If you haven’t cut a glass bottle before and you think that it IS simple, go try it. I’ll wait here until you come back pissed off and scratched, having cleaned up the mound of shattered glass that you were left with. Done? Okay, great! Now hang out with me here while I run through the three most popular methods of cutting glass bottles that seem to show up most often online, and I’ll tell you why they suck....
1. Soda Can Cookie Cutter by Miss Anthropist’s Kitchen Miss Anthropist’s Kitchen created custom cookie cutters in order to make her own homemade Goldfish crackers. Although she used a fish shape, I can only imagine the other shapes you could create from your own soda can. What shape would you make? Speaking of shapes, keep clicking to see how to make soda can stars! Next» Soda Can Festive Stars by Milomade [Image via Miss Anthropist’s Kitchen, used with permission]
Seriously, you have to think about it every single second, it seems! I have been thinking about it for a loooooong time, ever since my now thirteen-year-old was an infant, and so I have a master list to share with you of all of my favorite crafty, eco-friendly kids’ activities. You really can keep your kids educated, entertained, and happy while saving the environment! Preschoolers Giant Dice. Do you think that your kids would love to play a life-sized game of Candyland?...
Bamboo is getting a lot of hype lately as an Earth-friendly fabric. Is it everything it’s cracked up to be? This question has been nagging me lately, so I did a little bit of digging. It looks like there are some upsides and some downsides to bamboo fabric. Let’s start with the bad news first and talk about the good news last. The Cons The main issue with bamboo is the method that many companies use turn the stalks into fiber....
How about those giant cardboard boxes, though? If you’ve just purchased a major household appliance, or even a new stereo, or finished a move, or celebrated an extra-generous birthday, you might find yourself confronted with an overwhelmingly large amount of cardboard. But you don’t have to simply throw it into the recycling, at least not yet! Here are some great kid-oriented projects that make use of those larger pieces of cardboard....
Yeah, me neither. I think we all share this same cultural trauma, because wire hangers are one of the most loathed aspects of our commercial society, and yet also, curiously, one of the most ubiquitous. Nobody wants to actually use wire hangers for their clothes (those bumps they put on the shoulders of your shirts!!!), and yet to just throw them away…ick. Fortunately, wire coat hangers have one absolutely fabulous thing going for them....
As my plane took off from St. Louis that Friday morning, I anticipated someone there would explain how to promote a craft show into the stratosphere and run it like clockwork. The feeling crept in that my event was a speck of dust in comparison to what others had accomplished, regardless that we had nearly 100 vendors for Strange Folk‘s maiden voyage. Certainly, I questioned the validity of my involvement in what seemed a definitive moment of this growing subculture....
It’s a contest-filled month! The April Stash Bust is going strong, and now CRAFT and MAKE have an awesome Earth month contest for green crafters to show off their skills. The folks at CRAFT and MAKE magazines are encouraging crafters to do our parts and help keep plastic out of the oceans. They’re asking crafters to submit upcycled projects for some amazing prizes, including an iPad! Plastic waste is an environmental nightmare....
I have found newspapers and photographs from the 1800s, old magazines, some cool handbags and hats and tons of letters, cards, and little mementos of a long life. I found love letters written between my grandparents in the 1930s when they were “courting”. I read some of them but there are so many and they are so personal, perhaps some day I will go back and read them all. I packed them all, tied them with a ribbon and created a beautiful treasure box to put them in, then gave them to my mother for Christmas....
Most crafts for kids are aimed at ages two and up, but you can do this sensory play activity with babies eight months an older. Ever since I got pregnant, I have been dreaming of the day that I could finally craft with my son. Seriously, this kid is in for it when he’s big enough to hold a paint brush without trying to eat it. My little guy just turned nine months old, and when your kid is under one year, there aren’t a ton of craft for kids that are appropriate for them....
The Backyard Gardener is the green thumb cheat sheet that you’ve always wanted. I can’t say enough good things about it! If you’re a total gardening newb, then this is a book that you can follow like a manual, from prepping your soil to planting to harvesting to prepping your garden for the next growing season. If, like me, you know just enough about gardening to be dangerous (I can propagate rosemary like a boss and grow all the basil and chard that I’ll ever need, but I once let mint take over my ENTIRE front yard, the birds eat all of my strawberries every year, and I’ve never yet grown a tomato that looked right…), then you can use this book to get you to the next level, letting it convince you to companion plant and amend your soil and stop trying to grow spinach in the middle of the summer, etc....
We shared a post on growing potatoes in a barrel from our pals at Green Upgrader over on our Facebook page not too long ago, and lots of you piped up to tell us about your gardening adventures! I love a good DIY garden hack, too, and since it turns out we have lots of crafty gardenistas out there, I thought I’d share my latest gardening experiment with you. I’m sure that most of you are familiar with the joys of container gardening....
The recipes on this list are for DIY natural cold and flu remedies that I have used on myself or on my family. Not all of these home remedies are claiming to shorten the duration of your illness. Many of them are remedies for symptoms. You’ll feel better while you’re using them and for a while afterwards. They’re great if you’re trying to avoid over the counter medications. I turn to DIY natural cold and flu remedies because I hate the drugged feeling I get from conventional cold medication....
Twine. If you can, use hemp twine. Recycled paper. I used a junk mail envelope. Crayons A black permanent marker Hot glue/hot glue gun Scissors How To Do It: On your recycled paper, draw the pieces of your bunting like so: Color each piece and write what you would like it to say. Then, cut it out. Tie your twine around your recycled paper straws. If you want to make sure it is secure, you can put a dab of hot glue on the back side of the straw....
For a great branding opportunity look no further than these Personalized Recycled Shabby Tags by Celestefrittata. Each tag will be handmade with your shop name. They are only $10 for a set of 50! If you make fashion or accessories consider these gift tags made from repurposed magazines by Chachke Designs. I also particularly love her new original happy monster tags perfect for kids items. These graphic number gift tags by Sugarcube Design are just plain fun....
If you’ve got kids (or a Scout troop, or a day camp…) who love making jewelry, then they’ll love making these embossed aluminum pendants. These pendants, which utilize upcycled aluminum and washi tape, are easy to make look cute, and since there’s no drying/curing time required (a big deal in the world of jewelry crafting!), the kiddos can walk away wearing their creations–remember how I said this was perfect for Scouts and campers?...
Happy new decade from all of us at Crafting a Green World! We thought it would be fun to take a look back at last year’s Fab Fabrics as we get geared up for another year of green crafting. Here’s a look back at 12 months of vintage, recycled, organic, and funky Fab Fabrics! January Bishopston Trading Company U.K. Chop Chop Timber Organic Cotton by Harmony Art Hemp/Recycled PET Blend...
Hemp is sustainable and durable. Not only that, it requires far fewer pesticides and water to grow than conventional fibers. Unlike most plants that sap nutrients from the soil, the mighty hemp plant actually nourishes the land where it’s planted! The fabric is strong, and lasts longer than traditional fabrics without stretching or wearing. Ready to work some hemp into your next sewing project? Check out the nature-inspired color schemes in the organic hemp fabric from Noonday Textiles!...
Lithuanian designer Inga’s beautiful linen fabrics are inspired by traditional methods from her home country. Linen is an ancient fabric spun from flax, a plant that requires very few pesticides and little water to grow. It has a nice drape but it’s also sturdy, which makes it great for both clothing and housewares. Inga feels a personal, cultural, and historical connection to linen: She designs all of the fabrics herself and has works with local Lithuanian companies to get them produced....
We’ve written about the lovely designs from Swanky Swell before, so of course we were delighted when the Bay Area designer introduced some beautiful new fabrics to her line. Designer Nina has an interior design background and has always been drawn to textiles. She’s inspired by its ability to combine graphics and textures and found an outlet for capturing the beauty of the everyday through textile design. Nina says that nature is her biggest inspiration, which is why it’s really important to her that she produce a sustainable product:...
