It’s Pet Week at city made! This week we are celebrating furry friends.
We begin with those small pets; gerbils. Our friends have two gerbils, Salt and Pepper, that they are keeping for the summer. In the gerbil’s cage is an old flower pot turned upside down to create a cozy gerbil home. The gerbil’s seem to love their little home.
Happy fourth of July from city made. Here is our attempt at a “patriotic†post.  Anna and Lauren’s hip grandma recently cleaned out her closet and donated clothes and accessories to city made.  These tank tops caught my eye right away.  I took apart the tank tops and re-assembled them to fit my girls.  I let the girls choose their own style.  Anna chose a halter-top style tank and Lauren chose criss-cross straps.
I like these tank tops because they work for the fourth of July but are not over-the-top so the girls can wear them all summer long.
Thanks grandma Spiehs!
It’s Independence Day weekend. So we at city made are saluting our independence by repurposing something!
Red, white and blue shirt to freedom napkins. Free to drink cocktails, that is.
This was such an easy project. Just decide on the size of your napkin, cut the shirt to fit and sew. These are a nice touch to any 4th of July bbq.
By the way, we were drinking homemade sangria. The recipe is from the Splendid Table.
Let us know if you want it.
Never ask again, “Where are my keys?â€
Old media cart to handy key holder.
Carol here. We have an old media cart that our over-sized, “old-fashioned†TV sits on. The cart was too small to accomadate the giant, so Christian removed the side handles. In true city made fashion, we didn’t throw the handles away.
By screwing hooks onto the piece of handle, and adding some hanging brackets on the back, we now have a useful, yet nice looking key holder that hangs right by our front door. (You may also notice the tweed wall tote that was a Father’s Day gift to Christian. Now he can keep track of his keys and all his various pocket “stuffâ€.)
Repurposed Bike Helmet Box
Melany’s husband Jeff just got a bike helmet for his birthday.  By the way, he will look pretty cool with his new helmet AND his new city made bike pannier.  The box that the helmet came in was the perfect size and shape to hold magazines.  There was really no work required for this repurpose.  Just asking and answering the question, “How can I repurpose this?† Sometimes the answer comes right away and seems so natural (we love it when that happens).  Other times we have to really spend some time thinking about and researching ways to repurpose something.  And sadly yes, sometimes we do throw things away (if they can’t be recycled of course).
Here is another way to reuse an old calendar.
This calendar was a desk top one that featured the paintings of Henri Matisse. By cutting out the paintings and putting them on a blank note card, we have a lovely set of cards. Perfect for writing a “Thank You†note or put them together as a set for a unique gift.
Remember the “Are we there yet?†time keeper we made with an outdated calendar?  Well, we have found another way to re-purpose an old calendar: A Kindness Chart
Here at citymade we are loving summer and enjoying having our kids at home all day. Â However, we have noticed that this extra time siblings spend together can lead to extra fighting and arguing.
By taking a couple of pages from an old calendar we have a chart that we let the kids decorate however they wanted.  We explained to the children that when we noticed them doing or saying something kind to their siblings, friends, or anyone else, they get to put a heart sticker up on their kindness chart.  We brainstormed some scenarios together that would earn them a “kindness awardâ€.
When the children fill up their calendar chart with heart stickers they get to pick a prize from the prize basket. Â I chose small prizes that I knew my kids would get excited about but were also useful. Â (Sticky notes, highlighters, chap-stick, mints)
Why hand made, and what’s it got to do with the economy?
Seems as though everywhere we look these days, “handmade†is popping up. The tremendous success of Etsy** and of shops like Beehive Co-op** are reflections of this. There seems to be a greater value placed on handmade goods these days, a recognition that the effort and love that go into creating something from scratch is worthwhile. But, don’t we all think that ALL the time? So where is the relationship between a “downturned†economy and a new respect for handmade?
I would argue that during times of economic belt-tightening, we are reminded–whether consciously or subconsciously–that there is a chain of events that leads to any object you hold in your hand, and that regardless of how openly we acknowledge them, there are emotions associated with those events (not to mention repercussions to them). When I purchase a t-shirt from a chain department store, it began in a nation far away, made by hands I will never meet, anonymously, perhaps under undesirable conditions. When I wear it and walk down the street, I may pass someone wearing the exact same t-shirt, or a dozen people wearing it. When I wash it, I don’t take exceptional care of it, because it’s disposable and has an ephemeral nature, as if it never was intended to be something I treasure.
If I buy a more expensive shirt from a boutique, do I feel differently? To a degree. Because it likely cost more, I probably take better care of it. And perhaps because of the boutique cache, I might feel that I’m less likely to greet the same shirt passing me in the opposite direction. But it was still, almost certainly, made by someone far away, indifferently, with no thought to me as the recipient.
When I buy handmade, though, from a small seller who has touched each t-shirt individually, who has thought about who would buy it and wear it, who has taken the time to make it something special, I feel that. It comes through the fabric, somehow, and translates itself into how I walk and how I care for the garment.
When I MAKE handmade? That takes it to a whole ‘nother level. Knowing not just that I’ve made it, but who for and with what materials and where I was when I made it and what I was thinking as I took each stitch, all that gets put into the project. Even if it’s a quickie project that costs pennies and isn’t meant to be an heirloom, even then I get a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment out of taking each stitch and seeing the finished product, as if a part of me is fed by the act of creating something new. I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s totally true, and I think ultimately the reason that when the economy forces us to examine what we buy and where we put our precious resources, we turn to the handmade is this: because a handmade object is a relationship between the maker and the made, and between the object and the user.
Human beings, regardless of their cultural background or nationality, are about relationships. It’s how we are made, and is at the heart of all we do, when you get right down to it. Relationships between us and other people, between us and the world around us, between us and the work we do, between us and ideas. Those relationships change form depending on the circumstances, and I believe that when our backs are to the wall and the wallet is bare, we choose the relationships that have the deepest value to us, and the ones that have the most power to outlast. Handmade does that, in spades.
According to some sources, the United States has experienced 12 recessions since Great Depression, and all have led to a return of handmade. What does that say about us as a society? That we spend huge amounts of time spending money on things that don’t matter until we’re forced to step back and evaluate our choices? Well, yes. I think that’s exactly what it says. That is, in some ways, a basic part of human nature: that we tend to take the easiest route until it is blocked off, at which point we reach deep inside ourselves and find reserves of character we might not have known we had.
I, for one, am delighted to see so many folks taking time in ways we haven’t, possibly for decades. I revel in the moments when I sit down and stitch slowly, deliberately, by hand. They remind me of what I am doing and where I am going. I don’t multitask, unless you consider that as I create, I talk and listen, so that as I build relationship with what I’m creating, I build relationship with those around me.
I sure hope handmade is here to stay. It brings out the best in us, no matter what shape the economy is in.
This piece was written by Deborah Moebes
Under where?
O.k. Stay with us in this one.
Ava received an adorable swim suit from her Grandma in Chicago. She wanted to wear it, but it was a bit too low for her. We found an old, gently used, clean pair of her underwear. I cut out the back, and sewed it across the front of the suit. It worked perfectly, and she is able to wear the swim suit without being self conscious.
We really want to emphasize that the underwear was clean and gently used.
We end wedding week with one more idea from Amber’s wedding.  Amber found several coordinating linens from thrift stores for her napkins.  She used pinking shears to cut them so they did not even need hemmed.  City made has inherited these fabric squares so watch for a future post using Amber’s wedding napkins.
We would like to thank Amber Linthakhan for letting us feature her beautiful and elegant ‘green’ wedding.  We hope that she has inspired any future brides to think about ways to use repurposed items for your weddings and cut down on the amount of waste that any big event can produce.
We leave you with some additional pictures from Amber and David’s wedding.
Photos were taken by Julie Branyan. Â Visit her website at juliebranyan.com.
