Crafting a Green World

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures by Amanda Blake Soule is the green craft book for those of you who love the shabby chic type of decor that not only feels comfortable but is almost necessary when you have small children.

The book is full of wonderful ways to use everyday discarded items and make them into heartfelt treasures, shabby chic decor, and fun family memories. Read the rest of this entry »

Since I craft through an eco-minded ethic, I have a habit of reading regular craft books through a green perspective, looking for the following characteristics: how friendly are the projects to being performed with eco-friendly practices, how mindful are the projects to a sustainable worldview, how well do the projects work in opposition to a consumerist, commercial culture?

Although Jeffrey Yamaguchi’s 52 Projects, based on his 52 Projects blog, is a little light on the how-to, step-by-step, hands-on tutorial component of your typical crafty book, 52 Projects works through a premise that we have the responsibility to bring meaning to our own lives through our own work, and this is a very green and crafty mindset. Read the rest of this entry »

Browsing through my local library’s green section I recently came across A Greener Christmas. Wow! I really wish I would have had this book at Christmas. What a great book filled with crafts and recipes to bring back the old fashioned feeling of a true Christmas, not a glitzy glammy one.

I have discovered several ideas in the book that can easily be transformed to fit Valentine’s Day so I don’t have to wait almost a whole year to put any of these nifty ideas into use. Read the rest of this entry »

Is it too soon to be thinking about Valentine’s Day? I sure hope not, because today I ran across an awesome video tutorial for making your own pop up Valentine’s Day card from old magazines and one of those cardboard Priority Mail envelopes! Check it:
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I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes that Use Less and Mean More by Anna Getty is a great book that covers how to green Christmas better than any other book I’ve read on the subject in the way that if offers tons of hands-on advice and projects, and that’s what I love most- the DIY projects and crafts.

I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas is full of tips, expert advice, crafts, recipes, decorating ideas and pretty much everything you need to make the holidays more eco-friendly. Read the rest of this entry »

I am a book hog, I know not green, but I love books, love to have them, to hold them, and of course…read them and a book never ever gets thrown away in my home. It would be sacrilegious.

If you know someone like me then check out some of the best eco-craft books available and consider sticking some of these crafty green books in their stockings or under the tree. Read the rest of this entry »

A woman’s handbag is an extension of herself. It shows off her style, her personality and her ability to coordinate the perfect bag with her outfit. Many of us can’t really afford to have a bag for every outfit or mood but with a little craftiness and the help of this new book…maybe we can.

Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything into High-Style Handbags is a new book that shows us how to turn almost anything into a fun, funky and fabulous handbags.

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Are you looking for more ideas to make the holidays handmade this year? Drop by FaveCrafts.com.

There’s a great article Go Green This Christmas full of ideas and links to fun Christmas crafts that would make great gifts. Make sure to check out the list of 34 green Christmas crafts. Read the rest of this entry »

Quilting for Peace is the latest in craft books by Katherine Bell. In the pages you’ll find stories and inspiration of organizations as well as people using sewing and quilting to help make the world a better place.

The book covers giving to deserving charities as well as using quilts as an activist tool. There are patterns and projects to replicate those the organizations make as well as where to donate your creation if you so choose.

From veterans to kids, Quilting for Peace covers a wide range of issues in which sewing has brought people together for a cause. We asked Katherine to stop by talk a bit about her book and quilting from an environmental perspective.

The following is written by Katherine:

Quilts can change people’s minds and alter the course of history. That was the idea behind 19th century quilts promoting prohibition and abolition, the 1,293,300-square-foot, 54-ton AIDS Memorial Quilt, and The Ribbon, a project that wrapped the Pentagon and Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Dome in miles of quilts to protest the nuclear arms race. Now a new generation is using patchwork to call attention to an existential threat – this time it’s climate change. Here are three ways you can join them.

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Green Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist is the one book all green crafters and artists should have. It lists craft and art supplies that are green (and at a minimum less toxic) as well as gives recipes to make your own green supplies like natural paints and glues.

I had no idea that Gorilla Glue is “green”. My husband uses it all the time and I figured it was just another glue from the hardware store but it is actually non-toxic and VOC free. Though when I have performed searches for green supplies it never comes up.

That’s just one reason why this book is so great. Read the rest of this entry »