Tutorial: The 5 Minute Headband
This necktie headband took me all of 5 minutes to make. Bing bang boom! Here’s how you can make your own!
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How To: Pop Top Peace Sign
My mom is an elementary school teacher and has developed an obsession with cool peace signs for her classroom. When discussing a how to project this week, she asked me to make her a peace sign out of recycled materials. You guys know I’m all about fun wall art like the Laundry Cup Wall Art, Newspaper Art, and Burlap Chevron Paintings– so I was totally pumped to take on this challenge! After searching around the house, I grabbed a cardboard box they had left over from moving and a bag of pop-tops that my grandma had collected. Here’s how to make your very own pop top peace sign!
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New Year Cleaning: 5 Projects for Your Old T-Shirts
If you’re anything like me, the New Year makes me want to reorganize and clean! Often times I go through my clothes to see what fits, what needs to be “retired,” etc. If you can’t refashion your wardrobe like Becky shared yesterday, there are even more options! Hang on to your old t-shirts to try out these amazing projects! For example, perhaps there are some shirts that you would love to keep for sentimental reasons, or one that has a really fun pattern, but just doesn’t fit anymore– these are the perfect shirts to recycle! The only problem you will have is deciding which one of these projects you should try first!
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21 Ways to Refashion Your Wardrobe
Do you ever look at your closet and just feel like you have nothing to wear? No more! Use your crafty superpowers to revamp that wardrobe and save yourself a shopping trip.
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Projects to Personalize, Decorate, Embellish, and Otherwise Jazz up Your Clothespins
Plain wooden clothespins are as versatile as they are inexpensive, but unlike their plastic cousins, plain wooden clothespins are…well, plain!
If you’d like a little more variety in your clothespin stash, check out these simple crafty projects that will show you how to decorate, embellish, paint, color, and otherwise jazz up your clothespins.
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How-to: Sew a Nine-Patch Potholder Entirely from Stash and Upcycled Materials
Have any ratty bath towels or blankets or other thick fabric to upcycle? Have some stash cotton to rescue from your scraps basket? Read on to find out how to turn that stash into potholders!
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Connect with Us on Pinterest!
We are all about the green crafty inspiration around here, so of course we love Pinterest!
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How To: New Year’s Eve “Resolution Tree”
When I saw this Thanksgiving post from Dana at Make Them Wonder, I completely fell in love with her Thanksgiving tree. In the post, she explains that she created a tree for guests to hang what they are thankful for on cute little leaves that she cut out of paper. Her tree is so simple, yet beautiful– and would be an amazing conversation piece. I decided that I would use Dana’s idea and tweak it a little bit to become a New Year’s Eve goal tree! I also made it more eco-friendly by using old newspaper instead of new paper. In addition to the New Year’s Eve Banner I made yesterday, your New Year’s Eve party will be off to a great start!
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How To: A “Happy New Year” Banner from Old Christmas Cards
All of our Christmas decorations are put away, but this stack of Christmas cards stayed on our counter. I always feel guilty about throwing them away–especially the personal, handwritten ones. However, with New Years Eve in mind, I came up with a way to reuse those old Christmas cards! Many New Years Eve parties have banners and lots of fun decorations, but are far from eco-friendly! What is the solution? Use your old Christmas cards to make a fun and unique banner for New Years Eve!
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How-to: Add a Kangaroo Pocket to Your Favorite Skirt
I am a firm believer that skirts ought to have pockets. I mean, really – what garment isn’t improved with a little pocket action, right?
Clothing designers do not seem to agree with my pocket philosophy, though, which I think is a terrible shame. Luckily, with a little crafty know-how, you can add a pocket to almost any skirt to stash, say, your key, money, and ID for an evening out. Take that, pocket-haters!
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Easy Organizational Pages to Include in Your Daily Planner
So whether you’ll punch your pages and put them into a three-ring binder create your own multi-folio hand-bound book, I encourage you to consider crafting your own daily planner this year. If you’re still on the fence, here are some of the types of pages that I’ll be including in my own planner–if the thought of all these handy organizational tools that I’ll have at my fingertips makes you jealous, then you’re halfway to a DIY planner of your own.
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Five No-Pattern Potholder Projects
While you’ll have to wait until after the holiday season for my own favorite nine-patch potholder tutorial (there’s only so much craftiness I can do while spending Christmas ten hours away from my sewing machine), here are five more potholder tutorials that you’re going to love. Some are scrappy, some are sturdy, some are cute, and none of them even require so much as a pattern to sew–how much easier could you get?
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Have Yourself a Crafty Little Christmas
Here at CAGW, we are decking the halls with some handmade cheer, wrapping up the last of our handmade gifts, and spending some good old quality time with friends and family. You’re probably doing the same, but just in case you want to get your last-minute Christmas craft on, we’ve got some projects for you!
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How To: Inspiration Board for the New Year!
This week I upcycled a ceiling medallion from the thrift store and turned it into a beautiful inspiration board for the New Year! I know not everyone has a ceiling medallion, but I hope this project encourages you all to go out and find your own item to upcycle into an inspiration board. This is the perfect project to get you motivated to complete all of your goals in 2012!
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5 Eco-Friendly Organizing Projects
Even though Christmas isn’t here yet, I’m already thinking about my goals for the New Year! If you’re anything like me, the New Year motivates me to get organized and generally deep clean my life (room, car, closet, etc). With organization on the brain, I want to share 5 incredible projects that will inspire you to get organized in 2012! Not only are these projects great for organizing, but they upcycle items you probably have around your home!
Reader Questions, Answered
Have you ever fallen into a crafty rut? Been stumped by something that you want to repurpose but just can’t sort out how? Searched for an eco-friendly version of a craft supply with no luck? Well, lovely readers, we want to help!
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How-to: Pretty Packaged Mason Jars for Gift Giving
If you give a lot of homemade gifts, you’re probably well aware of the versatility of the Mason jar. Perfect for everything from spice mixes to cranberry granola, party mix to cake in a jar, Mason jars get passed around between me and my crafty friends and family like the holiday version of hot potato.
The only thing about Mason jars is that..well…they look all the same. Sure, they’re lovely enough, but so uniform! Fortunately, with a little fabric, some thread, and a bit of upcycled cardboard, you can package your Mason jar gifts for the holidays, personalizing them by gift or recipient or just making them look nicely festive.
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How-to: Painted Popcorn Garland
Popcorn garlands are a kid-friendly, easy, and fun holiday craft that the whole family can make together. Edible, natural popcorn is a great environmental choice, especially since you can simply take it outside to compost or leave for the birds and squirrels to enjoy after the holiday, and if you’re looking for a food craft to do, then popcorn is also a great choice for everyone’s tummies, since you won’t have to worry about all that candy, meant for gingerbread houses or sugar cookies, that somehow ends up in your mouth!
Of course, since I’m from the South, a plain white popcorn garland isn’t nearly gaudy enough for me, so read on and I’ll show you not only how to easily make a great popcorn garland, but also how to easily paint it to match (or NOT match!) your holiday decor.
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Green Business Cards: A Moo Review
As a crafty business owner, business cards are a must! I am all about making your own business cards if you have the time, but let’s be honest: sometimes, you have to prioritize. When time doesn’t allow for making cards, the next best thing is finding business cards that are as eco-friendly as possible.
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5 Ways to Upcycle Cookie Tins
I always love getting cookies or homemade candy in a cute Christmas cookie tin! After all the goodies are gone, though, what should you do with the cookie tin? Save your cookie tins and give them a new purpose this season! Here are 5 awesome tutorials that will show you how to revamp your cookie tins.
How To: Toilet Paper Roll “Christmas Lights”
Christmas decorations can be very wasteful, so why not recycle items you already have around your home? I mentioned in my How To: Transform Christmas “Candles” post that I am addicted to using toilet paper rolls in craft projects. Well, my love for them has not changed– especially after this project! I decided to take my love for toilet paper rolls and combine it with my love for Christmas decorations. It made a beautiful combination–toilet paper “Christmas Lights.”
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8 Awesome Wood Slice Craft Projects
Free craft supplies that reduce landfill waste? Don’t mind if I do! Here are some wood slice craft projects I found to use up the wood slices I snagged at the local hardware store.
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How-to: Beeswax and Fabric Scrap Ornaments
Beeswax ornaments are quite quick and simple to make. They’ll be loved by anyone who has a tree (or a sunny window!) to decorate, and you’ll love that they only require just a bit of beeswax and a narrow scrap of fabric for each ornament.
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Reader Question Answered: Upcycling a Daily Calendar
Because desk calendars are made of that most versatile of craft materials–paper!!!–you’ll find that you can make some pretty great projects with them using some of our favorite methods here at CAGW. Here are five tutorials to get you started.
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Talking Waste, Consumerism, and Reuse with Reuse First
As always, I couldn’t resist scouring this year’s Indie Craft Experience for new green crafters on the scene, and the folks at Reuse First really stood out to me. Jeremiah and Michelle’s mix of sweet and cheeky paper goods totally caught my eye, and they were kind enough to answer some questions about what they do and why they do it! Their insights into waste, reuse, and consumerism are really refreshing.
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5 Christmas Tree Projects From Recycled Materials
As you could tell from my How To: Make a Mini Christmas Tree post, I love making little Christmas trees to decorate around the house. The bad thing about other DIY mini Christmas tree projects is that they aren’t necessarily eco-friendly! However, I found five incredible eco-friendly projects that would be perfect around the house, on the Christmas dinner table, or even to give as a gift at a holiday party! Take a peek at these awesome tutorials and be inspired!
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How To: Make A Recycled Gift Tag & Ornament
After last week’s post, How To: Laundry Cup Wall Art, I started thinking about other uses for rolled magazine pages. Then, I was inspired by Julie’s Five Sustainable Wrapping Solutions post to create some recyclable gift solutions of my own! Put the two together, and I made my own gift tags that can double as ornaments!
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How-to: Sew a Reusable Snack Bag
Here’s how you can make your very own reusable snack bag. This tutorial will make a 7″ X 6.5″ bag, which is a good size for little snacks or even a small sandwich. If you need something bigger or smaller, you can play around with the dimensions to whip up whatever size you like!
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How-to: Stain Unfinished Wooden Toys with Vibrant Colors
A kid can build with her unfinished wooden blocks all day long, but if what she really wants to build is a rainbow, well…
Fortunately, unfinished wooden toys (or unfinished wood of ANY type), is quite simple to stain, and it takes color so beautifully that you may never want to paint wood again. Here’s how to do it.
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Reader Question Answered: Felting Wool Fabric (NOT Wool Sweaters!)
Recently, a reader wrote into CAGW asking about felting a different type of wool–a wool tweed jacket, to be specific, but the question applies to all types of wool fabric, other than that which is knitted.
Yes, Virginia, you CAN felt wool fabric!
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On the Mend: 4 Stitches to Repair Damaged Clothing
You might think that you have to be an expert seamstress to mend damaged clothes, but that’s not true at all! You don’t even need a sewing machine – just a needle, thread, and a bit of patience are all it takes to repair damaged clothing.
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Buy Handmade: 5 Eco-Friendly Giftwrap Options
With the craziness of the season, though, sometimes we don’t have time to create our own gift wrap, or, we just don’t have the materials on hand. So, with all of the terrible excuses aside, I wanted to provide you all with another option– buying eco-friendly gift wrap. Buying these items allows you to support eco-friendly shops from Etsy instead of buying far-from-eco-friendly products at the big box stores. The following are five gift wrapping ideas that are beautiful for under your tree and the environment.
How To: Laundry Cup Wall Art
An amazing reader asked if we had any ideas for the cups/lids that come with laundry detergent. This question got my crafting wheels turning! With laundry cups/lids, magazines and magazine ads left over from the Black Friday madness, I made some cool wall art! This project is the perfect way to save those pointless and wasteful magazines and turn them into something worth looking at!
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How-to: Repair a Separated Pocket
Don’t let a busted pocket mean the end for your favorite garment. You can repair instead of replacing with one simple stitch!
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Five Sustainable Wrapping Solutions for Eco-Friendly Gifts
You don’t have to wrap your presents with the comics section or a brown paper bag to be eco-friendly (although you can!). Sure, those are classics and they always look good, but you can give your wrapped gifts variety while still keeping them green. Check out these five sustainable wrapping solutions for presents that are as low-waste as they are thoughtful.
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Five Upcycled Crayon Crafts
Ah, crayons…such versatile, waxy, brightly pigmented goodness! My little girls have a couple of nice boxes of unbroken, new-ish crayons reserved for schoolwork and special art projects, and a giant bin of broken, half-wrapped, stubby, old crayons, gathered here and there and everywhere, that we use for everything else.
Old crayons may seem like a nuisance to have underfoot, but they are incredible art supplies, and you can make some surprisingly sophisticated creations with them. Here are five projects, from canvas art to kid crafts, to get you started
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