Crafting a Green World

If you love the luxury of thick, textured handmade paper for your crafty needs then you should check out Twisted Limb Paperworks.

Whether you make cards, scrapbook or just need some scrap paper for your craft needs they have a great selection of high quality, eco-friendly handmade paper made from recycled paper.

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Scrap-booking is very popular. Many people have really embraced the concept of creating beautiful books filled with memories.

Personally I’ve always kinda shunned it. I found it wasteful because so much paper and useless little dodads were used, so it’s never been a “green” thing to do in my mind.

Now companies are embracing that “green” idea and want to provide materials for people who want to scrapbook while being eco-friendly.

Creatively Green is one of those companies. 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 found this fabulous tutorial on how to make a large gift bow out of any paper you have on hand: magazines, scrap paper, pretty scrapbook paper, even old junkmail or maps.

The tutorial is from the talented crafter Jessica Jones and if you don’t follow her blog you should: http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com

Here’s some more info about the bow making process. Read the rest of this entry »

If you don’t have time to make you own gift wrap or cards this year, or maybe if you just need a starting point check out Earth Love’n Paper Products. They make gift wrap and note cards from 100% recycled paper. Read the rest of this entry »

Empty cardboard toilet paper rolls are one thing that everyone seems to have.

My kids love to play with them to make binoculars and all sorts of fun playthings.

I have found several creative ways to transform toilet paper rolls. Favor boxes for special occasions and parties are one way to put them to good use.

Anyone can easily take empty rolls and turn them into fun party favors, especially for Halloween. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight I’ve been pondering crafts involving old books.  Obviously collector books, library quality books and books we just plain love get pampered and kept on our shelves and tables…

What about the rest?  Obsolete manuals, damaged books, those which have only kind of survived the toddler years… where do they go, what do they become?

Disclaimer: If a book is not salvageable (or any parts of it that are beyond reuse), please tear it apart and recycle it.

If books are in good shape and no longer needed in your household, please consider donating them to a hospital or shelter.  A great idea for children is to have a book exchange party or a books for the children’s hospital party (ask everyone to bring their gently used books to donate).

Here are some great ideas I found for making a book into something new. Read the rest of this entry »

[Handmade business cards by Lizerati. Used with permission.]

We’ve had crafty business on the brain this week! On Sunday, Julie wrote about salvaged setups for outdoor shows, and yesterday, I posted about recovering after a long day of vending. So what about your promotional materials? It’s important to have some sort of take-away at your booth so folks who don’t have cash on hand can find you later. Here are a few eco-friendly resources for making or printing your business cards!
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Over the past week or so I have been sharing sources for Eco Packaging Handmade For You, because a popular tip for all crafters is to make your packaging creative. But we don’t all have time or our creativity is reserved for our fabulous products. There are however some sellers that truly excel at the packaging ephemera. To wrap up the series I wanted to share with you some of my favorite seller ephemera from purchases I have made on Etsy. Read the rest of this entry »

Rather than toss all those catalogs and offers into the recycle bin, you may as well take advantage of the free craft supplies!

Despite our best efforts to stop marketers from sending us junk mail, the stuff still seems to find its way into our mailbox. We use some of it for things like grocery lists and keeping score when playing Scrabble, but what to do with the rest? Here are some project ideas and junk mail art inspiration.
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