I recently found an old bird cage at a thrift store that needed some updating. With a little bit of paint and a few items that I had on hand, I turned an average bird cage into a beautiful decor piece! DIY Modern Birdcage Decor Piece What You Will Need: a bird cage. Preferably try to find a bird cage where you can easily put items inside. spray paint. If you can, use low VOC spray paint— it’s more eco-friendly!...
Details here, or submit a post through the submission form. Previous editions of the Carnival of Green Crafts: First Carnival of Green Crafts Second Carnival of Green Crafts at BlogHer Third Carnival of Green Crafts: Trash Into Treasure Fourth Carnival for Green Crafts at Whip Up Fifth Carnival of Green Crafts
Recycled craft kits delivered monthly to your door? Don’t mind if I do! The super awesome folks at Green Kid Crafts create monthly kits full of recycled craft project ideas to keep your kiddos busy, and they’re offering up one of their kits to a lucky Crafting a Green World reader! Check out giveaway details below. We’ve talked about Green Kid Crafts here before. It’s a mom-owned and -operated green company that uses only safe, natural materials....
John Bassett has been making these amazing glass panels and sculptures since 1979, long before green crafting was all the rage. John creates his works of art out of used bottles, chandelier parts, and other glass scraps. John says that his interests are in light, structure, line, texture, balance and color in that order. I know most of us do not have the means to whip up art with our empty beer bottles, but I just had to share the wonderful way one artist has....
These sweet little recycled planters are a great way to get your kids excited about upcycling and about nature. A two in one learning experience! Don’t you just love this adorable take on plastic bottle planters from Stephanie Morgan at eHow’s Mom channel? She uses plastic bottles and some basic craft supplies. In the list below, I’m including the supplies that she calls for along with upcycled alternatives, so you can make this project as recycled as you want to!...
I know. I know. We actually all know the reasons not to do this. But my thirst won out and I was left with a happy sigh and an empty bottle. To give myself a little bit of redemption, I gladly toted the empty bottle around for the rest of the day with all intentions for bringing it home, destined for the recycle bin. On my return home, I instead left it on my desk and contemplated the water bottle’s next life as a possible craft....
Did you know that Crafting a Green World has a classifieds section devoted to sharing and swapping craft supplies? There’s something inspiring about getting your hands on a fresh batch of new-to-you craft supplies, isn’t there? Even when we’re talking about supplies that are just replenishing your stash – a bundle of vintage fabric, maybe, or a bag of shiny new buttons – getting rid of old supplies that are cluttering your crafting space and replacing them with new ones can really get the ol’ creative gears turning!...
Looking for some Thanksgiving crafts to deck out your tablescape? These upcycled place cards are more than decoration: they’re an activity! Sometimes it feels like we get so bogged down with the menu, travel plans, and Black Friday shopping that we forget to take the time around Thanksgiving to give thanks. I don’t think it’s something to beat ourselves up about, but I do think it’s something we can try to consciously change....
Upon window gazing in San Francisco, this immense coral yarn sculpture reminded me of one of the most unique, and unusual TED Talks I’ve ever seen and it’s about coral yarn crochet. In this TED (Technology and Entertainment Design) talk, Margaret Wertheim shares the coral project she started with her twin sister that is all about crocheting the coral reef. The idea of this yarn filled coral sculpture garden is inspired by endangered sea coral, the ancient art of domestic handicrafts, and the new discoveries in mathematics by Dr....
I urge the indie craft community to take a closer look at this bill, and act quickly… it was introduced to congress on April 24th, 2008, and is rumored to be fast-tracked to a vote. In this special two-part post, I will introduce you to the legislation, and Skye will jump in later with some advocacy tips. Currently, any work you produce is automatically protected under copyright law for your lifetime + 70 years....
The Green T-Shirt Design Challenge is a chance to show off what being green means to you, all on an organic t-shirt. Says Threadless: The winner of the challenge will get lots of amazing goods and prizes, with the list growing every day. You have until April 6 to submit your design and right now the competition looks a bit thin. So if you’ve ever wanted to see your green idea on a t-shirt, now is your time....
1. Recycled Heart Garland by Lady Mockingbird and Her Buttercups Do you like to countdown to certain events or milestones in your life? Create this adorable recycled heart garland from Lady Mockingbird and Her Buttercups. She created it to count down to her graduation. Every day, you simply cut off one of the hearts from the gardland! It’s such a simple and cute project to make. Head on over to her site to see how you can make your own!...
In that case, why not make the food part of the crafting and the decorating? Below, check out some of my favorite Thanksgiving treats and decorations that incorporate the groceries I’ve already bought and the dishes I already know I need to make. Making cute novelty Thanksgiving foods that we can display and eat saves time AND resources! Food Crafts to Eat turkey bread. Sculpting fun bread is a delicious holiday tradition that my teenagers have engaged in since they were preschoolers… and they still love it!...
The best way to reduce the number of plastic bottles in landfills is to avoid buying them in the first place. Reuse is second best, but when you can’t avoid them, try one of these clever plastic bottle reuses to give them a new life! Pretty much any time we’ve pulled together a collection of reuse and upcycling projects, at least one involves plastic bottles. Not only are these items versatile, but they’re also readily available....
We craft with mason jars all the time, but what about those lonely lids? Use them up with these fun mason jar lid crafts! The whole idea behind mason jar crafts is reusing instead of throwing away, so I’ve been feeling guilty about my stash of mason jar lids that no longer have jars to go with them. Seriously, like my wine cork stash, it was getting a little bit out of hand....
Macrame is my favorite way to craft these hangers, but I don’t have endless stashes of cording, and I like to work with what I have on hand. So yes, I’ve made tons of macrame hangers this summer, but I’ve also made all kinds of other hangers, almost all from stash. Scrap wood, scrap leather, miscellaneous brackets of unknown provenance–all are fair game! Do you, too, have too many plants and seemingly too little space?...
For one, you can get some fresh air, you couch potato! And for another, when you move a plain old run-of-the-mill played-it-a-thousand times board game out to your front yard, you can supersize it for a super amount of fun. Lize-sized Monopoly, anyone? Giant Jenga? Supersized Scrabble! Notice that the projects on my list are all real builds that you can play again and again using the same pieces–no paper plates or balloons or plastic cups on MY list!...
Handmade Graduation Gifts T-shirt quilt. Did your favorite graduate collect SO many school-related T-shirts? Memorialize them in a comfy, homemade quilt! Go for a twin-sized quilt for a dorm room bed, or make a full-sized quilt or larger for a new apartment or house. amigurumi graduation dolls. Customize these crocheted dolls with your preferred characteristics, then give them to your favorite graduate. They’re like their little avatars of success! crocheted teddy graduate....
Turn them into new clothes! With two growing kids in the house, and weather that insists on changing from hot to cold to hot again every single year, we always seem to need new clothes. If you can get your mind around clothing refashion instead of consumerism, however, you can often figure out ways to make those old clothes that you no longer want into the new clothes that you need....
Conventional polyfill is petroleum based, so what’s a green crafter to do? Here are some eco-friendlier options for stuffing that pillow or plushie! We talked yesterday about how to make a pillow without buying petroleum-based polyfill. Bits of thread and tiny fabric scraps are great for some projects, but like I mentioned in that tutorial, they can leave things on the lumpy side. A few lumps are fine if you’re making something just for you or a friend, but there are times that you want your finished project to come out a bit more evenly....
