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My kid and I have this thing in which she designs an outfit and then she and I (mostly me) sew it. Her most recent design consisted of an orange T-shirt, striped, and sewn, patchwork-style, from other orange T-shirts. It’s not my place to judge the beauty of the child’s design (Orange T-shirts? Really? Never mind…), but simply to create her vision. Well, we created it, alright! The Most Fabulous Scrapwork Orange T-Shirt now exists in the world, and here’s how we created it:...

The pants that my husband thrifted, however, fit great at the waist but were a few inches too short at the inseam. Just opening up the side seams of those pants and adding a panel wouldn’t have worked to create good-looking bell bottoms. Instead, I hacked his pants off at the knees and turned them into bell bottoms a completely different way! This method results in a pair of bell bottoms that are wide and blousy and flowy....

Do you love to knit, crochet, or sew? Do you love babies? If so, you should be making something small and adorable to donate to Touching Little Lives! Touching Little Lives is a non-profit that serves premature and newborn babies in Ohio who need warm clothes. Unfortunately, Ohio does not have a great record for premature births, babies born into poverty, or infant mortality. Lots of little babies are born in Ohio who need tiny accessories, or newborn layettes, or burial outfits....

My son just started an infant-toddler program, and I needed to get his diaper bag ready for school! I wanted to make it easy for the caretakers to find all of his things, so I created these zipper pulls to show what is where in his bag. All of the diaper bags that I’ve seen are basically tote bags with extra pockets. That is fine, but it’s not the most ergonomic design....

DIY Draft Blocker Materials tape measure 1/2 yard of medium to heavy weight fabric iron sewing machine large bag of rice, sand, or kitty litter funnel cup for scooping Directions To get started, measure your door. You want to make sure your finished product blocks the whole underside. Add 1 1/2″ to your measurement for your seam allowances and to make sure your draft dodger goes slightly past the door on either end....

I think. I hope. We’re on to mudding and sanding the drywall. Then we can paint. Then replace the sink, vanity and toilet and be done. Finally. I just wish we could have been more eco with the whole project. We couldn’t save much of anything. The tile on the wall was disgusting and slimy and the walls behind the tile were molded so we had to tear out everything and replace it all....

Somewhere in the last few weeks, my baby bump popped right out, and suddenly none of my bottoms fit anymore! Getting dressed was starting to be a challenge, so I whipped up a maternity skirt to flesh out my wardrobe a little bit. That project went swimmingly, but one skirt does not a new wardrobe make. Instead of making another skirt from scratch, I decided to turn a pair of old denim shorts into a maternity skirt....

Every Summer, I regret that decision. Fortunately, every Spring I also make it a little easier on myself by adding to my stash of re-usable plant markers. It’s not a perfect system (I already forgot the names of the specific varieties of corn, beans, and squash that I planted in my Three Sisters garden plot on Saturday…), but when I have the plant markers on hand I do use them, and every year I make a few more plant markers from the rocks and shells I’ve collected over the past year....

Past me sure would have liked this video on how to sharpen a dull Xacto knife, instead of springing for new blades all the time. Of course, you’ll eventually have to replace your Xacto blades, but extending their lives makes your paper crafting that much less wasteful. Sharpen Your Xacto Knife Here’s what you need to sharpen your Xacto knife, according to the video tute above from Dick Gibson:...

Back in October we asked you guys what kinds of things you’d like more help reusing or upcycling, and you had some great questions, both via comment and email. We’ve addressed quite a few of them, from how to reuse old jeans to new ideas for old books, but there was one question that’s been stumping me for ages: how can crafters upcycle e-waste? There are tons of tutorials out there for certain types of e-waste, like old circuit boards, but reader Nicole is looking for those less-used items, like broken electronic toothbrushes, Christmas lights, and dead batteries....

If you are one of the many modern brides who are now concerned with the massive carbon footprint a wedding can leave behind this will be an eco treat! The average wedding is calculated to produce 14.5 tons of CO2, which is more then the 12 tons a person emits in one whole year. Yikes! The last few years have thankfully brought us far beyond the once confused crunchy DIY & organic wedding designs into a realm where your green wedding dress fantasy will now become a memorable reality....

London-based designer Helen Rawlinson creates her fresh, hand-printed fabric designs in her converted chocolate factory studio. For the past 10 years, she’s worked on designing and hand-printing lampshades, and last year she branched out in to fabrics. She just recently made the switch from conventional to organic cotton, and it’s great to see another designer choosing sustainable textiles! Rawlinson talked to us a little bit about what inspired her to make the switch to organic fabrics:...

I have long been a huge fan of Sukie. My favorite product is the organic cotton Alphabet cushion. They are now offering organic cotton fabric meterage in 3 designs including the Alphabet print. The 100% organic cotton prints are slik-screen printed in the UK. The three designs include Strange Fruit, Alphabet, and Bird Tree. Fabric is 150cm wide (about 59 inches) and £48 per meter (about $80). Sukie recommends these fabrics for light furnishings, wall hangings and accessories....

But wooden building blocks do not have to be solely your child’s provenance. Whether they’re alphabet or standard, painted or bare, wooden building blocks offer a lot of possibilities for the average crafter. And for the average eco-warrior craft god/goddess? Well, you guys can see the extra benefits to crafting with a natural material like wood, especially if it’s recycled from some kid’s old playthings. Maybe you’re a scrapper. Maybe you create altered art....

This flower vase is made from totally reclaimed materials, and it even has a grid top to make arranging your flowers super easy! A grid tip is the key to making a flower arrangement that will stay put. The grid nests right into the top of the flower vase and keeps those stems in place. There are lots of ways to make a grid top, but since I wanted this project to be 100 percent upcycled, I went with creating my own grid using a plastic iced coffee cup from my recycle bin and a mason jar lid ring....

Here are ten ways to reuse glass jars. From sand art to pickles, there are glass jar crafts here for everyone. Next time you finish a jar of pasta sauce or scrape the last bit of jam onto your toast, you might want to think twice before tossing that precious glass jar into the recycle bin. Those empty glass jars are a great free way to launch all sorts of fun, upcycled glass jar crafts!...

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists! Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be posting about recycled gifts you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale. So you’re getting those handmade gifts together, and you’re wondering about green gift-wrap ideas! A pretty basket or other reusable container gives your present a little personality while reducing waste....

All of the artwork in my house is framed in thrifted frames that I’ve refinished in one way or another. I have a LOT of methods that I like to use to make my frames look different, but I’m always looking for one more. That’s why when I saw a tutorial for fabric-covered picture frames in the copy of Girls’ Night In that my tween was flipping through, I snatched it out of her hands (don’t worry–she’s used it it!...

Your favorite wizard in training needs a hat, and it’s up to you, their favorite Muggle, to help them make one! Gather up your favorite felt (both Eco-fi recycled felt and wool felt are good choices), some newspaper and duct tape, and hand-sewing supplies, and before your next costumed gathering, all wizards in attendance will be appropriately be-hatted. Here’s how: Measure the circumference of your wizard’s head. Measure it at an angle, since the wizard hat will probably sit back on your wizard’s head a bit....

Soft scrubs are great at scouring off grime, but they often use harmful chemicals to do it. This homemade soft scrub recipe is effective, all natural, and inexpensive to make. Spring Cleaning Week continues with a crazily simple recipe for making homemade soft scrub. You guys, seriously. It only uses 2-3 ingredients and does a great job scrubbing away stuck-on ickiness. Store bought soft scrubs are often bad news. They contain toxic ingredients like formaldehyde and benzene, and the worst part is that companies don’t have to disclose many of those hormone disruptors, allergens, and carcinogens on the product label....