If you like it then you should put a pin on it

Is there much more stressful in life (well, in the first world, anyway) than having to pack up and move house? I’m currently doing just that, and have decided it’s the ideal opportunity to make decisions about stuff that I have been hoarding for craft projects but have never actually used. In other words, turf them out or make something from them! Case in point, these badges which I found in an old suitcase of my dad’s when I was cleaning out my parent’s garage. Yes, not content to stock up on my own junk, I hoard other people’s crap as well!

If you’ve ever been on a tour or attended conferences or the like, you’ll have received a company-branded badge or a name badge and, if you’re as forgetful as I am, neglected to return it at the end of the event. So you’re stuck with a still useable item that no one wants simply because of how it looks. This rates extremely high on my “super frustrating things” list as I really hate throwing things out if they are still functional in any way. I decided to upcycle these badges to make them wearable, as so…

These big green triangular things were the dangles from some earrings that I’d bought and never worn. All I did was glue the badges to the back so that I could pin the earring parts to clothes.

 

I could have left them like that but as the earrings had rings going through them (at the points of the triangles) I attached a jump ring to each side and some chain as well. I’m not sure what the resulting piece of jewellery is called but it is handy for fastening jackets, capes, cardigans and so on together if they don’t have buttons or zips down the front, or if they are slightly small, like this green jacket which seems to have shrunk (unless I’ve grown since I made it about 10 years ago!).

After I made this, it dawned on me that an easier and quicker solution to upcycling badges would probably be to just spread glue all over them and attach fabric scraps or dip them in glitter – especially as I also happen to have two large bags of glitter in my craft stash. *Sigh* Oh well, at least this is kind of a start in the effort to declutter. Only 3,20909348 more things to sift through…