Back in high school, while other girls were shopping at the mall, I was waxing curbs and flippin’ ollies. So, it’s no surprise that today I’m drooling over 2ReVert’s recycled skateboard jewelry!
This husband and wife team from Nova Scotia craft amazing earrings, pendants,bracelets and rings from 100% post consumer decks. That begs the question: Where has your jewelry been? Read the rest of this entry »
Cork is a great jewelry material. It is 100% recycled and recyclable, flexible, and water repellent.
Each piece is individually cut from a single block used for storage and display. Will fit men and women.
Sold by STUDIO 1 a.m. for $48
At the heart of the green crafting movement are artists using bizarre materials to make their crafts. I absolutely love making and wearing jewelry made out of unexpected materials. When has a gold heart necklace from the mall ever sparked a conversation in the way that a necklace made out of used car parts or broken plates has? You are sure to start some interesting dialog when wearing something from these three artists.
This ring is hand carved from a used number 11 pool ball…yes, a pool ball! How cool! Eleanor Salazar of PoolBallRings is an artist from Maine who can hand carve any color or number ball you like, in your size, and have it to you in two weeks. She even makes earrings. What a great gift for the pool shark in your life!
The 2ReVert shop asks, “Where has your Jewelry Been?” Being that these earring are made from used skateboards, one never knows what kind of trouble they got into in their last life. That is the best part about jewelry made from repurposed objects, the back-story (or perceived back-story) adds so much interest and personality to a piece. Read the rest of this entry »
After a long running campaign to ban plastic bags in the U.K, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced this week a plan to introduce a tax on plastic bags.
Fantastic news! We can rid the country of an ugly, harmful menace and give ourselves a big slap on the back whilst carrying our shopping home in natural resuable bags. Great!
Or… is it really all that great? Am I the only one who might be a little bit sad to see them go? I won’t miss the bags themselves but I will miss the creativity they inspire. Read the rest of this entry »
Spring is right around the corner - the perfect time to refresh your home with a few new, eco-friendly items. Started by indie Canadian design blogger Jan, Poppytalk Handmade is like an online farmer’s market for handmade goodies (why didn’t we think of that!?).
As luck would have it, this month’s theme for the showcase is all about green:
Here we are, entering our 6th month at poppytalk handmade and we can’t think of a better way to ring it in than as an eco-themed market! As each market starts up, there’s always a bustle going on, and the anticipation to see everyone’s table come to life is my favorite part! We are thrilled to showcase this emerging talent with green spirits! Read the rest of this entry »
I have about a gazillion journals. They can be found stashed all about my house, so as to be within easy reach when an idea strikes (at least that’s what I tell myself). In truth, my journal collection stems from my inability of locating the journal that I had last put pen to paper. I can never seem to find one when I have an idea that needs to be written down or sketched out. I figure the more journals I have, the better my chances are for finding one when needed.
During my last creative brainstorm I relocated a favorite journal of mine (pictured). I acquired my cowboy journal at the last large indie craft fair in my area called Crafty Bastards. The journal, by Ex Libris Anonymous, is made from an old library book. It is hand made and one of a kind. Snippets of text from the original book are sprinkled throughout the blank pages of acid free paper.
I recall that Ex Libris Anonymous’ booth at Crafty Bastards was constantly packed that day. I elbowed my way in to sort through bins and bins of great vintage book covers. After coming back twice, I finally settled on a small journal with the shell of the Spiderweb Trail by Eugene Cunningham.
The vintage books that make up Ex Libris’ journals are cute, charming and have a kitschy vibe. The hard cover is a perfect writing surface and the spiral binding makes it easy to flip to the next blank page and the select passages can make for quick inspiration. I use mine to jot down notes and make quick sketches.
A traditional Easter requires quite a bit of wasteful accoutrement. If you are trying to go green, there’s a lot of ground to cover. Maybe you’re already making preparations to color eggs with natural dyes, or even sprouting your own wheat berry grass for baskets instead of buying the plastic stuff.
You’re under intense pressure to find that perfect organic chocolate bunny. I could not, with a straight face, suggest that you attempt to weave baskets yourself when there exists such cute alternatives by a talented, green-minded crafter. Fisheye creates items using recycled and repurposed materials, including the Easter bag pictured above. Read the rest of this entry »
Via shopping blog Great Green Goods, I found these cute necklaces made from reused bottle caps.
Syncopation Company was founded by two women who found that staying at home with their kids meant reevaluating their consumption patterns. The challenge of balancing budgets led to the realization that often, things we would otherwise throw away could become the raw materials for creativity.
In addition to the bottlecap necklaces, Syncopation has jewelry made from watch faces, watch gears, spoons, mah jong tiles, hardware, rulers, bottle openers, rain gutters, vintage tape measures, marbles, phone buttons, and much, much more.
The Koo Tomato Paste Box is made in South Africa out of recycled tin and wire. Just think of all the things you could make if you saved all your cans and tins!
Small, medium, and large sizes available from $22-$42. This lovely tin box is available at Indigo. Indigo is an online store that supports and sells arts and artifacts from Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Recycling or reusing old materials is one of the best (and cheapest) ways to get eco with your crafting. There are loads of ways to do this but it’s solutions like these that really grab my attention. What I love about these new uses for old neckties is that the objects they have been made into are far more beautiful than what they were originally.
Based in London, Barley Massey creates numerous products from recycled materials. The top of my wish list, though, are her shirt and tie cushions. These are such a fun use of old materials and would provide a great talking point for guests.
I recently came across relatively new etsy shop prix-prix via design sponge, In addition to making some very sweet notebooks from recycled soda boxes designer, Laura Skelton also produces these one-of-a kind card cases and wallets from vintage neckties, further fueling my vintage tie obsession.
Perhaps my infatuation with ties stems from this lovely tie rose made for me by a close friend, adorning a little felt box on my desk. It always reminds me that there can be some extremely beautiful yet staggeringly simple ways to use our discarded items.
There’s got to be thousands of old neckties languishing in charity shops and this is just about all the inspiration I need to go and rescue every one of them.
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