Upcycle! Dryer Sheets

Have you ever heard the term "upcycle"?  If not, you've probably not watched any recent episodes of the Paw Patrol as "upcycling" is Rocky's thing!  I Googled the definition and it says" Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products of better quality and environmental value.  Today I'm going to tell you how to upcycle a used dryer sheet!

• Spread a generous amount of Modge Podge on an 8 ½ x 5 inch piece of card stock. Press the used dryer sheet on top of the Modge Podge and rub over the entire surface of the paper.  Put in between two sheets of wax paper and put something heavy on top. Let dry for at least 24 hours. This will prevent curling of the paper. When dry, cut paper to desired size.

The image below is from a card created a few years ago. The dryer sheet was adhered to Chocolate Chip cardstock. Kind of gives the paper a fuzzy effect! I think it is perfect for Christmas/winter themed cards. 

Tip - How to Easily Die Cut with an Intricate Die

During last night's In-Color Club I used the butterflies from the Butterfly Beauty Die set.  I pre-cut the butterflies for time saving purposes.  The girls were so thankful for that because they felt that it would be painful having to cut the butterflies because of how the die was so detailed. I reminded them of the "dryer sheet" technique.  Of course a few of them looked at me like I had two heads!  I promised that I'd post the technique for them today.  Hope it makes it easier with the photos.

 This is the only brand of dryer sheets that I was able to find that are unscented.  Not sure if it makes a difference or not if you use regular dryer sheets, but keep in mind that if you do use scented dryer sheets your card stock will be scented.    

   Open and flatten 4 sheets and then fold in half bringing the left side to the right side. 

    Place your die on a piece of card stock and run through your die cut machine one time. 

   Without removing the paper from the die place, the die/paper on the folded dryer sheets. (Remember, there will be 8 layers now!)  If the outside paper falls away when you lift it from the cutting platform, that's okay. You just need to make sure the rest of the paper is still embedded in the die. 

  Run the card stock, die and dryer sheets through the cutting machine one time.

  Remove the die. The card stock will be adhered to the dryer sheet.

 Carefully peel away the card stock from the dryer sheet.

Note:  You may use the dryer sheet "packet" a number of times. I often crumple it a little when there are lots of the little chads left behind and they fall off pretty easily.  I then just smooth it out a bit. I've also opened up the "packet" and turned it inside out so I have a completely clean surface.  Use both sides of the "packet" as well!  I probably get anywhere from 10 - 20 uses from the "packet" depending on the size of the dies I used.