I know Halloween is not for another two months but it can be stressful if you don’t plan ahead. So I thought I’d list some creative ways to green your Halloween! Start Early You know how it is. You get busy with getting kids back to school, then, comes homework, school trips, school projects, and then BAM! It’s October and Halloween! Yikes! So plan now and get a head start on green Halloween crafts....
If you want to have a totally handmade holiday, now is the time to get started. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale! My sweet nephews are totally into superheroes these days! The older one loves Superman and the younger is into Blue Batman. Not just any Batman, people. Blue. Obviously, I had no choice but to make them their very own superhero capes for Christmas!...
I didn’t get to make as many handmade gifts as I had planned but I still made a few. Here’s a bit of my handmade holiday show offs. I made my mother another memory shadow box out of items I found in my grandparents old stuff. This one matches the one I made for her last year. With the help of my husband we made several more wine bottle lamps and the family had our yearly card making night....
Fortunately, checkers are dead easy to DIY. For these tree branch checkers, all you need is a fallen branch, a saw, and a fun idea for embellishment (Hint: we used liquid watercolors and Sharpies). Any tree branch will do, as long as the diameter of the wood slices will be smaller than the squares on your checkerboard. For these particular checkers we used fir, specifically the trunk of the fir tree that was our Christmas tree last year (yes, I DID save it from last Christmas!...
I swear I’m not a germaphobe, but watching a dozen children reach their grimy hands into one big popcorn bowl at a recent children’s birthday party simply skeezed me out. I’d prefer not to get a tummy bug today, thank you very much. Dishing popcorn into individual containers keeps kids’ hands out of the serving bowl, but then is your choice more time washing re-usable popcorn bowls, or more disposable bowls in the landfill?...
I have a habit of hoarding things like shoe boxes, newspapers, scrap paper, etc., because I know they can be recycled into a project. An incredible blog called Spunky Junk shared this project on how to use shoe box lids as wall art. Shoe box lids are less expensive than canvas and it’s a great way to recycle! So, I took my shoe box lid, newspaper, and scrap paper and combined it into my own personal wall art!...
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!...
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....
A lip balm, three different remote controls, matchbook, and erasable pen that all want to live on the exact same 12″x18″ surface of your nightstand, say? Here’s a little pro tip for you: toss all that nonsense in a nice tray, and it’s no longer clutter. Because it’s CONTAINED! Bonus points if the tray is handmade, and double bonus points if it’s handmade from upcycled materials! Tidying up is MUCH more fun if Wolverine is helping!...
Why do I have the name of my home state cut out of a license plate? Don’t remember. Don’t care. But I am KEEPING IT. As I’ve discovered, one’s priceless possessions look less like you’re a hoarder when they’re displayed nicely so that you can enjoy them, not piled up on top of your dresser gathering dust. Storing your little treasures nicely is as easy as arranging them in a shadow box, and making that shadow box is as easy as cutting and pasting....
Have you wanted to brew your own Chemex coffee but were a little intimidated? Here’s how to make good coffee in a Chemex, step-by-step, with pictures. For folks unfamiliar with Chemex, it’s a special coffee-brewing gadget that is supposed to make extra stellar coffee. And I’m convinced that it does. You can see our Chemex in the photo above. OK, so before I even start getting into how to make good coffee a Chemex, I think I need to tell you guys that I am not any sort of rep for Chemex or the filters I talk about below....
They offer prints on a variety of base cloths, including an organic cotton/hemp blend fabric. All designs are hand screen-printed with water-based, non-toxic inks in their brand new studio. The Ink & Spindle Shop has fabric by the meter, housewares, and craft kits. In addition to their own designer fabrics, Ink & Spindle offers custom screen printing for other designers (who aren’t up for screen printing their own fabric). With a studio in an old warehouse and a 10 meter yardage printing table they are well equipped to do custom prints....
Employees of the Unitywater water company in Australia got to live the crafty dream this spring (or should I say autumn? It’s autumn in Australia right now), when knitters from the company were able to knit and deliver 24 pouches to the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital, to use with their sick, injured, or orphaned animals. The critter that you see above is Samson, a common brush-tailed possum. He’s snuggling up inside of one of Unitywater’s hand-knitted pouches while he recovers from a punctured lung sustained during a dog attack....
Knitty was started back in 2002 by Toronto-based, New Jersey-born knitter Amy R Singer, who still edits and publishes the “web-only knitting magazine with a sense of humor and absolutely no doily patterns.” Each quarterly issue features 10-15 new patterns tailor to each season, as well as columns, articles, interviews, product recommendations and more. One of the consistent columns, titled “Frankenknits,” is written by Kristi Porter, in which she chops up clothing, and transforms them into updated items of wonder (perfect for us reuse-loving crafters)....
Father’s Day is this Sunday, right? Dang it! Here are 10- last-minute Father’s Day gifts that you can make just in time. If you suddenly find yourself in the market for a last-minute Father’s Day gift, you don’t have to run out to the nearest big-box store and grab up the first thing you see. Considering that it takes me, personally, at LEAST an hour to run to the store, you can make pretty much all of the gifts listed below in the time that it would take to buy something new....
The beginning of the year slump is almost over, and that means craft show season will be creeping up on us before we know it! What’s a green crafter to do about a display? Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at a few eco-friendly display solutions for different setup needs. It’s so tempting to hit up local big box stores for new display pieces. I’ll admit that it’s even easier sometimes....
I’ve had this log cabin quilt sewn from upcycled denim in my mind’s eye for a few years, but it’s the embarrassing state of my fabric stash that finally prodded me into action. I may not have projects in mind for all that quilting cotton and canvas and jersey knit fabric, but sewing the giant plastic bin full of old jeans and that three yards of extra-wide flannel into the quilt of my dreams has certainly made a big dent in my hoard!...
I don’t know what it is, but babies love a crinkle toy! Here’s how to make a toy that your little babe will love. My son loves to squish and chew on this crinkle toy bunny I made him! Here’s how to make a toy for your babe to drool all over. Store-bought crinkle toys are cute, but they come with a hefty carbon footprint from being shipped all over the world, and they are most likely made in a factory with questionable labor practices....
Well, do you? I didn’t think so. Here’s how to hook yourself up with the awesome, DIY postcards that you deserve: You will need: heavyweight, professional-quality artist’s paper–Bristol board or illustration board are both perfect for making DIY postcards ruler, gridded cutting mat, and x-acto knife or scissors art supplies sturdy enough to survive the postal system Depending on your travel plans, it’s probably best to cut out all your postcards at home....
This 3-step DIY mason jar lantern is perfect for lighting up your spring garden parties! Don’t you just love spring weather? This is my favorite season – day after day of beautiful blue skies punctuated with blustery storms that make everything super lush and green. It’s perfect playing outside weather, and around here that means grilling and garden parties that go on into the evening. Sure, you can use electric lights to illuminate your next shindig, but you can save some energy and add a little ambiance with a string of sweet little mason jar lanterns instead!...
