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Who doesn’t love having a spookily-lit Jack-o-lantern shining on their front porch? Well, people who are scared that a lit candle will fall over and burn their house down, for one. People who don’t want to use up batteries on artificial lights, for two. That’s why this solar-lit Jack-o-lantern from Bitz and Giggles is so brilliant. The project involves dismantling an old outdoor solar light (check garage sales or your local Restore to find one), and results in a Jack-o-lantern that charges all day in the sun, and then shines spookily all night on your front porch, without the threat of fire damage and without using batteries....

Here are ten easy ways to get more from your used paper. Shred the paper and turn it into filler for shipping items. Instead of spending money on packing peanuts or bubble wrap, stuff boxes full of shredded paper to pad your package. Create basket filler. If its holiday time or someone you know has a birthday, wedding, or baby shower coming up, you can shred the paper and use it as basket filler....

That’s because whatever you call it, this braiding wheel makes the BEST friendship bracelets! This friendship bracelet maker is eco-friendly and accessible, since it’s made quickly and simply from corrugated cardboard. With just this tool, you can make surprisingly intricate and beautiful woven bracelets. Here’s how! You will need: scrap piece of corrugated cardboard. Shipping boxes are perfect for this! If you don’t have any on hand, check out your local recycling center....

There are several books devoted to softies and plushes, as well as quick and easy tutorials on creating a softie. And don’t forget the plethora of amigurumi. Heck, there’s even a gallery showcasing some of the best plush makers around. With all the craft love for the softie, how can we make them a bit more lovable for the Earth? It’s all in the stuffing. There are a couple of greener options that you can use to stuff your softie with: Been using any of the above products or another eco-friendly option to fill your plush?...

A few months ago, my husband and I cleaned out our linen closet, and holy moly, y’all. It had gotten bad. We couldn’t open the door without a towel avalanche falling on us, and half of those towels were torn or stained. After sorting through and reducing our towel supply by about a third, it’s time to look at some ways to reuse old towels. Here are some ways I’ve reused them in the past and some options that look cool for the next linen closet purge....

We know that the best way to reduce plastic waste is to just use less plastic, but sometimes we end up with a plastic bottle, despite our best efforts. Maybe you were out running errands, got really thirsty, and gave in to the call of bottled lemonade. Or maybe you ran across an empty bottle on a walk. There are also some plastic bottles that are hard to avoid, like the ones that hold laundry detergent....

Crafting a Green World is on the lookout for a writer who is passionate about green crafts and loves sharing DIY know-how! Think you’ve got the stuff? Send us an email with links to three writing samples through the site’s contact page! Do you love Crafting a Green World? Are you a great writer with a passion for creative re-use? We’re interested in recruiting crafters, makers, and re-users with expertise in:...

The grand prize winner created “Literary Lamps” from recycled book pages. Other projects were crafted from scrap wood, spoons and old pieces of furniture. All remade into something fun and funky; a pickle barrel turned into a composter and an old metal fan turned into a lamp. So many fabulous remakes and redos. Want to learn how to make many of the projects in the ReadyMade 100 Project Manual. You can view all the finalists here....

The pandemic, unfortunately, has just made the excessive use of plastic worse, as even those of us who try to avoid single-use plastics now have home stashes of everything from disposable masks and at-home COVID tests to water bottles and disinfecting wipes and pocket-sized bottles of hand sanitizer. The concept of plastic recycling is also more or less a myth, with the recyclability of most numbers being an outright lie, and even the recyclability of the easiest numbers, like #1 and #2, being very limited and with a definite (and short!...

If you live in New York City, you’re in for a treat, because The Craftys will take place there on February 12, at 4pm in Engelman Recital Hall. The Craftys is the awards ceremony that celebrates the best in DIY and craft across the United States. It’s free and open to the public with RSVP. The Craftys awards span categories that range from the traditional, such as knitting, sewing, jewelry making, and baby crafts, to the contemporary, such as duct tape creations or geek crafts....

Need some rainy day activities to beat cabin fever? This is a mix of activities that younger and older toddlers can enjoy. Take a look and see which ones look like the right fit for your busy kid! We have had a lot of blustery days this month here in Atlanta. It’s felt more like spring than winter around here, complete with wind and plenty of rain. Yes, I know....

Start spring off right by raiding your recycling bin and cleaning out your stash, because you’re going to love this list of spring crafts, all made from recycled materials! 1. bottle cap hyacinth prints. The hyacinths won’t be long, but while you bide your time, use a bottle cap to make some artsy ones. 2. button art. You don’t have to know how to sew a stitch to make this adorable spring sign out of buttons....

No plastic Easter eggs! Make that your mantra, and you’ve just banned quite a bit of the toxicity of Easter. Besides, you don’t need plastic Easter eggs, not when there are both beautiful, vegan alternatives to plastic eggs, and beautiful, creative, unusual ways to decorate traditional, edible Easter eggs. Want something to fill with candy? This list has it. Want something extra-fun and unusual to do with yet another carton of hard-boiled eggs?...

Did you have a weekly commitment to Instagram your letterboard in 2020? Do you now, or at any time, have a sign inside your house? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may love to play with words! Word art as a design choice has a bad reputation, but it’s not the word art, itself, that is cheezy–it’s the WORDS! Putting a phrase that everyone has on their walls right that minute on your own wall, as well, isn’t a recipe for longevity....

Lots of people like to create clothing patterns and tutorials for babies, and who can blame them? All those little baby dresses, diaper covers, and bonnets are easy to make, simple to fit, and look stinkin’ adorable on those tiny kiddos. Big kids can be harder to sew for. My two-year-old who was once shaped like a straight little noodle and would wear anything that I put on her is now a nine-year-old with hips and opinions, and anything that I make for her has to have extremely sturdy seams, be easy to patch, and, of course, fit her nine-year-old aesthetic of fashionable wear (which, I’d like to note, is decidedly NOT the mall’s definition of fashionable wear for a nine-year-old)....

marker jump rope: A handmade jump rope is always ideal so that it will be correctly sized to the jumper, but you can’t just cut off a piece of rope and start jumping–you need some heft. These DIY marker jump ropes add the perfect weight to a jump rope; the used marker jump rope from Mommy on a Shoestring uses both the marker bodies and the caps, while the DIY jump rope from Mama’s Little Muse uses only the caps, for a colorful, easy-to-swing skipping rope....

If you’ve read CAGW for a while, you might know that every year since she was four, my younger daughter designs an outfit, I create it from thrifted and discarded clothing and other fabrics, and then she models it on the runway at our town’s annual Trashion/Refashion Show. If you haven’t read CAGW for long enough to know this, then welcome to the madness that is my life! My daughter entitled this year’s design The Phoenix....

Every time I passed it (100 times a day) my heart cried. That might be a little over dramatic, but I had finally had enough. Here’s how you can quickly update your updated cabinets, too! What You Will Need: + An outdated kitchen cabinet insert + Spray paint. Spray paint isn’t the greenest product, so try to purchase low VOC spray paint, if you can. How To Do It: If you rent your home, ask your landlords if it’s okay to spray paint the cabinet inserts....

Though the website has been online since late January 2007, it has gained popularity in the crafty community quickly. With users uploading images of their creations, an sharing tips and tricks via the wiki-style Sewpedia and How-To sections, inspiration is only a mouse click away. Though the images in this entry feature skinny, youthful models, nearly all patterns feature a wide range of sizes. As of late, the website’s official blog has featured a number of user’s pattern customizations for pregnancy....

Want to participate in the cruelty-free craft show? There’s still time to apply! The application deadline is May 14th, so you have just over a week left to get your name in the hat. You can apply to show your stuff for one day or for both. Here some additional deets about what they’re looking for, from the Bust website: Vegan crafts with an eco twist? Honestly, it’s like someone made me a craft market....