What You Will Need: Mason jar lids Chalkboard paint Low VOC spray paint Hot glue/hot glue gun Chalk Sand paper How To Do It: Lightly sand the mason jar lid with your sand paper. This will help the paint adhere to the kid. Spray paint the ring of your mason jar lid. Remember, multiple light coats will give you the best results. Chalkboard paint the inner portion of your mason jar lid....
Other than playground sand, which is apparently pig-filthy and will make your ocean in a bottle look polluted, there are a lot of simple, easy, around-the-house ingredients that will encourage babies through big kids (and even adults!) to be excited science explorers. Discovery bottles put interesting ingredients into a clear, sealed bottle for easy exploration to create a liquid density experiment. Although many bottles use colored rice or beans that a kid can shake or shift to find toys hidden inside, density discovery bottles rely on the interesting property of a substance’s relationship between its weight and its volume....
These garden markers are super easy to make, with just a few simple steps required. And they’re VERY handy in the garden, with that long handle keeping each one firmly in place while the bowl of the spoon makes a visible, easy-to-read label. But my favorite part about this project is how much room there is for creativity. Not every member of my family considers themselves artistic, but we all enjoy sitting around the table, listening to music and painting these markers for my garden....
You’d think this was a recipe for disaster, right? Two boys trying to come up with a present for a 16-year old girl. WRONG! Their gift was and is perfect. The graffiti art they created for Jazlynn is absolutely beautiful. And it’s something she can hang in her room, in her dorm, in her own home one day – and think, “my little brother and my little cousin made that for me!...
Switching to solar or wind power can be expensive, but projects like this open source DIY wind turbine just might make alternative energy more accessible! Our sister site Sustainablog pointed us to this tutorial at SolarFlower.org for building your own wind turbine. This project isn’t for the power tool-shy, but in terms of difficulty it’s one of the simplest DIY alternative energy projects I’ve seen. Check out this video showing the finished product in action: Related Reading: DIY Tea Light Heater To build your own wind turbine (!...
Are you ready to make the easiest holiday ornament EVER?! You need two ingredients – cinnamon and apple sauce – to fill your house with holiday spirit. When I say “simple” – I MEAN SIMPLE! These are the cutest and easiest holiday ornaments you’ll ever make. I made these cinnamon gingerbread people for the first time with my nephew Harrington a few years ago. He was only 18 months old at the time but he had no problem making the dough, rolling it out and using the cookie cutter to make the little people....
I fell for this Felt Ovoid Jacket and Empire Pant look. Isn’t this draped felt suit creative? Keep reading for more inspiration: Wow, just look at the exibit’s spectacular eye-popping “cell rugs” in neon brights. Felt is a sustainable, soft, flexible and fun fabric! What are some fabulous and artistic felt creations you’ve made? Please share, perhaps it will end up on exhibit at a famous design museum one day, who knows?...
Project 95 is brought to you by The Fabric Shop Network, Inc, the trade association for independent quilt and fabric retailers. They have recently launched a beta version of a searchable map to help you find independents in your area. I plugged in my zip code and was delighted to see this densely packed map fraught with new (at least new-to-me) shops to check out in my area. So why buy from Independets?...
Need to find green craft supplies? This is a list of eco-alternatives to many common conventional craft supplies. In my estimation, there are two kinds of green craft supplies: the ones you pull out of the recycle bin or trash can and the ones you buy at the store. Obviously, the first kind always wins in a “Who’s Greenest?” deathmatch, but I don’t think that means we can completely ignore that latter category....
In small doses and carefully selected venues, however, tie-dye can be just the thing. Tie-dye is fun and summery, when done correctly it is both color-fast and light-fast, and like a Lilly Pulitzer shift dress, the vibrant melee of colors hides a multitude of fabric stains and other flaws. This makes tie-dye a nearly perfect method to upcycle old fabrics made with plant-based threads such as plain cotton, linen, flannel and jersey knit....
Carefree Clothes for Girls, written by Junko Okawa, is an excellent assortment of easy-to-wear outfits for girls. It’s light on the details and embellishments that my fancier daughter might prefer, but those that are added–the lace, the buttons, the patchwork pockets–are just the kinds of frills that she likes. It is this kind of fashion ethic that makes Carefree Clothes for Girls such an eco-friendly book of patterns for children....
To help get you in the handmade holiday spirit, we’ve been posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale! So you’ve probably got your sights set on a Christmas tree, if you do that sort of thing, and you’re brainstorming some eco-friendly decorations ideas! Infused Goods has you covered with a super-detailed tutorial for making lovely cardboard ornaments! Here’s how: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/6VkZIDVYMtk&hl=en_US&fs=1&] Green it Up The obvious way to make this a green project is to raid that recycle bin for cereal or beer boxes....
One of the products that immediately came to my mind was fusible web. Fusible web is a synthetic fiber that melts when you heat it. Brand names for these products include Steam-A-Seam, Stitch Witchery, and others. If you’re not familiar with it, think of it as thin sheets of fabric infused with glue. If you need two pieces of fabric to stick together, or you’re working with a fabric that needs a little extra support to either stand up or hold still, then you may end up using your iron to attach some fusible web to your project....
What You Will Need: A table Recycled Paper. I used sheet music. School glue. If you can, use eco glue. . Scissors Sandpaper Polyurethane or other sealer A small paint brush A bowl How To Do It: Prep your table. If you plan on painting the bottom half of the table, make sure you do that first. Sand the top of your table simply to rough up the surface (this will help the glue adhere better)....
Got a tree? Got a tire? Got a kid? Make a tire swing! The ubiquitous tire swing is the ultimate outdoor summer project. By recycling an old tire into a new swing set, you give your kids an outlet for healthy activity in a natural environment. Let your kids help you build it, and you give them hands-on experience with problem-solving, real-world math, and tool use. Do it right, and your tree will stay strong and happy....
If you pick up any fashion magazine or browse the racks of your favorite store, you will notice that ruffles are really “in” right now. But if you are like me and like the look but are low on funds I have a low budget solution…a ruffled headband. To make this headband you can use any lightweight material that you have in your stash. I used an old chiffon skirt....
I will tell you this, though: If you’ve ever put something non-edible in a Ziplock baggie, then you need some drawstring bags, too! Drawstring bags are really simple to sew, and you can easily create them to be exactly the size that you need, whether you want to store Battleship game pieces or handmade soap. And if that’s not enough to sell you, then know that you don’t need special fabric for your drawstring bags, you can sew them up from any scrap fabric in your stash, and use anything from twine to ribbon to lace to bias tape for the drawstrings....
Packing bright holiday cheer back into boxes can make your home seem a little lonely after the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Not to mention that the bags of wrapping and packaging are enough to make any eco conscience a little bit guilty. Luckily, there are creative ways to use holiday décor in a whole new way as winter persists. This simple three step tutorial offers several decorating tips for a Christmas tree stump card holder – an eco friendly and free winter craft that you can make from your Christmas tree or leftover tree lot stumps....
Knowing what I wanted to make, I sorted through my stash of potential crafting supplies that surely will be useful someday (this is also known as my “stash of trash”) and hit the jackpot when I came across a partial deck of souvenir playing cards. You can’t play a lot of games with a partial deck of playing cards, and you also can’t recycle them–and if you’re me, you apparently also can’t bear the thought of simply tossing them into the waste stream, not when you might want to make a bunting out of them six years later!...
Vintage tablecloths and bed sheets are a great fabric to use for sewing a circle skirt, unless you’re trying to sew your kid a circle skirt from an old Charlie Brown sheet. If you use the traditional, easy-peasy way to sew a circle skirt, then Charlie Brown will be upside down on half the skirt–boo! Directional fabrics, including children’s novelty sheets, require a slightly different, and only a little more complicated, method to sew a circle skirt with nothing upside-down....
