Oh and I finally cleaned out my craft closet so I can actually find my crafting supplies. Now all I need to do is get some modge podge... :)