Halloween Cleanup: Bulk Up Your Craft Stash

Halloween Cleanup

Halloween Cleanup

Americans spent nearly $7 billion dollars on Halloween this year. BILLION! That’s BILLION, with a “B”! How on earth is that possible? I guess if you factor in decorations, treats, kids costumes, adult costumes, and even pet costumes – yeah, that all adds up pretty darn fast.

As eco-crafters, that number is particularly frightening because we know that much of our store-bought Halloween fabulousness will end up in the trash. The good news is – we can transform our Halloween cleanup into craft materials by doing just a few simple things.

Candy!
Halloween is all about the candy, right? So eat the goodies, but save the wrappers. “What good is a wrapper?” Now that’s a crazy question because we all know wrappers can be used in endless craft projects. Decoupage them onto notebooks, light switches, boxes – or just about anything – and you’ve got instant cuteness.

Halloween Cleanup

Cobwebs, Black Spoons and Orange Streamers
These are all things that are “so Halloween” that you could never re-imagine them into anything else, right? But don’t you think those cobwebs could easily be transformed into “snow”? And those black spoons could be painted green and turned into a tree. (Click here to see that!) And there’s so much we can do with those orange streamers – like making confetti for New Year’s.

Your Child’s Artwork
I know you’re careful about the kind of supplies you use when your kids are creating works of art at home. But I bet the jack-o-lantern drawings they bring home from school are covered with glitter, glue and lots of tidbits that aren’t recyclable. So what do you do? First, take a photo of the artwork. That way you’ll have it for your scrapbook or for printing and framing. Then, DESTROY IT! By “destroy”, I mean salvage as much as you possibly can for your craft stash. Googly eyes, buttons, stickers – save anything that could possibly be worked into another craft project. Recycle what you can, and then painfully toss what you can’t. It’s a dirty job, but reducing waste is important – particularly for a holiday that produces millions of  tons of waste.

Halloween Cleanup

What do you do with those costumes, candy and pumpkins? The answer is right HERE!

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