When I saw that my family was clearly not going to eat through that entire 10-pound bag of navel oranges before the last ones went bad, I thought briefly about marmalade and fruit leather, but then I thought, “Nah–craft supplies!”. Read on to see how to turn leftover oranges into shelf-stable craft supplies, and how to make a garland that shows off the lovely translucency of the preserved orange slices.
Most people know I love crafting, so they always give me items that they think I could use (which I absolutely love!). My friend and her family saved a few wine bottles for me after one of their family gatherings and I was so excited to do a a project with them! Then, a few weeks ago, I found several books of sheet music at a thrift store for 50 cents each. Add these items together and you get a really fun and recycled decor piece– a sheet music bottle!
How To: Sheet Music Bottle Read More 👉
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!
How To: Pop Top Peace Sign Read More 👉
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!
New Year Cleaning: 5 Projects for Your Old T-Shirts Read More 👉
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!
How To: New Year’s Eve “Resolution Tree” Read More 👉
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!
How To: A “Happy New Year” Banner from Old Christmas Cards Read More 👉
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!
How To: Inspiration Board for the New Year! Read More 👉
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.”
How To: Toilet Paper Roll “Christmas Lights” Read More 👉
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.
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!
How To: Make A Recycled Gift Tag & Ornament Read More 👉
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!
How To: Laundry Cup Wall Art Read More 👉
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.
Five Sustainable Wrapping Solutions for Eco-Friendly Gifts Read More 👉
Over the past few weeks I’ve seen several really cute mini Christmas trees. You know, the little ones that are just for decoration, cost an arm and a leg, and are far from eco-friendly? Yeah, those. Enter: a bottle I saved from the trash.
How To Make a Mini Christmas Tree Read More 👉
Yes, a dried apple wreath is amply countrified, but only if you hang it in the kitchen. If you embrace the ancient folklore that imbues the apple with meanings such as life, sexuality, or wisdom, then you can find the other rooms in your home in which a dried apple wreath holds valuable symbolism.
To vat-dye multi-colored silks with clean colors and smooth transitions, there are a few different methods that work. This particular method is one of the easiest, since it blocks off all of the fabric that you’re not currently dyeing, allowing you to vat dye and machine wash as usual.
How-to: Vat Dye Multi-Colored Play Silks and Silk Scarves Read More 👉
Hand-dipping paper in beeswax gives it the patina of an antique and is a chemical-free way to preserve it. Here’s how to make your own beeswax paper.
How to Make Beeswax-Coated Paper Read More 👉
Preserving autumn leaves allows you to use their beautiful colors in fall crafts all year long.
Even if you already have a go-to method for preserving leaves, check out these other options–you might discover a way that will work even better for a particular project, or you might find a new favorite preservation method altogether.
Fall Crafts: 4 Ways to Preserve Autumn Leaves Read More 👉
Take the ephemeral beauty of autumn leaves and make it last forever when you preserve leaves with the one simple, natural ingredient that is pure beeswax.
How-to: Preserve Autumn Leaves with Melted Beeswax Read More 👉
Instead of buying new, I decided whip up a sunglasses case using supplies that were already in my craft room. Hurrah! This case was a surprise, so those are my giant, white sunglasses in the photos. He wears pretty big glasses, too, so I modeled the size on my huge pair. If you wear less chunky sunglasses, you might want to size this sunglasses case tutorial down a bit to accommodate, so they’ll fit snugly.
How-to: Make a Burlap Sunglasses Case Read More 👉
Leave those nasty foam stickers on the store shelf and show your kids how easy it is to make your own custom reusable stickers. While you’re at it, make yourself some stickers for your scrapbook, and that’s one more aisle that you don’t have to shop!
Make Reusable Stickers from Upcycled Paper Read More 👉
Felting wool can alter its color. If you’re unhappy with the color of the wool sweater that you just felted, or even with an entire finished upcycled wool piece, you can easily overdye it to a new color.
How-to: Overdye Upcycled Felted Wool to Create Custom Colors Read More 👉
Jump into bookmaking with these tutorials that let you make upcycled journals, scrapbooks, D.I.Y. planners and more out of recycled materials.
Journals, Planners, and Scrapbooks You Can Make Using Recycled Materials Read More 👉
Shells, stones, feathers, fossils–what will you use to create your next piece of jewelry?
Five Easy DIY Accessories to Make Using Natural Materials Read More 👉
Paper napkins are a huge waste of resources. Not only does it take energy and trees to produce all of those disposable napkins, but once the meal is through, you have to toss them in the trash, since you can’t recycle that food-soaked paper. Cloth napkins might feel like a fancy-dinner-party-only sort of thing, but that doesn’t have to be true at all! It’s easy as pie to whip up a batch of cloth napkins, and you can make yourself a bunch, so you have some for every day use and a set for special occasions, if you like.
How-to: Make Cloth Napkins Read More 👉
My father-in-law’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and on the day of the party I decided that our tablescape would be a billion times cuter is I had a cheery quilted table runner as a centerpiece. A quick dip into my fabric stash, and a few hours later I had a runner all ready to rock. Here’s how!
DIY Home: Make a Table Runner from Scrap Fabric Read More 👉
If you have felt scraps in a range of sizes, you can whip up this simple, sweet peacock fascinator! Peacock feathers are mega hip right now, but for vegan crafters, the real deal is off limits. Luckily, with some eco-fi felt and a little bit of crafty know-how, you can whip up a cruelty-free fascinator that’s just as lovely.
How To: Make a Peacock Fascinator from Scrap Felt Read More 👉
D.I.Y. chalkboard blocks are easy to paint, but the real thrill is in how many creative ways your kids will find to use them.
How-to: Upcycled Chalkboard Blocks out of Regular Building Blocks Read More 👉
Who says you need petroleum-based polyfill to stuff a pillow? Not me!
Did your P go under the sofa? Lose your S over a heated word debate? Do you have a Scrabble game sitting around that’s missing more than one letter tile? Well I have the perfect tutorial for you!
How-to: Scrabble Drink Coaster Read More 👉
Not too long ago, I showed you a quick and dirty way to take in a too big tank top, but that’s not the only way you can use your sewing skills to alter thrifted treasures! Here’s how you can shorten a pair of thrifted pants in just a few simple steps.
Use your leftover furniture parts to create this simple necklace.
How-to: Make a Washer Necklace Out of Leftover Furniture Parts Read More 👉
I always seem to accumulate a stash of unloved clothes picked over from my closet. This pile consists of clothes that are no longer fit, or need heavy mending, or have acquired an unbeatable stain. I keep this pile with dreams of swapping with friends or donating to Goodwill. But now ReSew, a new book out by Jenny Wilding Cardon has me eyeing my discard pile with a new eye.
Use up those felt scraps and pieces of junk mail to sew a unique garland.
Use this quick and easy tutorial to make adorable recycled bottle cap magnets from magazines.
