They’re also easy to DIY! Here’s a list of my favorite hand puppets that you can make. Some are great for kids to make independently, some are perfect to make side-by-side with your favorite little one, and some are works of art that you can make in secret and surprise a kiddo with at the next holiday! Basic hand puppet pattern. This is the simplest hand puppet pattern, which really means that it’s also the best!...
I went into my roommate’s room a few days ago and she had her jewelry on a lid from a candle. I loved it’s simplicity, so I told her that I was stealing her idea, but making it a tad bit prettier! Here’s how you can make your own upcycled jewelry tray! What You Will Need: A lid of some sort. Like I mentioned before, I used a lid from an old candle....
Yesterday, we looked at how to make recycled superhero badges, but who says you have to stop there? There are lots of fun ways that you can use your crafty skills to make all sorts of superhero goodness. Here are a few projects to get you going. Do you have a little superhero in your life? My nephews are superhero-obsessed, and I love finding crafty ways to make them superhero-themed presents....
Both Links and Cottonwood claim very high industry standards for organic certification and sustainability. Using the Global Organic Textile Standard, these yarns have been certified as an EKO Sustainable Textile. Links is woven in chain-like strands, where as Cottonwood is a piled cotton yarn. Both are worsted weight and come in a variety of pleasing colors. Links provides for more texture in your projects due to the woven nature of the fiber....
Thank goodness I’ve recently found Hope USA Cotton Organic. This organic cotton looks sturdy yet breathable, perfect for the season. Hope organic cotton yarn is produced and grown in the U.S. and comes in a DK worsted weight. This yarn is also sold undyed in its natural color. The other great thing about this yarn is that 10% of all proceeds from the sale of Hope yarns go to a charity of your choice....
The Treliske merino wool range includes organic babywear, baby blankets, knitwear and knitting wool yarns which free from harmful chemicals. It is natural, undyed and unbleached and is grown and manufactured without the 8,000 chemicals found in the textile industry. Treliske is available in varying weights from two to eight ply yarn and comes in natural colors such as Brown Tweed, Donkey, Marble, Silver and Cream. And for a limited time you can scoop up Rich Dark Brown, which is rarely available....
…and leave room in that drawer for more craft supplies that you can guiltily hoard. Check out the tutorials below and let me know which is your favorite! Bead and ribbon dragonfly. Choose a high-quality ribbon and use your beaded dragonfly as a hair ornament the next time you dress fancy. Cardigan sweater remake. Do you have enough ribbon to line two halves of a sweater? If so, welcome to your brand-new cardigan!...
I’ve got a family member who loves to ship us meat for a holiday gift. We enjoy it… but we always end up with a Styrofoam shipping box in the basement. Like most places, we can’t recycle them with our pick-up service, and given their environmental impact, I just hate to throw them away. You may get similar gifts, or have medications delivered in polystyrene foam containers. You may have picked up a Styrofoam cooler at some point....
Whether you’ve got a kid who still puts everything into his mouth or an older kid that needs a change of pace, we’ve got the edible play dough recipes for you! Some of these recipes taste delicious, and others don’t. What they have in common are food-based ingredients that are safe to eat. Why 8+ recipes? The second play dough link on this list contains two play dough recipes! Bonus!...
As we come into the giving season, one of our favorite online market places, cosa verde has caught the spirit. Now through the first ten days of December you can enter to win great green handmade goods, not for yourself, but for those you deem worthy in your life. Give it Forward this holiday enters a friend or loved one in a chance to win handcrafted gifts by cosa verde artists....
Mostly, I will be highlighting a history of methods and finished objects created with what would be considered sustainable materials by today’s standards. I think back to when it was just what worked. Also, there was no obvious investment income to be gained from having necessary project components fabricated in third world countries. Regardless, you’ll be surprised by efficient techniques, simple tools, and sophisticated results you may never have been aware of....
And so what if we’re always supposed to be “crafting a green world?” Maybe you could craft a little greener on Earth Day. Or try something new. Or do without some awesome supply you might normally buy. Or take something weird out of your trash can and turn THAT into something awesome. Or, since you’re already pretty green and already pretty crafty, you can just feel okay about that on Earth Day....
My kids love the comfy, wide-legged, elastic-waisted, flannel and fleece pants that I sew them for the winter months, but seriously, how hard can it possibly be for them to simply not put the pants on backwards?!? Super hard, if you ask them. Even when the pants have knee pads and pockets, my kids seemed to put them on backwards more often than not. Of course, when your kid wears store-bought pants and shirts, you simply tell them, “Look for the tag, Sweetie....
You have to love a two-step tutorial. I wrote a while back about how I made gift tags from greeting cards–all vintage, all from people we only hung out with, um, pre-divorce, all awesome, and it took all of about five minutes. These comic book gift tags are just as simple. My other big obsession (as if I have only two!) is comic books–not just the big players, but also the less popular ones....
Craft Hope is an amazingly creative craft outreach project that inspires crafting for charity! It is creative gifts from the heart like these that bring inspiration and smiles. The Craft Hope team blogs about their heartwarming travels with the crafty gifts too. What wonderful global outreach to deliver the handmade dolls! Jade Sims is the founder of Craft Hope and also blogs at chikaustin. Images credits all from Craft Hope....
“I try to reflect both the human and natural environment in my work by using symbols and materials that have meaning to me and represent where I come from. From street signs to native trees, my jewelery has always been a pretty literal representation of my surroundings,” he says. Along with the natural theme of his creations, Ashley uses small scale mined metals from his home base in New Zealand....
Store bought jewelry can come with a hefty environmental impact. From the new materials to produce them to the carbon footprint that goes with shipping them all over the world, that snazzy pair of earrings from the big box store are a little bit on the heavy side. Luckily, you don’t have to buy mass-produced jewelry! Instead, you can divert some waste from the landfill and whip up cute, DIY jewelry of your very own....
Rather than toss all those catalogs and offers into the recycle bin, you may as well take advantage of the free craft supplies! Despite our best efforts to stop marketers from sending us junk mail, the stuff still seems to find its way into our mailbox. We use some of it for things like grocery lists and keeping score when playing Scrabble, but what to do with the rest? Here are some project ideas and junk mail art inspiration....
Fall decorations have hit stores! While it’s tempting to buy those cute plastic pumpkins and other decorations from big box stores, they are far from eco-friendly. Instead, use what you have in your craft stash! I had embroidery hoops and orange fabric, so I decided to transform them into my own precious pumpkins! What You Will Need: Embroidery hoops. Orange fabric. I used fabric that a friend gave to me....
We’ve talked before about the high impact from denim production. While there are more sustainable denim options out there, the most eco-friendly option is probably second hand denim. Here are some tips for how to find and repurpose gently-used denim. Where to Find Second-Hand Denim Thrift stores are a great resource for old jeans, denim skirts, and denim dresses. Most thrift shops have a huge jeans selection, so you can hunt for just the finish you’re after....
