Seven Great Eco Craft Books

The Green Guide for ArtistsGreen Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist by Karen Michel is a book I recommend for all green crafters and artists.

The Green Guide lists a lot of craft and art supplies that are green, eco-friendly, and less toxic. It is also filled with recipes so you can make your own green supplies like natural paints and glues. There are recipes for glair paint, milk paint, watercolor paints, gouache, egg tempera, and casein paints as well as many natural adhesives like waterproof glue, methyl cellulose glue, collage glue, rice paste, gum Arabic glue, casein glue, and acrylic glue.

Green Crafts For Children book coverIf you have children, Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, And Found Materialsby Emma Hardy is something you’ll want to check out for many fun and kid friendly green craft ideas.

It is filled with whimsical, cute and super adorable crafts that kids, especially little girls, are going to love. The projects in this book can be made from many items you may already have on hand in your cupboard, laying around the house, or even have in your yard. There are recipes and tutorials for salt dough (and cute projects made from the salt dough), paper mache projects, yarn and wool projects, fabric and tissue paper flowers, and one of my personal favorites- glove creatures- perfect for all those gloves that lose their mate.

Green Crafts for Children is a treasure trove of inspiration. I highly recommend this book for green mamas and their green girls. There are a few projects boys might enjoy too such as the pine cone animals and the gourd creatures, but honestly this is a book more for the girly girls to enjoy.

The next fabulous eco craft book on my list is CraftCycle. Craftcycle book coverIn my opinion Craftcycle by Heidi Boyd is one of the best eco-crafting books to hit the bookshelves. I love the super creative, crafty and ingenious ideas that are found throughout the book.

Craftcycle contains over 100 eco-friendly projects, plus eco-living tips and ideas that greenies and want to be greenies are going to love.

The Green Crafter book coverThe Green Crafter: 52 Eco Friendly Projects for Every Week of the Year is a another nice eco craft book geared towards kids. This one is by Richela Fabian Morgan.

In this book you’ll find cute eco-craft projects for kids, and adults, with detailed directions for fun projects like sock monkeys, ghosts on a string, garden butterflies, paper flowers, photo ball ornaments, cute paper dolls, rock animals, and keepsake boxes. The Green Crafter: 52 Eco Friendly Projects for Every Week of the Year is a fun eco-craft book to share with the kids.

The Big Green Book of Recycled CraftsI love The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts. It is a large collection of fun and fabulous crafts made with all kinds of trashy, upcycled products.

I see quite a few old favorites from other Leisure Arts books including the Trash to Treasure series which I have always enjoyed. The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts is full of gifts, home decor and garden projects made from discarded items you probably have lying around the house, in your recycling bins, or maybe even in your trash. Grab this book and start eco crafting.

With spring and summer just around the corner you might want to grab a couple copies of Sue Whitney’s Junk Beautiful books. These books are perfect for those who love to hit flea markets and yard sales looking for items to makeover.

Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition coverIn the Junk Beautiful Outdoor Edition , a tire and drum become a side table, a vintage wooden milk crate becomes a garden cart, dominoes become a soap dish, an old grate becomes the centerpiece of a magnificent winter wreath, washboards and a printer’s drawer become a stylish outdoor patio table and an old urinal becomes a planter. That’s only a taste of all the amazing ideas and transformations that take place in this book.

junk beautiful coverIn Sue Whitney’s other book, Junk Beautiful: Room by Room Makeovers with Junkmarket Style, the first book in the series, you’ll find ideas like turning an old boot form into a lamp, making an old flour mill cart into a coffee table, transforming a soap dish into a wall sconce, turning shutters in a shelf, making a glass lampshade into a water fountain and so much more.

So go ahead and grab a couple of these books and get started eco-crafting. I bet your local library might have a few. I know mine does which is where I found a couple of them, the rest I received as review books. And all are great books I’d love to have as keepers for my crafting bookshelf.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top