How to Make a Tshirt Rug

I had seen a really neat t-shirt rug in the store and thought that I could figure out how to make one. (So you have probably noticed that I am having underlining issues again. Oh, well.) So here is my version of a totally green t-shirt rug. I used old t-shirts, plastic bags - yep- you will see how in a minute and a non-slip matt.





I used strips that were about 5" x 1" and found out after I cut them and attached them to the matt that I evidently cut them the wrong way. If you want to get the stretch and rolled look, I believe you have to cut them with the longest horizontally. Sorry I didn't write it down. I am using my pictures to remember how I accomplished this project. Alot of my crafting is just "winging it".


Here is where the plastic bags com in to play. I made the famous plastic bag yarn and crocheted a base for my t-shirt strips to be tied to. I chained for about 25 inches with a "K" hook and double crocheted the rows until it measured about 15 inches. To tie the strips onto the base I used my crochet hook to pull the strip around a post (sorry forgot to get a picture of that) and then pulled both ends up and tied them in a double knot. You can also do this like you would a latch hook. Which ever you prefer.
Here is the almost finished version. The last thing I did was to sew a piece of non-slip shelf matt to the bottom of the rug with embroidery thread and a whipstitch. It feels nice and soft when you get out of the shower!

You used what?

We have gotten into recycling around our house. We are trying to reduce the waste and create something cute from it. What about all of that junk mail and school papers that you really don't need to save? Do you throw out all of those burnt out light bulbs? Not anymore...how about creating a snowman? Make a paper pulp out of your shredded paper, salt (to retard mold growth) and some white school glue. Here we show our simple steps in of taping the snowman arms in place before we apply the pulp. It will take a few days for your snowman to dry before you are ready to paint him. Give him a scarf if you like and he is ready to bring a smile to someone. For all of those cereal boxes you go through...you can bring them to a recycling center or make these great book marks, clipboards that you can find out how to make by flipflops and applesauce here.

Cute things made from recycling

So here a few more projects that can be made from recycling. When our children were young and going through all of the baby food, it seemed like such a waste to be throwing all of the jars away so here is what became of some of them. The kids and I painted these snowmen and penguins and glued hats on them. You can still remove the lid (hat) and put a small surprise inside. These made great presents for all of their teachers this year. We put a truffle inside of them and their teachers received something especially made by them.
Here are some little angels that are made from recycling light bulbs, baby food jars and fabric scraps. They just sit around and look cute all year round.
My last recycling craft for the day...these cute little angel pins. They use small scraps of fabric for their wings and bodies. Fun to make to match outfits or friends favorite things. Fabrics above are jeans, cherries, ladybugs and stars.