how-to Archives • Crafting a Green World

Visible Mending is a Low-Stress, High-Impact Way to Repair Your Stuff

With visible mending, your repairs will still look cute even if you barely know how to sew.

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This is THE Strongest Way to Preserve a Puzzle

The best way to preserve a puzzle is not with regular Mod Podge. It’s not even the Mod Podge marketed just for preserving puzzles–you know, that Mod Podge that’s just the same as regular Mod Podge but more expensive? It’s not duct tape or sticker sheets or foam board across the back, and it’s not packing tape or glass across the front.

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24 DIY Bookmarks from Upcycled Materials

A DIY bookmark is a tiny project with a timespan to match. You can whip up a super cute upcycled cardboard bookmark in minutes, and even a more elaborate quilt-as-you-go stitched bookmark takes less than half an hour to sew up. Want more crafty time? Make them in bulk, because bookmarks make awesome gifts! I tuck my DIY bookmarks into care packages, Easter baskets, the books I put into my Little Free Library, and all my etsy orders.

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Sew a Solar Eclipse Bunting from Stash Fabric

My first official decoration is this solar eclipse bunting sewn from upcycled blue jeans and stash fabric. Y’all know how much I love buntings, so this choice shouldn’t surprise you. And thanks to the easy templates I used and my sewing machine’s superpower that is the zigzag stitch, I was able to take this bunting from concept to completion in half an afternoon. Here’s how!

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Tutorial: Quilt As You Go Scrappy Bookmark

Use up your scraps while making this cute and useful quilt as you go scrappy bookmark!

Y’all know how much I love myself a DIY bookmark!

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Sewing Machine Repairs You Can Do Yourself: Replace the Needle Plate

Skip the spendy sewing machine repair shop and replace your needle plate yourself. It’s easier than it looks!

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20 Eco-Friendly Friendship Bracelets

Instead, check out my favorite eco-friendly friendship bracelet tutorials, below. All of these tutorials are free offerings by indie artists and crafters. Using green materials like cotton embroidery floss, natural embellishments like wood or shells, and glass or porcelain beads, these tutorials result in friendship bracelets that Taylor Swift AND the planet would love!

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This DIY Braiding Wheel Makes the Best Friendship Bracelets

I’ve heard this nifty little braiding tool called both a Kumihimo Disk and a Trollen Wheel, but I most often refer to it around the kids I work with as a Friendship Bracelet Maker.

That’s because whatever you call it, this braiding wheel makes the BEST friendship bracelets!

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Cinnamon Dough is THE Most Delightful Winter Craft

Cinnamon dough smells amazing. It’s as easy to make and use as play dough. It dries to near-permanence with just a couple of hours in the oven. It’s been my favorite winter activity to do with my kids ever since they were tiny, and now I’m sharing it with YOU!

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How to Make Dried Citrus Slices for Garlands and Ornaments

These dried citrus slices are easy to make during a cozy half-day at home, and easy to string to make ornaments, garlands, and other holiday decorations. Here’s how!

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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!

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Here’s the Best DIY Upcycled Cardboard Building Set

This upcycled cardboard building set is a terrific open-ended toy that won’t cost you a cent!

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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.

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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.

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Here’s How to Make an Easy Macrame Plant Hanger

This easy macrame plant hanger makes a comfy home for all your favorite plants!

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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!

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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.

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Make Magnets from Any Paper: My Three Favorite Methods

Magnets are a fun and easy way to show off your tiniest art, upcycle your favorite photographs, or display comic book panels, sweet love notes, or pretty papers of all kinds.

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Upcycle Photographs into Stickers: Three Methods That Really Work

Here are three easy methods for upcycling print photos (and book pages, wrapping paper… just about any paper works for this!) into stickers, along with the pros and cons of each method.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Refashion Hoodies by Swapping Their Graphics

Want to resize a hoodie or reclaim an awesome graphic? Refashion your hoodie by swapping its graphic for something different!

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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.

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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.

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The Easiest Way to Clean Wax from a Jar Candle

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.

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