I even have a couple of unfinished projects passed down in my own family–I didn’t finish, per se, the beautiful postage stamp quilt that my husband’s grandmother pieced, but I did sew part of it into heirloom Easter baskets for the great-grandchildren born after she died. But what if a person didn’t have to abandon a project when they were no longer able to immerse themselves in it? What if they could hand that project over to a stranger to carry on their legacy and make sure the final product ends up with the recipient it was originally intended for?...

One thing that has taken hold throughout this historic campaign is the slow rise of political art. Remember the McCain earrings and all the amazing DIY that was found at the DNC? Art has played a huge role in the president-elect’s campaign. You only have to look at Shepard Fairey’s now ubiquitous Hope poster to see the affect. Political art and craft is just one way to stump for a cause, or show support for a president-elect....

Two long tables with all my stuff piled on? Nobody could see anything from outside my booth, and thus didn’t bother to enter. Two big hinged display boards for vertical display? People could see them, but they were hugely heavy to haul and couldn’t actually hold much. Store-bought displays? I don’t buy new things, and I don’t pull enough profit to spend that kind of money, anyway. And thus, over time, I’ve come to my trifecta of craft fair display requirements: 1) It must be made primarily of recycled, salvaged, or scavenged materials (just like the items I sell)....

For my partner’s 35th birthday, I made him a Star Wars T-shirt quilt in a log cabin style, pieced together with complementary fabrics from my fabric stash. It took years for me to thrift enough Star Wars T-shirts for this quilt, considering that each shirt had to be in a size that didn’t fit anyone in our family (otherwise we’d be wearing it instead!), and each shirt’s graphic couldn’t be baby-ish, or look like it belonged exclusively to a kid’s shirt....

As a dedicated D.I.Y.er, I’ve successfully brainwashed my children to the point at which, when my five-year-old wanted to try out chewing gum for the first time, her question to me was not “Will you buy me some gum?”, but, “Can we make some gum?” Hmmmn…could we make some gum? Turns out we could! I purchased the Make Your Own Chewing Gum kit from Glee Gum, and within hours after its arrival, we were chewing away....

It’s a hard life, to be the children of a craft blogger. Why, just the other day, I had to say to my little girls, “Okay, kiddos, Momma needs to write a review and run a giveaway next week, so I’m sorry to tell you that we’re going to have to make gummy candy together today.” Poor babies, right? I know it’s a spoiler alert, since I want you to read my entire review, but I have to tell you that my girls and I LOVED this Make Your Own Gummies Kit from Glee Gum....

With a few simple sewing techniques, you can upcycle one XL T-shirt into two pairs of shorts for your average kid under ten. 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....

Next » Star Ornaments 1. Wrapping Paper Stars You can get started early on next year’s decorations with these beautiful wrapping paper stars from Family Fun. These would look great hanging from next year’s tree or the mantle. Next » Paper Bow Gift Wrap Bow You could whip up a bunch of these recycled gift wrap bows from Momfetti and have plenty of bows to adorn presents year round. You could even combine different patterns of paper in one bow for an even more unique looking topper....

What to do with that gorgeous vintage bed sheet? What to do with the cute cartoon sheet set outgrown along with the toddler’s bed? What to do with the flat sheets that you simply don’t use? Bed sheets are terrific materials to upcycle, since they contain so much yardage with no seams, darts, or cuts. Unlike with many other upcycling projects, you can turn a recycled bed sheet into something large, like a curtain, pair of pants, or table runner, with little extra cutting or piecing....

Are you feeling lucky? If you are, I hope that you entered our giveaway, sponsored by Soaps to Live by. Soaps to Live by, maker of hand-crafted soaps with eco-friendly practices, is giving the recipient’s choice of three of their soaps to one lucky winner. The winner’s soaps will be handmade from natural and/or organic ingredients, wrapped in compostable biostone packaging, and included in the tree-planting initiative sponsored by the company’s partnership with Trees for the Future....

Spoonflower is a new company that offers crafters a chance to order fabric printed with their very own designs. Crafty superstars like The Black Apple and My Paper Crane have already jumped on this cool service, and I love drooling over their amazing designs. The thing that bums me out is that they aren’t currently offering a sustainable fabric At the moment, they have one fabric option: 100% Kona® cotton from Robert Kaufman Fabrics....

We’re going to get a little bit political up in here today. Let’ talk a bit about the Hobby Lobby birth control case and what it means. Why is a craft site talking about the Supreme Court?. As consumers, we vote with our wallets. When we spend money at Hobby Lobby, we are essentially telling the owners of that company that we support their political viewpoints. These companies donate to political campaigns and challenge federal law with the money we spend there....

While that particular debate is carried on, it’s also worth looking at some of the works of those who practice craftivism. These are works that are created across the globe and for all imaginable political/environmental/social/moral stances. In fact, all of them really only have one thing in common: They’re created by craftivists. A Lonely Craftivist blogs from London about her work that is often centered on social justic or fair trade issues....

As always, you guys have come up with some incredible green craft projects for this month’s Green Crafts Showcase! Here are the top 5 projects: 1. Alphabet Painting for Kids by Chubby Anecdotes If you have some old cardboard around your home, here’s a perfect way to upcycle it! Chubby Anecdotes turned average cardboard into a fun learning activity for her children. They drew and cut out letters on the cardboard, and then painted them bright colors!...

[Image credit Erin Jang, theindigobunting.blogspot.com]

Among other eccentricities, she will not wear her sister’s hand-me-downs, on account of they are not pretty enough to suit her. She only wears party dresses, and beautiful skirts with adorable tops. I’m a pretty indulgent momma overall, in that I think a child has the right to wear what she wants and do what she wants and think what she wants, as long as she’s not infringing on anybody else’s rights....

Even if you’ve got a favorite passage from a favorite book, you don’t have to go through the trouble of cutting up that favorite book just to make a bookmark out of it. Instead, make your bookmark even more special by using your own handwriting to write out that favorite quote on upcycled paper. Whether your handwriting is awesome or ugly, Tolkien’s best is still the most meaningful when written in your own hand....

We talk quite a bit about crafty activism here at Crafting a Green World, but what is craftivism, and how can you get involved? Craftivism is a term coined by Betsy Greer, one of my crafty heroes. I was lucky enough to meet Betsy at Crafty Bastards a few years ago and – full disclosure – contributed an essay on upcycling to her upcoming book. Craftivism is at the heart of what we’re about at Crafting a Green World, and I’m guessing that if you’re a regular reader here you engage in regular acts of craftivism too....

I craft with acrylic felt. That’s right–acryclic. Made of PLASTIC! Plastic comes from the devil, you know, and yet I put it on my daughters’ felt board, I make their birthday crowns out of it, I applique it onto my holiday buntings: My name is Julie, and I’m an acrylic felt user. My use of acrylic felt for my work may result in a slight loss of quality over the admittedly superior quality wool felt, but I firmly believe that it is the more eco-friendly choice....

Waaaaah, I hate sanding! It’s boring, it’s messy, and it takes a long time. Even when I watch reruns of Sherlock and mentally compose Wholock fanction while sanding, I still hate sanding. Woodworking in general, however, and furniture refinishing in particular, requires a lot of sanding. Sometimes you can get away without it, mind you, if you decide that you like a rough texture to your project, and often you can get away with using a no-sand primer instead of sanding, if it’s just a paint job that you’re doing, but when you’re working with bare wood, as I have been lately, in particular, with several sets of antique shelves that I’m refinishing for my house, you need to sand, because NOBODY wants to live with splinters....