You know how whenever we write a tute here at CAGW that includes essential oils, we always tell you to do your own research and determine your own level of tolerance? We say that because essential oils are no joke. Lots of them are great for lots of people, but if you’re sensitive to an essential oil, then inhaling it, putting it on your skin, or–heaven forbid–actually swallowing it can seriously mess....
Your kid’s vintage wooden sled is way more awesome than those new-fangled plastic ones. Of course, the only way to convince HER of that is to show her how that wooden sled, set down on a bank of packed snow, easily outperforms the kinds of sleds that could be mistaken for plastic garbage can lids. But the metal sled runners on a wooden sled need to be properly conditioned if they’re going to perform their best, and if your wooden sled is clunky, not fast, and sticks instead of gliding, then it’s time to sit down and fix it right up:...
You can never have enough ornament hangers! I hate the cheapo ornament hangers that you can buy from stores, however. They’re flimsy, they LOOK cheap, and if you drop one and lose it in the carpet, it’ll inevitably draw blood from someone’s tender foot. Ornament hangers that you make yourself are much sturdier and MUCH prettier than the store-bought ones, and they won’t hurt you, either. And if you’ve got some jewelry wire on hand, and a broken beaded necklace or two, then making THESE ornament hangers won’t cost you even the few pennies you pay for the awful mass-produced ones....
I have a small handmade business, and it’s important to me to use handmade, eco-friendly business cards for it. That doesn’t mean that I LIKE to make business cards–it’s tedious, you have to make, like, a thousand at a time, and all you’re going to do is give them away so you can’t even enjoy them AND you have to go and make a thousand more, sigh… So I am a huge fan of handmade business cards that take as little time as possible to make....
So you’ve found a favorite project to upcycle that unplayable vinyl record. You still need ways to reuse that album cover, right? What should you do? Why, you pick one of these projects, of course! 1. bookmark. There are couple of different ways to make a great bookmark from a cardboard record album cover. This method is the easiest. 2. box. These square boxes make good gift boxes or storage boxes....
I’ve had a few conversations recently about eco-friendly crafts and supplies that have made it really clear to me that green crafting is not a black and white thing. Like so many other things, there’s definitely a continuum with green crafting, and lately I’ve started to wonder how “green” a project needs to be for it to be an eco craft. This is something I touched on on my personal site when I got into what upcycling really means, but upcycling and green crafting aren’t always the same....
If your jumper drawer is anything like mine it will be crammed full of unwearable sweaters, some have shrunk in the wash others are a bit baggy and many just don’t go with anything else. So perhaps making your own version of this luxurious ‘sweater blanket’ could be the answer. This isn’t just a great way to recycling old jumpers, Opos who designed and manufacture this blanket are also making a statement about waste in the garment industry....
Today on Thanksgiving we’re playing the white elephant gift exchange game! It’s that holiday party game where you pick a number, and choose a gift, then the one with the next number chooses a new present or has the choice of yours. All the gifts are all wrapped in the funny pages, and it is sure to be a blast! Have you ever tried gift wrapping with the funnies? I love customized gifts and browsing over the Sunday comics is a great start for personalizing gift wrap for new parents (Family Circus), cat lovers (Garfield), and vikings (Hagar the Horrible)!...
I started looking it over and knew that it was the right weight for my next project. I wanted to start knitting with it right away, so I pulled out a skein and pulled the tag off of it to start winding it into a ball. That’s when I noticed the label had a Forest Stewardship Council certification stamp. Wow, a yarn that’s been FSC certified?! My lucky day! The yarn in question was Bernat brand yarn made from soy of their Natural Blends collection....
Debbie Bliss Eco is an organic cotton that is the perfect aran/worsted weight yarn that comes in eighteen bright colors great for the turn of the season. The yarn is dyed using non-toxic dyes and the water is reclaimed and recycled during the dying process. The other awesome thing about this yarn is where its fiber comes from. The organic cotton used to create this yarn is processed by Bio Re, a textile chain that works with farmers in India and Tanzania to produce certified organic cotton....
But The Fibre Company’s Savannah yarn caught my eye. This blend contains merino, organic cotton, linen and soya and comes in both DK and Bulky. Savannah is hand dyed and The Fibre Company is committed to using low-impact dyes and environmentally friendly processes and fibers where ever possible. Savannah also comes in a wide array of colors perfect for many projects. While the company is committed to using environmentally friendly practices, fibers and dyes it still doesn’t answer how environmentally friendly these particular fibers are....
12 Sun Hats to Sew reversible bucket hat. I am obsessed with reversible hats! This free pattern is for kids only, but I’ve seen a few valiant crafters successfully alter it or enlarge it for their grown-up heads. how to draft a hat pattern. Use this template and tutorial to make a custom hat for everyone! I especially like the crown template, since it’s oval instead of circular. sun or rain hat....
If you’ve been following Crafting a Green World for a while, I’m sure you’ve seen us talk about The Summit of Awesome. My friend and site co-director Kelly Rand is one of the organizers, and I’ve spoken a few times on the conference’s Green Crafts panel. This year, Hello Craft – the organization that plans the Summit of Awesome – released a brand new book on launching a crafty biz, so rather than a full-blown, multi-day event, this year’s Summit is a one day Business Camp workshop....
But because it’s so simple, a vest is also fun to embellish and re-engineer to suit your own specific purpose. A vest can be fancy and formal (think about a custom, tailored waistcoat, perhaps hand-embroidered), strictly utilitarian (imagine the ultimate fishing vest, with pockets custom cut for every kind of important little piece of gear), or utterly imaginative (one word: cosplay!). Below, check out my list of my all-time favorite vest patterns and tutorials....
Is 3D printing really green? What if the plastic you used was recycled? As Adele Peters noted earlier this year over at Fast Co.Exist, 3d printing has developed a reputation for being green… but doesn’t necessarily deserve it. Sure, it minimizes some waste, and saves some transportation emissions… but, as currently configured, the energy used to melt plastic filament will likely cancel out any waste reduction on those fronts. What if you shifted to a filament made from used plastic?...
There is just one thing wrong with those magical DVDs that appear like comforting angels in my mailbox, their primary purpose in life to give me something to stare at while lying in bed and drinking wine straight from the bottle: those dang-blasted envelope flap thingies that they leave behind! You can recycle them wherever recycling centers accept Tyvek, but I’m betting that most people just toss them, sigh. Fortunately, others share my plight, and have taken their crafty vengeance upon the Netflix envelope… flap… thingy....
I see quite a few old favorites in this Leisure Arts publication from other Leisure Arts books including the Trash to Treasure books. I also see a few new crafts and one that I am thrilled to have found the instructions for. The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts is full of gifts, home decor and crafty garden projects all made from discarded items you probably have lying around the house right now....
We don’t eat a ton of candy, so until recently, the world of candy wrapper crafts has been closed to me. My kid’s recent ninth birthday party was candy-themed, however… Yeah, we’ve got some surplus candy wrappers now. Do you have some surplus candy wrappers, too? Try one of these amazing candy wrapper crafts to use them up! NOTE: I’ve got a bit of a personal beef against projects that require covering the candy wrappers in clear vinyl or backing them with duct tape, because making them requires using as much new plastic product as you’re upcycling, but I’ve included a couple, regardless....
This one had an extra day to percolate while I was on my way home from Colorado, the state where my environmental consciousness was born when I was in high school. And though that means the Carnival is a day late, is by no means a dollar short. So sit back and enjoy this collection of green and crafty goodness. Before we begin, a few administrative notes: The eighth Carnival will be hosted at Things We Make, which is part of the Hallmark Magazine website!...
Chicago artist Jim Bachor is turning Chicago potholes into art one mosaic at a time. Potholes are the pits. They’re bad for your car, they’re dangerous for pedestrians, and they’re just a plain old eyesore. After a brutal winter Chicago potholes are more prevalent than ever, and the city has fallen behind on repairing weather-damaged streets. Bachor’s project uses craft to turn an eyesore into something delightful. This is a record year for Chicago potholes, with their DOT estimating around 60,000 new potholes left to repair now that winter’s done....
