Author name: Julie Finn

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now. Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.

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Upcycled Marker Crafts

DIY Alcohol Ink Made from Upcycled Markers

Alcohol ink is the perfect pigment for painting on non-porous surfaces like plastic or metal, but it’s also crazy expensive. Make DIY alcohol ink instead!

Fortunately, you can make your own DIY alcohol ink using the rubbing alcohol in your medicine cabinet and that stash of dried-out markers cluttering your art supplies cabinet. The DIY alcohol ink works great, costs basically nothing, and helps recycle those resource-wasteful markers.

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How-to: Save and Store Melted Wax for Future Craft Projects

So you made candles, or preserved autumn leaves, or cooked up furniture polish, or crafted modeling wax for the kiddos, and now you’re left with a crock pot or bain-marie half-full of melted beeswax (or its vegan wax substitutes).

Here’s the easy way that I store my leftover wax, measured into known amounts so that future projects are easier to put together, and pretty enough that the wax can be stored right out in the open, leaving more storage space for my fabric stash.

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Poured Wax Canldes

How-to: Poured Wax Candles in Repurposed Glass Containers

Poured candles are even simpler to make than hand-dipped candles or rolled candles–all they require are wicking, melted wax, and a heat-proof repurposed container.

You can also have just as much variety with your homemade poured candles as you can with fancy, store-bought container candles, since you can vary the shape of your jar, change the color of your wax, and even add essential oils for a healthy scent.

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Review of The Ultimate Guide to Smash Books, by Mahe Zehra Husain–and a Giveaway!

If you can’t get enough of smash books, check out my review of Mahe Zehra Husain’s newest e-book, The Ultimate Guide to Smash Books, Smashing and Making Your Own Upcycled Smash Books, then read to the end to learn how to receive your own free copy, as well as The Ultimate Guide to Upcycling and a series of video classes on upcycling paint chips into greeting cards.

Review of The Ultimate Guide to Smash Books, by Mahe Zehra Husain–and a Giveaway! Read More 👉

St. Louis City Museum Turns Architectural Salvage into an Urban Playground

The City Museum is formed primarily from the detritus of the city of St. Louis, using salvaged tiles to cover the walls and floors in mosaics, salvaged gargoyles to spray water into the two-storey indoor fountain, and two salvaged airplanes that are part of the outdoor jungle gym created with steel springs, iron walkways, an old trolley, and a giant ball pit.

And yes, you get to climb all over it.

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Pirates, Princesses, and Mouse Ears: Upcycled Disney Crafts

Before our trip to Disney World this fall, my kiddos and I have been spending the summer crafting our own Disney souvenirs, primarily from upcycled and recycled materials. The stuff that we’re making is cute, it’s Disney-themed, and it will hopefully at least cool down the consumerist frenzy for Disney stuff that we can’t help but be bombarded with in Orlando this fall.

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Soap Carving

Summer Craft: Soap Carving for Kids

A bar of soap is easy to carve even with simple, blunt, household tools, which makes it an extremely satisfying activity for a kid, who probably doesn’t get a lot of chances to carve something these days. If you make or buy organic, natural-ingredients soap, soap carving is also a wholesome activity, and it won’t add anything to the waste stream.

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How-to: Another Way to Remove Labels from Glass Jars

You think you don’t have time to do a good job to get all the paper and all the glue completely off of your glass jars, but you really do. My method for removing the sticky labels from glass jars takes about twenty minutes, but you can do it with as many glass jars as you have, all at the same time. Gather up a big collection of jars that need to have their labels removed, and you can do the job in far less time than it would take to peel the labels off by hand.

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Sew Two Pairs of Shorts from One Upcycled T-Shirt, Tute #2: Capri Shorts from the T-Shirt’s Body

In my first tutorial, I showed you how to sew a quick-and-dirty pair of kid shorts from the sleeves and shoulders of an upcycled T-shirt. This tutorial requires a little more sewing, but the shorts are also a lot cuter and, depending on your kiddo’s height, they could be made to be as long as capri length.

Sew Two Pairs of Shorts from One Upcycled T-Shirt, Tute #2: Capri Shorts from the T-Shirt’s Body Read More 👉

Sew Two Pairs of Shorts from One T-Shirt, Tute #1: Comfy Shorts from Upcycled T-Shirt Sleeves

Using one XL T-shirt, you can sew two pairs of shorts for any size up to your average early-elementary kid. Your kiddo will be so comfy in her soft jersey-knit shorts, she’ll love the awesome appliques taken from the T-shirt’s front, and you will have clothed her quickly and cheaply for the win.

Read on for the first tutorial in this two-part series: how to sew your first pair of shorts using the sleeves from your upcycled T-shirt.

Sew Two Pairs of Shorts from One T-Shirt, Tute #1: Comfy Shorts from Upcycled T-Shirt Sleeves Read More 👉

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