The donation facility likely doesn’t want them. You got a new one with your new eyeglasses, so YOU don’t need them. They’re probably not recyclable and probably made of plastic, so your choices are to toss your old eyeglass case into the waste stream or to upcycle it into something new. I think you know which of those choices I think you should pick! To make it easier on you, check out this list of awesome ways to upcycle eyeglass cases....
Is your jewelry out of control? Get it all together with these 30 DIY jewelry organizer projects! Guys, my jewelry is out. of. control. Since I moved over a month ago, my jewelry has been thrown into a travel bag. It’s messy, it’s tangled, it’s unorganized. This week, though, I’ve shared two DIY jewelry organizer projects to get myself organized — a DIY organizer from a wooden display box and an upcycled DIY jewelry organizer....
Yes, I know you’re SOOOOO excited to plant that watermelon seed that you don’t think you’ll ever forget exactly where and what it is. But you will. I give you until mid-June before you’re looking at it and thinking to yourself, “Squash? Gourd? Watermelon? Bindweed?!?” There are enough surprises in gardening. The location of your plants shouldn’t be one of them. Instead of dealing with an entire summer full of surprises, just make some of these awesome plant markers....
A wool sweater is a versatile craft supply. You can felt it or not, sew it, glue it, overdye it, and more. It has structure, when felted it won’t ravel, it can be waterproofed, and whoever made it in the first place probably already knitted it with a beautiful color and pattern. Get yourself a selection of unwanted wool sweaters from the thrift store or from the closets of indulgent friends, and then check out my massive collection of wool sweater crafts....
Got a sewing project that needs an oomph or a stain or tear you want to cover? They one of these applique techniques! Whether you’re new to sewing or a veteran seamster, you’ve got to love a good old applique. You can use applique to add a cute detail to otherwise plain fabric or to cover up a stain or tear. Applique is simple and fun, and there are lots of different ways that you can incorporate this technique into your sewing...
1. Zipper Lamp Over on Instructables, there is a fantastic project for creating a lamp using zippers. I love how the light shines through when it’s lit, and you can use any color zippers that you like to cast different effects. 2. Hoop Earrings Silver Bug Studio has a tutorial for a simple and pretty pair of zipper hoop earrings. You probably have both of these materials laying around your house, if not, there is never a shortage of discarded hoop earrings at local thrift stores....
In an effort to save money during the remodel of my bathroom, and being somewhat green at the same time, I decided that instead of buying a new bathroom sink and vanity, I would clean up the sink and refinish the vanity. I purchased an over the toilet cabinet in a rich java color that was my inspiration for the vanity color choice. I couldn’t strip and stain the vanity because only the front is real wood and the sides are some kind of thin wood board with a sticker veneer over them....
In part one of the flower basket mini-series I showed you some innovative ways to reuse a watering can, a tin pail or an ice bucket to help give an added touch of detail to your wedding. But there are even more ways to create and reuse containers to make the perfect flower girl basket for your wedding. Thrift Store Baskets With the abundance of baskets available at thrift stores, second hand shops, and yard sales, there is no reason to ever purchase brand new baskets....
Once December rolls around, this sugar is completely infused with vanilla flavor and trust me – it’s delicious. Slap on a bow and it’s ready for gift-giving. How’s that for a Christmas in July craft idea?! Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1 spent vanilla bean Pick and Prep Your Jar My top choice is a 9 oz. olive jar. They’re tall and skinny and make a nice presentation. Plus, you can fit a long vanilla bean inside....
I like Chronicle Books for a lot of reasons, some of them a little random–their e-postcards, their manuscript submission policy, and the awesomeness of their craft and graphic design books. One of the really cool things about the book selection at Chronicle is that so much of it is eco-friendly, and so much of it emphasizes the DIY lifestyle over mass-market consumer culture. Here are some of my favorites:...
My family doesn’t buy a lot of new clothes, but fortunately, my teenager also has the sewing knack. She can walk into any thrift store and come away with all sorts of pieces to transform. These days, we both have a lot of fun thrifting hoodies for her to refashion. We’re always in search of that next favorite! A hoodie makes for an especially good score at the thrift store....
cosa verde has compiled this AMAZING list of reuse centers by state and continent, so you can easily find one that’s closest to you. This list focuses on reuse centers with an arts and crafts bent that are open to the public. But there are notes in the last sections where you can find other reuse centers focused on salvage and architecture. I remember the reuse center my family used to frequent when I was growing up....
Mind you, at my first few craft fairs, I was way too focused on figuring out the big picture to focus on fiddly little details like awesome price tags. More important questions at the time: How do I arrange my booth? How do I display my stuff? How much change should I carry? What kind of shopping bags should I offer? Dealing with the big questions took me some time, but once I felt more comfortable with things like cool displays and awesome signage, my stress was able to shift to the smaller nagging details of a craft fair setup....
Pro-breastfeeding pinback buttons for the local pregnancy support center. Travel-size handmade arts and crafts kits for children caught up in the local court system. A tie-dyed T-shirt quilt for a local school’s fundraising auction. Hats for Haitian newborns. These are a few of the many things that I’ve crafted for charity over the course of my crafty adult life. Especially if you just don’t have donation money to spare, and even if fitting regular volunteer hours into your schedule is a daunting prospect, you can still make a meaningful contribution to the charities and other causes that you hold dear....
Skip Black Friday shopping and buy from local crafters we love! As I’m sure you know already, it’s “Black Friday.” Many people have been shopping for hours now, scouring for the “perfect gift” for their loved ones. While it may be satisfying to find gifts for your family and friends, Black Friday is far from eco-friendly. How can we turn Black Friday green? We can make our own handmade Christmas gifts, or buy local!...
If you’re looking for a fun Halloween craft for kids, or even a craft for a school lesson on bats, we have you covered! From transforming classic Christmas “candles” with toilet paper rolls to toilet paper roll Valentines, it’s no secret that I have a slight obsession with toilet paper roll crafts. Naturally, it was time for me to create a Halloween themed toilet paper roll craft! What You Will Need: 1 toilet paper roll Scissors A black marker or crayon A small piece of recycled white paper....
Wood pallets are one of my all-time favorite craft supplies. Mind you, they’re not convenient. First, you’ve got to source them (we have a local shop that’s given us permission to pick up wood pallets from them whenever we see them on their loading dock–perhaps there’s a store near you that will do the same?). Then, you’ve got to break them down, a labor that requires so much muscle that I sometimes can’t do it myself, even with my demolition saw, and have to get my husband to help me....
Fortunately, silk fabric is very easy to work with, and in some ways easier to paint and dye than cotton is. It’s also well worth playing around with, if you’re comfortable using a protein-based fabric. Silk is a strong natural fiber, with excellent drape and luster. It takes dyes beautifully, and is especially suited to a variety of natural dyes, inks, and other materials. If you enjoy playing with color and fiber, you’re likely to really enjoy experimenting with silk!...
Make your own unique brooch with recycled felt and vintage buttons! DIY fashion projects are so much fun and they help you skip the impact of buying new. Plus, who doesn’t love having accessories that are one of a kind? Thanks to my Grandma, I have quite the button collection, so I used several of them to create this beautiful vintage button brooch! What You Will Need: Recycled felt. You can also felt your own sweater if you don’t have recycled felt....
If you want to be a character from Harry Potter, you need yourself a good Hogwarts robe. I mean, of course! But how to obtain the perfect robe? You could buy a fairly cheap Hogwarts robe in a costume store, but then it would look cheap. You could buy a super-nice, super-expensive one, but then it would be super expensive. There are loads of tutorials for making your own, either from scratch or by altering existing patterns, but if you price out the fabric needed for making a good-looking, reasonably accurate Hogwarts robe yourself, you’ll realize that in that case, you might as well just buy one of those expensive ones, after all (and therefore, how on earth are the people making those robes, even the expensive ones, being paid a living wage?...
