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Here’s what that has done to our planet: Obviously, the best solution is to use re-usable cups instead of disposable coffee cups, but if the odd one comes your way, then the next best solution is to upcycle it in such a way that it is removed from the waste stream for as long as possible. Here, then, are a few disposable coffee cup crafts for you. The next time you’re face with that disposable coffee cup, check here before you trash it, and see if there’s a new life that you can give it instead!...

Is holiday stress getting you down? Indulge in a little self care and whip up some soothing bath salts to relax your muscles and help quiet your mind. This bath salts recipe uses epsom salts as the base. Epsom salts are naturally ocurring mineral salts that are great for relaxing sore muscles. They’re also pretty inexpensive and easy to find. We buy them in cardboard boxes at the grocery store in the medicine section – they should be near other muscle pain remedies, like the elastic bandages....

So you can’t make a brown paper bag book cover because you don’t have any brown paper bags? More power to you, my friends! I do have to admit that I have a soft spot for that free kraft paper, amenable to so many crafty uses, but it is by no means the only material available for creating a sturdy temporary cover for your books. We are resourceful, we are recyclers, and we can make ourselves an awesome book cover out of practically anything....

Whether you want to create a brand-new DIY building block set for your kid from scratch, or embellish and personalize a set of blocks that you already own, this is the list for you! 1. Cut a tree branch into blocks. These natural blocks couldn’t be easier to make, and you can do them in all kinds of sizes, from small tree blocks suitable for quiet play to giant blocks that kids can use as stepping stones....

You will need: a pair of jeans; double-fold bias tape (or you can make your own!); cardboard; rotary cutter and mat; sewing machine and thread Your pennant flag template will be an isosceles triangle. You can make your flag template any size you want–my flag template is 8″ at the base and 11.5″ at each of the remaining two sides, and I think it’s a nice size for a flag....

Is your jewelry collection getting a little bit out of hand? Mine, too. What I love about my hanging DIY jewelry storage is that it’s budget friendly and it keeps my jewelry stash off of my dresser or bathroom counter. Hurrah for vertical storage! I found the hanging fruit basket that I used for this project at a garage sale, but you can also hunt for one at a thrift store or other second-hand store....

Make a cute DIY moss terrarium for a handmade holiday gift or as a sweet DIY decor piece of your very own. If you want to have a totally handmade holiday, now is the time to get started. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale! At this point, you’re probably stuck like me trying to sort out what to make for those folks who are just impossible to gift....

It’s never too early to make some holiday crafts like this adorable scrabble ornament! Since I have my own craft booth at a local antique store, it’s already time to prepare Christmas crafts and decor. I’ve shared how to make a Christmas sign with vintage buttons over at Crafting a Green World, and now, I want to share how I made this adorable scrabble ornament! Even if you’re not quite ready for Christmas yet, remember that you can pin this project for later!...

Ever wanted to try making your own DIY solar chargers? Check out these sets of plans for all of your charging needs! We don’t get super techy around here, but we fortunately belong to a blog network that covers a huge array of topics. When Jeff McIntire-Strasburg at Sustainablog shared these seven DIY solar chargers, I knew you guys needed to see them. You can check out the first three below, and head over to Sustainablog for the final four!...

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists! Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be posting about recycled gifts you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale. A bottle of wine makes a great hostess gift for holiday parties, but the wine industry is far from green....

There’s something so satisfying about a quickie project, isn’t there? Even if you’re sewing pro, sometimes it’s nice to just whip something up that’s fast and easy. Check out these easy sewing projects that you can make using reclaimed materials! What are upcycled materials? There’s some confusion out there about what “upcycled” means, so if you’re not sure here’s a good rule of thumb: If you’re using materials that would have otherwise been landfill-bound and making them useful again, that’s upcycling....

Each week of the contest, three mystery items will be announced. These items are the things you must use in your craft. You can also use any combination of other supplies as long as the three mystery items are incorporated into your craft creation. This fun craft challenge takes place on the Michaels Facebook fan page. This is where you’ll find details, the mystery items and where you’ll submit your creation and see what others have submitted....

The LIVE Textile fabric range is quite extensive for an eco-friendly fabric collection. They have broken up their prints into a traditional set and a contemporary set to offer something for everyone. From toiles to damasks and geometrics to organic forms you won’t be dissappointed. LIVE Textiles is a wholesale only business, but fabrics can be purchased by the yard from Near Sea Naturals. On a side note, if you are looking to purchase fabrics wholesale they now offer color customization of some of their contemporary plaids and stripes....

We’ve written about Cloud9 Fabrics here before, so you can imagine that we were pleased as punch to see that they’ve released a brand new line of eco-friendly fabrics. After dealing with some shipping delays, they finally got a (literal) boatload of their new Beyond the Sea fabric on April 22nd. You should be seeing them in stores pretty soon, if you haven’t already. Cloud9’s co-founder Michelle Bencsko (on the left in the photo above) talked a bit about the new line of 100% certified organic cotton:...

You can easily find vintage hoops from eBay or on Etsy. You don’t even need to know how to sew or embroider. All you need is some imagination and you can have stylish hoop art to decorate your walls or to give as gifts. But if you really wanted to learn how to embroider, Martha Stewart has a nice crash course, “How To: Embroidery.” Here are five ways you can use hoops to display your art, crafts and vintage fabrics....

1. Plastic Bag Rug Over on Instructables, there is a great how-to on creating a braided rug using plastic bags. This is a great alternative to creating plastic bag “fabric” and you can make this any size to fit your needs. Next » Denim Scraps Rug 2. Denim Scraps Rug Waistbands, inseams, and hem cuffs are all common leftovers when you reuse jeans in other projects. Put all those pieces to use with this denim scraps rug found on Instructables....

These Heidi & Seek designs are adorable. Her dresses shown above are made from unused factory remnants, and reinvented vintage clothing, but they are reworked into new, creative, and comfortable styles. The designer writes us sharing: “I’m a young mother who designs and sews edgy, one-off women’s clothing from reclaimed materials for my label, Heidi & Seek. I aim to raise awareness and provide an alternative to mass-produced, sweatshop made clothing that pollutes and damages the environment through the use of new resources....

While you grade papers, or wash the dishes, or eat your lunch, or walk home from school at night, you can listen to craft news (the CPSIA, although delayed, is still a big deal), craft opinion (which type of knitting needles are the best?) and interviews with other crafty people (Alicia Paulson has a lot of interesting things to say about the process of writing a craft how-to book). I heart podcasts....

Out of all the items found in my recycle bin, glass bottles are the ones that puzzle me the most. I know that we can make plastic beer rings into beautiful silver necklaces and the bottle caps into pendants and pincushions but what about the bottle itself? Glass is one of those crafts that is very elusive to me. First there is the process of creating it which involves very high temperatures, taking hot molten glass and using tools that, by necessity, keep you at a far distance....

Looking for green craft supplies and getting a little bit bummed that the big box offerings aren’t as eco-friendly as you’d like? Sometimes you have to look in less conventional places! Isn’t it frustrating that supplies like vintage fabric, post-consumer recycled paper, and other green craft supplies don’t take up more shelf space at big box stores like Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, and Walmart? For me, part of green crafting is thinking outside of the box....