Posts

The craftivism group New Life for Old Bags transforms plarn into sleeping mats for the homeless in Chicago. When my friend Gwynedd shared this article that she wrote for Chicago Reader, I knew that you guys needed to hear about this ongoing craftivism project. Ruth Werstler at New Life for Old Bags works with Chicago-area volunteers to crochet sleeping mats for the homeless out of plarn. What I love about this project is that it hits every aspect of craftivism for me: using reclaimed materials to make a difference and raise awareness....

It’s no problem to find crafts for kids to do. It’s no problem to find crafts to do for kids. Crafts that you can do along with your kids, however? Collaborative crafts that work well even when one participant is young and one is old? Projects that an adult doesn’t have be bored by or bossy about, that a kid can contribute meaningfully to, that they’ll both enjoy just as well?...

Does your family always ask, “Where are my keys?” Mine does. So I wanted to make a little tray for my husband so that he can use it to throw in his keys, wallet, phone, and his change, as soon as he walks in the door. And since I still have some burlap scrap leftover from my myriad of burlap projects this year, I thought a burlap fabric tray was a great way to use up the medium sized pieces....

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and if you’re planning to make any gifts or decorations yourself, this weekend is the time to get crafty. Here are some DIY Valentine’s Day ideas to get you started! I know, not everyone is into Valentine’s Day, but I kind of love it. Who says you need a significant other to celebrate? Tell your friends you love them. Tell you family. I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a chance to spread love around to everyone in your life....

There are many ways that you can take the pages from a Page A Day calendar and make them into a notepad. I took a hole punch and made a hole in the upper left corner. Once I had holes made I threaded a scrap piece of ribbon through to tie it all together. I loosely tied the ribbon so that I could add more pages as I go through my calendar....

I admit, I actually thought it was waaaay too early to pull out my creepy-craft list. But then I saw Halloween candy at the grocery store. And then I saw Halloween decor being stocked at some of the big box stores too. So I guess I’m actually a little late to the game? Either way, if you make one or two DIY ghosts a week from now until October, you should have plenty to make an entire DIY Halloween garland....

Halloween is so much fun. It’s a lot of fun to celebrate and there’s no stressful present buying involved. It’s just fun and games. And crafts! Lots and lots of crafts. Searching the web, I found a lot more great green Halloween crafts that you can do with your kids. Like this cute dryer vent pumpkin. I have an old vent tube in my basement left over from when we replaced the hoses and vent....

I didn’t win. But here is a chance to try and redeem myself: Intructables along with Discover Magazine have teamed up to bring the Green Science Fair for a Better Planet contest. By testing out a “green” hypothesis you could win some great prizes. Enter an eco-friendly project, test and compare “green” products, repurpose old parts, or just show how to live a more greener life. Prizes range from a GPS system, hand-crank radio, MP3 players, and t-shirts, stickers and books....

Jenny Lee-Katz was born in Wales, has worked all over the world and now lives in Pennsylvania where she operates her studio called Jenny Lee-Katz Designs. Many of her designs are inspired by the Welsh coast line. Her designs were originally screen printed, but Jenny was always concerned by the ink wasted in that process. The advent of digitally printed fabric gave her peace of mind with no dye wasted during printing and she could continue to print on demand, which also minimizes waste....

Michael Miller Fabrics is co-sponsoring a Baby Bootie contest with Craft Magazine. I would love to see a green crafter win this with organic or recycled materials. I do suspect there’s some kind of craft hive mind episode going on here, because I’ve planned to write about their organic fabric line this week – and just last week, Autumn posted here at Crafting A Green World about recycled handmade shoes....

Eco-fi Felt (formerly known as Eco-spun) is a polyester felt made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. It takes 10 plastic bottles to make 1 pound of Eco-fi fiber. As a frame of reference it takes 17 bottles to make enough fiber for a sweatshirt. When you buy and use Eco-fi Felt you can feel relieved that you kept a bunch of plastic bottles out of the landfill and minimized depletion of natural resources....

Mailbox Planters by Nest Full of Eggs Rachel at Nest Full of Eggs shares a picture of these adorable mailbox planters from a home tour! I love the rustic and vintage look that old mailboxes can bring to a porch or patio. Plus, this is such a cool way to show off all of your little potted plants! Start looking for mailboxes at thrift stores, garage sales, and even in the trash....

Gift cards are the PERFECT holiday prezzie, in my opinion. But what do you do with all that plastic once the balance is used up? Lots of places say they’ll recycle them for you. But I’ve seen way too many retailers toss them into the trash – right in front of me! So I don’t trust the whole “recycle” song and dance. The best I can do is work them into a craft project....

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! When my pal Jes from Cupcake Punk posted about making her own apple butter, I just new this was the perfect holiday food gift! We’re all about mason jars full of tasty treats around the holidays, and you know we’re into canning around here, so this seemed just perfect!...

Hung at your front door, a dried apple wreath represents the vitality of life throughout your entire house. Hung in your study, a dried apple wreath, when the apple slices are cut to reveal their natural star, bequeaths wisdom. Hung in your bedroom, a dried apple wreath is intended to give sexy thoughts to those who love there. Hung with meaning, or just as an autumn centerpiece, a dried apple wreath is simple to make–and it uses up your surplus apples!...

If your kid wants to set up a lemonade stand or hold a car wash, your first impulse is to buy some poster board and fat Sharpies and let them make themselves some signs. Forget the posterboard! Here’s how to make a re-usable chalkboard sign for your kid’s next lemonade stand or car wash. If you spend a little more time, however, and make a good-sized chalkboard sign, then not only will you save some trees, but you won’t have to scrounge for poster board ever again!...

Like the look (and smell!) of those cute hanging car air fresheners? Here’s how to make a car air freshener, one that has no toxic ingredients, that can be any shape and color that you want, and that emits your absolute favorite scent for your driving pleasure. The secret to this project is wool felt. Wool felt is a little thicker and stiffer than recycled plastic felt, which means that it will hold a simple shape well without curling when it’s hung....

Fortunately, that type of cloche is as easy to come by as the wine bottle at your elbow! This is a super quick and easy project, if you’ve got the right supplies. You will need: empty wine bottle. Feel free to experiment with sizes here, upgrading to growlers or gallon jugs to make larger cloches–a gallon jug cloche is large enough to also shield food from pesky pests. permanent marker and measuring tools....

My first ideas were significantly overengineered, based mostly on the Fandom in Stitches bookcase quilt blocks. I even went as far as to check out a bunch of books from the library, determined to teach myself Foundation Paper Piecing to make the quilt happen. Fortunately, though, I also started noodling around with my fabric scraps, and I figured out that I could use fabric strips to make a pretty darn convincing shelf full of books....

Check out how to sew cloth napkins that fit nicely into my children’s packed lunches. And, as a bonus, I sew my napkins with a double thickness, so that they have extra absorbency for mopping up spills…not that your kids are messy, of course. Out of all of my mom friends with kids who attend schools, I don’t know any of them who have their children buy the school lunch....