For many of us, this upcoming weekend will be a long weekend, a good time for a DIY project that can be spread out over a couple of days or a trip to the flea market (Long Beach is this weekend). Why not combine the two? Here are some ideas (some of which we found on Country Living, some we've blogged before) that use teacups and saucers, an easy and often inexpensive flea market find that lend themselves to easy re-purposing...

• As we've blogged before, an arrangement of plates on the wall is a ever changing installation that shows off your best finds (or your grandparent's finest).
  
  
• You can simply paint over part of the pattern or, if you're a tad more ambitious, why not try making your own Sarah Chiat plates
  
• Teacups make great pots for growing herbs in your kitchen. Water them sparsely or drill a hole in the bottom for drainage.
  
• Anchor a cup with a broken handle on the wall near your front entrance. The handle can act as a hook to hold keys; the interior of the cup for change and the cup itself as a hook to hold your coat.
  

We noticed the following ideas on Country Living which use specialized papers from Lazertran:

• Use Lazertran's Iron-on Ink-Jet Transfer paper to make your own fabric: Take a photo of a cup (or other object) against a white background. Enlarge the photo by 200 percent and print it on Lazertran's Iron-on Ink-Jet Transfer paper. Cut out the image and place it face down on a piece of fabric and iron away. Use to upholster chairs, let a line of cups dance along the bottom of a curtain or a circle of plates around a tablecloth.
  
• Use Lazertran's Waterslide Decal Paper to transfer a cup's pattern to another piece of pottery: Photograph the original piece, increase the size by 25% and soak the image in warm water. Press the paper onto the new piece, peel away the backing paper and wipe away the excess water.

For more ideas, click here

[images: Frances Janisch from Country Living]