Thanksgiving Crafts from Natural Materials

Two Dozen Thanksgiving Food Crafts

Thanksgiving food crafts let you get crafty for the holiday without adding a ton of junk to the waste stream.

There is so much going on, food-wise, for Thanksgiving that adding a whole other component of holiday decorating–much less the crafting required to make those decorations!–can sometimes just be too much.

Tower of Hanoi

30 Upcycled Cardboard Things to Build and Play With

Cardboard is a magical material. It’s free from your recycling bin, it’s easily modified and embellished, and it’s eminently recyclable when you’re done with it. It’s one of my personal favorite crafting materials, and it’s my absolute favorite material to give to young people to craft with.

embroidered cardboard ornaments

DIY Embroidered Cardboard Ornaments

So whether you’re obsessed with soothing symmetry like me, or you like to make your stitching free-form or representative, you can stitch the design of your dreams onto these embroidered cardboard ornaments. Here’s how!

Corrugated Cardboard Tower of Hanoi

DIY Corrugated Cardboard Tower of Hanoi

This Tower of Hanoi is NOT made from plastic! Instead, it’s made from that likely-looking piece of corrugated cardboard hanging out there in your recycling bin. Cut it up, add some decorations, and you’ll have yourself a brand-new version of a 140-year-old logic game.

Upcycled Cardboard Polyominoes

DIY Upcycled Cardboard Polyominoes

You don’t need another set of plastic game pieces kicking around your home, though. Instead, here’s how to make any set of polyominoes that you want from sturdy, upcycled, recyclable cardboard.

DIY Journals and Coloring Book

DIY Coloring Book with an Upcycled Cover

I modified my go-to DIY journal with a cover made from upcycled cardboard, and filled it with coloring pages downloaded from the interwebs. It’s exactly what I wanted, and here’s how you can make one, too!

How to Display Vintage Photographs

One Dozen Ways to Upcycle Photographs

. I love turning these old photos that I never look at into all-new decorations and utilitarian items, giving them new lives and incorporating those happy memories into even more parts of my home.

Sewn Fabric Basket

20 Fabric Bins, Baskets, and Other DIY Storage Solutions

You can DIY quite a lot of storage solutions using stash or scrap fabric as a base. You can make drawstring bags and floppy baskets, sure, but also boxes, bins, cubbies, and all sorts of other handy ways to organize and neatly store your stuff.

Nesting Fabric Baskets

Sew Nesting Fabric Baskets from Stash Fabrics

hese nesting fabric baskets give you a lot of storage options. Sew a set in the same colorway from the same fabrics, and they’ll all match each other and your decor. Since they nest, they don’t take up a lot of storage space, but when you need them, you’ve got four whole baskets’ worth of storage!

Sewn Fabric Baskets

How to Make the Easiest Sewn Fabric Baskets

These fabric baskets are purposefully a bit on the droopy side, because I don’t like to sew with artificial materials like interfacing. A little interfacing or even cereal box cardboard would firm them up, though, if you prefer that look.

King-Sized Denim Log Cabin Quilt

Log Cabin Quilt from Upcycled Denim… And It’s King-Sized!

I roasted while I sewed all that denim and flannel in the smack middle of June, but I’ll be so comfy this winter!

I’ve had this log cabin quilt sewn from upcycled denim in my mind’s eye for a few years, but it’s the embarrassing state of my fabric stash that finally prodded me into action.

Free Patterns from Indie Pattern Companies: Underwear and Accessories

Everything on this list is from one of my favorite indie pattern companies. The patterns I’m pointing you to are free, but I’ve also included plenty of suggestions for other patterns you can purchase from these companies. It’s important to show these indie companies some love!

Wildlife Rescue Pouch

Sew a Wildlife Rescue Pouch from Fleece Scraps

Wildlife rescues use fleece pouches to contain small and baby animals in a way that keeps them feeling safe and comfortable. It mimics the type of pouch that a marsupial animal will be familiar with, and recreates the feeling of a nest for other animals.

Corrugated Cardboard Box Cat Scratcher

20 Cat Toys and Enrichment Items from Eco-Friendly Materials

Cat enrichment is so important to the physical and emotional well-being of your cats. Don’t let your tiny hunters suffer from boredom; instead, check out this list of my favorite cat enrichment items below, and make your best friend their new favorite toy!

Wood Burned and Stained Easter Eggs

36 Easy and Eco-Friendly Easter Crafts

Today, instead of feeling like you have to go out and purchase new decorations and baskets and toys and treats, choose something from my list of my favorite eco-friendly Easter crafts. Make something that you’ll love to reuse, and save yourself from adding new items to the global waste stream.

Memory Game

20 Homemade Indoor Games

Homemade games add an extra-fun element to any indoor play. You can customize your homemade games to perfectly suit the interests and current abilities of your kids, and older kids can even help with their creation.

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