Recycled Pots

• What could be better than a quick and easy craft that allows you to recycle at the same time? Use those old, discolored clay pots sitting out in your garage. First, wash them thoroughly and then put them out to dry. Put a fresh coat or two of acrylic paint on the pots--both inside and out. If you want to keep the inside of the clay pot natural, spray it with a clear polyurethane. It will look brand new.
  
  If you are especially artistic, paint flowers or a scene on the outside of the pot. Or you can use stencils, decals or stickers to decorate the outside. Of course, it will make a great plant container on your deck or patio, but it can also be used as a gift container, filled with garden tools, gloves and seeds. A gift of bath products would fit nicely inside the painted pot. Line the pot with a checkered cloth napkin and fill it with homemade goodies for a special gift.
  
  

Flip Flops

• Fancy up some flip flops. This project is so easy, it can be done by both adults and children. At the fabric store, pick out a brightly colored cotton patterned fabric. Choose three additional solid color fabrics that are in the patterned fabric. You will need a 1/4-yard of each fabric. Mark with a pencil and ruler, on the back of the fabric, 1/2-inch-by-3-inch strips. Cut them out with a pinking shears.
  
  Place the strips--one pile for each fabric--in front of you on your workspace. Tie the first strip in a double knot at the left end of the flip flop, around the foot strap. Repeat this process with each color fabric strip, in order and then start back with the patterned fabric. Knot the strips of fabric up to the center of the shoe, where you run into the toe thong. Skip over the toe thong and start in on the right side of the flip flop, at the center. Continue with the process until you reach the right side of the shoe. The amount of strips needed for this process depends on the fullness you desire.
  
  The fabric strips can be cut with a plain scissors or ripped by pulling the fabric apart, for different appearances. If you like, you can glue a small silk flower above the toe thong using a hot glue gun.