Turn 1 Pillowcase into 2 Tea Towels
Got an old pillowcase in your crafty stash? Turn it into a pair of DIY tea towels in less than half an hour!
How-to: Edible Bread Dough Sculptures
This bread dragon, served with a cashew and spinach spread, will grace the table at my kiddo’s dragon-themed ninth-birthday party, but our dinners are often served with bread turtles, bread snowmen, bread monsters, and more, all made by the kids just for fun and just as happily eaten–whole wheat bread, consumed without complaint!
Here’s how to make your own edible bread sculptures.
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Fab Fabrics: Hand-Printed Organic Cotton from Sarah Waterhouse
Sarah Waterhouse hand prints her cheery – and sometimes cheeky – designs onto every yard of organic cotton that she creates.
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Upcycling Altoids Tins: A Business Card Holder for Dad
I’ve created an Altoid tin business card holder before, but what about one specifically for dad? It’s an awesome Father’s Day gift that can be personalized in so many ways.
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How To: Upcycled Shutter Memo Board
A few months ago, I came across this altered window shutter and fell in love. I finally found some shutters at a thrift store so I could make my own altered shutters– with an eco-friendly twist, of course!
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Sharing is Green: Let’s Share and Swap!
Did you know that Crafting a Green World has a classifieds section devoted to sharing and swapping craft supplies?
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How-to: DIY Dragon Gold or Pirate Treasure
Want to host an EPIC treasure hunt at your kiddo’s next birthday party? Do not waste your money on cheap plastic or nasty chocolate-filled gold coins; you’re just spending money on trash–literally, in fact, because you know the party kids’ parents are going to throw that junk out the second their kid goes to bed that night.
Instead, wow your kid’s friends with giant hunks of real gold treasure to hunt. The kids will love them, because they look way more awesome and like real loot than anything you can find in a big box party store. And if the kids do eventually get tired of playing with their gold nuggets, their parents can simply add them to their flower garden as decoration.
Because this gold treasure? It’s river rocks, y’all, painted gold.
How to Jazz up Jar Lids: Upcycle Old Food Jars into New-Looking Storage Jars
Upcycling old jam jars, spaghetti sauce jars, pickle jars, etc. into storage jars to use around your house is a boon to the environment (and a cheap way to glean some extra storage!), but wouldn’t you maybe rather have something that didn’t *look* exactly like an old jam jar, spaghetti sauce jar, or pickle jar?
Whether you’re fond of fabric or paper, paint or found objects, matching or distinctive, the following list should give you all the ideas that you need to make your jar lids fresh, new, and not at all spaghetti sauce-related.
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Is Hemp Legalization in the U.S. Coming Soon?
Hemp legalization is closer to becoming a reality for U.S. farmers!
Is Hemp Legalization in the U.S. Coming Soon? Read More 👉
DIY Father’s Day Gift Idea: A Recycled “Coupon Book”
Back in the day, I would make a “coupon book” for my parents full of free hugs and chores that I disliked. I decided to put an eco-friendly and personalized spin to my average coupon book. Here’s how you (or your children) can make one, too!
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How To: DIY Recycled Felt Koozie for Dad
Father’s Day is right around the corner! Here’s an easy DIY koozie that would be an awesome eco-friendly gift for dad and requires no sewing.
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5 Fab Fabrics from Unusual Sources
We talk a lot about sustainable fabrics around here, both as part of our Fab Fabrics series and when we’re sharing tutorials. A quick scan through our archives turns up the usual suspects: hemp, organic cotton, recycled felt, jute, linen, and – of course – vintage fabrics. But every once in a while we run across a fabulous fabric that’s from more of an offbeat source.
How-to: DIY Balance Bike from a Kid’s Pedal Bike
Got a kid’s pedal bike? Need a kid’s balance bike? Here’s how to convert a pedal bicycle into a balance bike.
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How-to: DIY Custom Flower Brooch from Fabric Scraps
When you’re mixing up a lot of colors in your outfit, sometimes you need just the right accessory to pull it all together. Think of this custom flower brooch as The Dude’s rug…
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How To: Teacup and Spoon Jewelry Holder
As you know from How To: Spruce Up an Old Jewelry Box, I love unique jewelry storage. This week I noticed my rings were getting out of hand, so I came up with a way to keep them organized and on display!
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Remembering Kathreen Ricketson
I was shocked to read this morning about the tragic deaths of Whip Up founder Kathreen Ricketson and her partner, Rob Shugg. The couple was on vacation in Australia with their two children. Their children are safe and staying with relatives right now.
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How To: Make Wine Cork Earrings
Remember when I told you that I had a huge bag of wine corks in the Wine Corks to Wall Art tutorial? Well, inspiration struck again and I decided to create wine cork earrings!
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Fab Fabrics: Waterproof Lotus Flower Fabric
Finding sustainable, waterproof fabric can be tricky. Even recycled synthetics contain quite a bit of new plastic in addition to the recycled content. That’s why I was super excited to learn about a brand new waterproof fabric made from lotus flower stems. The fabric is a blend of lotus flower fibers and silk, and it’s sustainable and waterproof!
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How-to: Alter a Kid’s Sports Uniform So That it Actually Fits
Knowing how to sew means that you don’t have to make do with something that doesn’t fit and is uncomfortable to wear. Here are the easy ways to fix the three most common areas of ill-fitting kid uniforms–and one of them doesn’t even REQUIRE sewing!
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How-to: Healthy Fruit and Cheese Dinosaurs
Want to throw a party for a kid and NOT serve a bunch of crap to eat?
That was my challenge for my kiddo’s recent dinosaur-themed seventh birthday party. No potato chip “dinosaur scales,” no jelly bean “dinosaur eggs,” no dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets or snack crackers or grocery store cookies.
It may take a little imagination to see the dinosaur in these healthy fruit and cheese dinosaurs, but kids have a ton of imagination. They also have a love of fun food, and, yep, a love of wholesome apples, grapes, and cheese.
5 DIY Hair Accessories from Recycled Materials
Add a little cheery springtime color to your ‘do with some recycled DIY hair accessories!
10 Upcycled Ladder Projects That Will Leave You Inspired
Here are 10 upcycled ladder projects that inspired me to create my own ladder book shelf!
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How To: Make a No Sew Sunglasses Case
I’ve admired Becky’s Burlap Sunglasses Case for quite some time now, but I have no sewing skills at all. My solution? Create a no sew sunglasses case with my handy-dandy hot glue gun!
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How-to: Reverse-Stencil Neon Hair Clip from Fabric Scraps
Neon is super hot right now, but if you’re working with reclaimed fabrics it can be hard to track down that vibrant goodness. Fabric paint to the rescue! When you’re choosing fabric paint for your neon hair clip, look for something that’s water-based and non-toxic.
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DIY Recycled Weaving Looms
Interested in weaving? Don’t want to spend money on a loom? Got some random stuff lying around?
Chances are that there’s a DIY loom for you.
Crafty Book Review: Sew Pretty T-Shirt Dresses
Our version of Cool Water from Sew Pretty: T-Shirt Dresses is entitled Willow’s Rock Star Dress, and has pink skulls, glow-in-the-dark bats, orange flames, and a guitar player wearing a sparkly silver tutu and crown.
5 Recycled Felt Projects
We love recycled felt around here! Ecofi felt is made from post-consumer plastic bottles, which means that every time you use it in your crafting, you’re helping to divert plastic waste from the landfills. Not too shabby, right?
Top 5 Projects from the April Green Crafts Showcase
As usual, the Green Crafts Showcase brought some incredible DIY projects this month. Here are the top 5 projects!
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How To: Turn a Vintage Earring into an Unique Hair Pin
Give your earrings, brooches, or buttons new life by transforming them into a unique hair pin!
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Make a Mason Jar Lantern in 3 Steps (no drilling required)
This 3-step DIY mason jar lantern is perfect for lighting up your spring garden parties!
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How-to: Upcycled Toy Charm Necklaces–They’re Toys You Can Wear!
These toy charms can be worn on a necklace or bracelet, one at a time or in a whole herd. They make fine jewelry on their own, but the secret trick to these little charms is the latch that allows you to release them from their jewelry status. In the blink of an eye, you’ve gone from having a necklace full of toy dinosaurs to a handful of toy dinosaurs, ready to make standing in line at the grocery store SO much more bearable.
Here’s how to make your own.
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India Tree Natural Food Coloring: Is It Worth It?
Pink cookies! Rainbow cupcakes! Whacked or not, I MUST occasionally have colorful baked goods, so I’ve recently switched my allegiance to India Tree natural food colors, which have no high fructose corn syrup and no synthetic dyes. India Tree food coloring has some pros and cons, and I’m not going to tell you that it’s all 100% amazeballs and you’re going to be making rainbow pancakes by morning with it, but here’s what we did with it, and here’s what we thought of it.
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To Do: Grow Your Crafty Business
Do you have a green crafty business? One of the hardest parts of running a green business – after sourcing ethical materials – is spreading the word. You can make the most beautiful organic dresses or upcycled jewelry in town, but if you’re not marketing yourself effectively, chances are no one is going to know.
10 DIY Mother’s Day Ideas
Mother’s Day is just a few weeks away (May 12, 2013)– are you ready? Instead of buying your mom an average gift from a big box store, considering making her an eco-friendly DIY gift that she won’t forget!