A kid’s tennis racket doesn’t always last too long (Why are they apparently so fun to hit rocks with?), and often it costs more to restring it than just replace it. Instead of tossing that racket with the broken strings, or making your kid continue to play with a bad racket, buy your kid a new tennis racket that they PROMISE to treat right and let them use the old one to make themselves a butterfly net....
This week I have been spending a good deal of time in the kitchen, cooking up natural dyes. I am actually surprised that after 7 years of art in college I had never learned to make paints, toxic or non toxic. But after reading Autumn’s post about how to make your own milk paint, I got to thinking even deeper into how to make pigments since the colored pigment can be as toxic as the binder....
In less than an hour, you can whip up a versatile tote made from any fabric you fancy. For pattern ideas, Altered Cloth recently posted a great collection of 7 options from around the web. Even if you are a beginner in the sewing department, these projects are great for first-timers or experienced stitchers. Out of all 7 projects, my personal favorite it the design from U-handblog, a TypePad-featured blog all about (you guessed it) making handbags....
I am a hipster cliche. Because Mason jar lights? They found me. They called to me. They spoke in my ear, and I heard, “Julie! You need some lighting to go above your new handmade headboard! You could put that light… in a Mason jar!” And I said, “Why, yes. Yes, I could!” To be fair, it’s not like I don’t already have a ton of Mason jars just lying around....
Your favorite holiday is coming up soon! Star Wars Day, aka May the 4th, ie. “May the 4th be with you,” is a much-anticipated day in my family, as it brings Star Wars games, Star Wars crafts, and of COURSE a Star Wars movie marathon, during which there will be an extra Star Wars movie this year! At CAGW, we’ve got you covered for your own May the 4th festivities; here are my favorite eco-friendly Star Wars crafts: 1....
If it’s important to you to have a green Hanukkah, then check out these Hanukkah crafts that you can make from natural materials! Nature Crafts for Hanukkah 1. all-natural menorah. This post has tons of ideas for using natural materials to make a menorah. 2. bean and macaroni menorah. This menorah is a cute decorative craft; keep reading for a pasta menorah that you can actually use! 3. birch wood menorah....
This fun nature play box is a great rainy day activity to keep busy toddlers entertained. Set it up on your back porch or in your kitchen. Warning: this creative nature play box looks pretty messy. It’s fine for indoors, but you’re almost certainly going to be vacuuming afterwards. A small price for happy kids that are playing independently though, right? What I love about this video from Mama’s Nook is that she’s creating a sensory and creative play experience by using what she has....
If you’re anything like me, the New Year makes me want to reorganize and clean! Often times I go through my clothes to see what fits, what needs to be “retired,” etc. If you can’t refashion your wardrobe like Becky shared yesterday, there are even more options! Hang on to your old t-shirts to try out these amazing projects! For example, perhaps there are some shirts that you would love to keep for sentimental reasons, or one that has a really fun pattern, but just doesn’t fit anymore– these are the perfect shirts to recycle!...
Yes, we are drinking the pixie dust-flavored Kool-aid this fall. We’re going to Disney World! How will a hater of store-bought crap function in a land of expensive Disney-themed merchandise, you might ask, and honestly, I’m a little curious, myself. Will I freak out and buy my kids a bunch of plastic character-themed toys, or will I stick to my guns? Will my head quietly explode as I outwardly smile and watch my kids instead each spend an entire year’s worth of saved allowances (saved because I told them that I wasn’t going to buy them any store-bought crap) on a bunch of plastic character-themed toys?...
Did you know that it takes over 2,400 gallons (9,000 liters) to produce a single pound of cotton? That’s about enough cotton to make a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. And that’s just the water used to grow the crops. This figure doesn’t take into account the water polluted by the pesticides used to grow conventional cotton, which can be very hard to measure. Organic cotton does use fewer pesticides, but the sad truth is that organic cotton makes up just a tiny portion of the overall cotton market....
Each month, Crafting a Green World hosts the Green Crafts Showcase, where you guys can submit your eco-friendly craft projects! At the end of the month, we choose our faves and share them right here on the site. Here’s how to enter! All you need to do is submit a link to your green craft project tutorial using our form by the 28th of the month to participate in the upcoming month’s Showcase....
A quick trip to the thrift store can return a bounty of books that make you wonder how they ever got published. Sometimes, you’ll run across damaged books, too. With a little bit of crafty love, you can give those old pages a brand new life! Here are some ideas to get you going: 1. I just love this chandelier made from old books by designer Lucy Norman. 2. You could try your hand at making a purse from a recycled book....
Altered Art for the first time combines my love of books with altered art. Almost every tutorial and project in the book is an altered art book creation. The great thing about this book, is that it is filled with crafty how to directions, not just pretty pictures and suggestions. Altered Art for the First Time doesn’t just contain great suggestions, altered art basics, ideas and photos. This book is actually an altered art craft book with detailed materials lists and step by step instructions with photos....
You can never have too many Spirographs or Legos, I craft with comic books, records, and Scrabble tiles, and you can use the lowly plastic salad spinner, however beat up or unworthy-looking of touching an actual salad, to make one of the coolest kinds of gimmick artwork around: Spin art basically rules. Here’s how to work it: You will need: Second-hand salad spinner (with food-grade paints or a REALLY thorough wash strategy, you can use your regular salad spinner for this, but I like to have a beat-up scavenged salad spinner on hand so that I can use weird paints if I want) Small strips of clear tape (I use Scotch tape or whatever brand is cheapest at the store—you want something that’s not too sticky, so the cheap brands are actually the best here) Paper cut to fit the bottom of your salad spinner (I cut Bristol board to 4”x6”; this is also a good project for Artist Trading Cards) Liquid paints in squeeze tubes or eyedrop-type applicators (the girls and I usually use acrylic or tempera paints directly from their squeeze tubes; you can also put your paints in old mustard bottle-type containers, and you can always thin your paints down if they’re too thick—they should be the consistency of regular tempera paint, or even thinner)...
First up is Feelgood Style, where I am a writer. Liz Thompson is my editor over there, and she is a natural beauty superstar. She was kind enough to answer a few interview questions about herself. Get to know Liz! Hi there! Why don’t you introduce yourself to our readers? Hi! I’m Liz Thompson, Site Director/Editor at Feelgood Style. My two children, husband and I live in the Midwest and, I’m proud to say, my kids can spot a greenwasher a mile away....
It’s great to support local farmers so I always take a trip to a pumpkin patch every year. Of course we come home with bushels of apples, gallons of apple cider, a dozen of freshly made donuts and a few hefty sized pumpkins. Like I said, I don’t mind supporting my farmers but I find buying pumpkins wasteful since we essentially buy them for just one night. I’d rather spend that money on donuts!...
Planning wedding favors that are in line with your environmental ideals can be a little bit tricky. At my wedding, we gave out an assortment of organic seed packets, but I wish I’d thought to make these sweet DIY seed bomb wedding favors instead! Apple Brides shares a simple tutorial for making seed bombs using any seeds you fancy and how to package them beautifully for your wedding guests. All that you need to make your own seed bombs are:...
Do you like to make your own Thanksgiving crafts and decor? Here’s another project to add to your list– a “give thanks” decor piece! I recently purchased a faux fireplace for my living room and I’ve found that I love changing it up with the seasons/holidays. I showed you how I decorated it for fall by creating recycled cardboard letters. Now, I want to show you guys what I made for Thanksgiving!...
After he fished me out, we appraised our situation like the mature adults we are. It was determined, with my full agreement, that I was making too much stuff, and I needed to figure out what to do with this stuff when it’s complete. Something better than “I’ll just set that right here for now” and then leaving it to get buried by piles of mail and library books. I’ve tossed around several ideas: selling them has come to mind, of course, but that involves the added work of photographing them nicely, putting prices on my precious projects, and then setting up an etsy shop, branding it, marketing it, and filling orders as they come in....
Based in London, Barley Massey creates numerous products from recycled materials. The top of my wish list, though, are her shirt and tie cushions. These are such a fun use of old materials and would provide a great talking point for guests. I recently came across relatively new etsy shop prix-prix via design sponge, In addition to making some very sweet notebooks from recycled soda boxes designer, Laura Skelton also produces these one-of-a kind card cases and wallets from vintage neckties, further fueling my vintage tie obsession....
