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.
Tutorial + How-to
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.
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.
DIY Cat Scratcher from Upcycled Cardboard Boxes
This upcycled cardboard cat scratcher is a great way to use up all your corrugated cardboard boxes. Cats love it, and it’s a useful donation to your local animal shelter.
Easy Stashbusting Project: Stitched Scrap Fabric and Felt Memory Game
This is a great way to use up small scraps from your recent projects, and especially other projects that you’ve sewn for these same kids.
The Easiest Way to Clean Wax out of a Jar Candle
My go-to process for cleaning wax out of jar candles used to be tedious and time-consuming. But now I’ve successfully used the Power of Science to come up with THE quickest and easiest go-to process.
No-Sew Mini Felt Heart Bunting
This mini heart bunting is a low-key gift, since it’s nice and small. Big hearts are corny, but small hearts are cute!
How to Clean and Refurbish Old Wooden Building Blocks
Here’s how to deep clean wooden building blocks and simple wooden toys, how to refurbish them, and even how to polish them up so they look beautiful and fancy and like the high-quality heirlooms that they are.
Easy, Eco-Friendly Christmas Craft: Paper Chain Christmas Tree Garland
However, you can do a lot more with the classic paper chain, especially in terms of Christmas tree decor. Because wouldn’t you rather have an eco-friendly, customized garland that fits your specific vibe?
How to Replace the Zipper in a Pair of Pants
Be warned: pants zippers are tedious and painstaking to replace. What they are not, however, is difficult. If you’ve sewn with zippers before, and you’re comfortable using a zipper foot, you can make this repair.
Upcycled Hair Accessories: Stashbust a Scrunchie
Scrunchies are one of my favorite stashbuster projects. Like the other projects that I mentioned, scrunchies are very forgiving, so you can fudge fabric dimensions as needed to fit your scraps.
Leaning into the Discomfort, Part One: How to Upcycle a 2-Liter Bottle into a Planter
Somehow, until I made the effort to really think about how I could reuse plastic 2-liter bottles, it never occurred to me that a plastic 2-liter bottle is a nearly perfect planter. It’s cheap. It’s sturdy. It’s light. It’s easy to modify to fit a variety of needs.
This Mend Will Stay Mended! The Forever Fix to Thigh Rips in Your Jeans
Reinforcing that entire thigh area, both the rip and the surrounding real estate, with a denim patch, as well as quilting the snot out of that patch, stops the rip.
Clothing Refashion: Another Way to DIY Bell Bottoms
This method results in a pair of bell bottoms that are wide and blousy and flowy. You couldn’t get away with wearing them in all circumstances, but they’re also super dramatic and super fun for every bell bottom-appropriate occasion.
20 Summer Camp Crafts for a Kid-Friendly Summer
Take a few pages out of the camp counselor handbook and check out my list of my favorite summer camp-style crafts. They’re all highly kid-approved, and you can very likely source all the necessary supplies from around your house, yard, or recycling bin.
Summer Camp Crafts: How to Make a Yarn Tassel
This DIY yarn tassel is the perfect outdoor craft when it’s beautiful outside, and also a pretty terrific indoor craft when outside sucks.
How to Remake Ugly Switch Plates and Outlet Covers with Paper
A little Mod Podge, a little polyurethane sealant, and my old plastic light switch plate and outlet cover are good as new, with some antique wallpaper street cred, too!
How to Drill through Glass
Drilling through glass isn’t as hard as it looks, and it’s a specific skill that is honestly pretty amazing to have.
DIY: Upcycle Old Towels into a New Bath Mat
I cut up several old towels to piece together a cute applique mushroom, quilted it onto a couple other old towels, and now have a brand-new custom bath mat that the kids and I are delighted with.
How to Remove Wax from Fabric: Two Methods
It’s possible to remove most candle wax from most fabric, even if your candle wax is highly pigmented, and even if your fabric is precious and delicate.
DIY Upcycled Glass Bottle Bottom Ring Holders
These glass bottle bottom ring holders are quick and easy to make, and don’t require any additional supplies other than several grits of sandpaper.
Make an Easy Drawstring Gift Bag with This Free Pattern
A drawstring bag is a terrific go-to when you’re thinking about sustainable gift packaging. It’s customizable, re-usable, and easy to put to a huge number of alternate uses.
DIY Wall-Mounted Cardboard Box Shelves
The solution for displaying your favorite treasures is that cardboard box hanging out in your recycling bin!
Crafty Christmas: Make Altered Playing Card Ornaments
Homemade Christmas tree ornaments are my favorite holiday decoration. Every year, my kids and I add more handmade ornaments to our collection and I cull a couple more store-bought ornaments. My ultimate goal is to have a Christmas tree so bedazzled that you can barely see its branches, with nary a store-bought ornament in sight.
How to Transform Wicker Baskets with Paint
Painting a wicker basket is a super quick project that makes a big change in the overall look of your room. And when you get tired of your current color scheme, repainting that basket is just as quick and easy!
How to Darn a Sock
A well-made sock can stand up to a lot of wear, and when a hole does finally work its way through, then you can darn that sock to make it even better than it was when it was new.
Make a Homemade Scratch-Off Card for an Experience Gift
A scratch-off card is a really fun way to present all kinds of experience gifts or fun activities. Everybody loves a scratch-off, and it adds an element of surprise that makes an already great gift even better.
Off-the-Grid Cooking Hack: Make a Tin Can Stove
You can DIY cooking equipment every bit as good from two tin cans, a cardboard box, and candlewax.
How to Restore a Fuzzy Blanket with a Dog Brush and Elbow Grease
Dog brushes brush the mats out of both dog fur AND fuzzy blankets!
How to Clean and Refurbish Antique Door Hardware
I don’t have any kind of yearning to restore my wonky old house to its original condition, but it would be pretty cool to clean and refurbish just those antique door fixtures, just to see what they actually look like.
How to Make a Broken Dish Pendant
It’s easier than you think to cut ceramics with a couple of standard tools, and there are loads of ways to finish off the pendant to your taste.
How to Design and Create a Wood Star from Scratch
No matter how big you want your star to be, or how many points you want it to have, you can make the pattern for it completely from scratch, and the assembly is the same no matter which type you create.
How to Sew a Button Back on Your Pants
Fortunately, sewing a button back on your pants is a super easy and low-fuss skill that requires only a basic amount of hand-eye coordination. Anyone can do it!