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  Looking for lots of crafts made from recycled materials? You’ve come to the right place. I go beyond soup can pencil holders here. It is all about greening up your crafting and moving toward a more sustainable way of living. This site is full of eco-friendly crafts for children and adults. Making use (re-use really) of otherwise unwanted materials is good for the pocketbook and good for the environment.

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Using a sewing machine, simply sew down the middle of a playing card. When you reach the end of one card, add another. Do not cut the thread; rather keep sewing to form long streamers. I used a deck that was missing a few cards. Why use new cards when you can use an incomplete deck. If you know people with kids, chances are someone has a deck with a card missing.

I used these card streamers for décor at a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party but they can also be used for a Poker party.

I wanted a little more green on the table for my Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Because it was early March, there wasn’t a lot to choose from growing outside. I did however; find moss growing in some spots around my house. So here are the inexpensive yet pretty moss teacups I made.

I used second-hand tea cups. I choose cups from our collection that were the most worn and would be the least likely to be used for drinking tea. I filled them with potting soil then I dug up a circular clump of moss. Moss doesn’t have deep roots like other plants so you don’t have to dig up much soil with the moss. I then arranged the moss on top and watered it. Be careful not to over water. Mist regularly!

So simple and pretty.

I wanted to share an idea I had to use number game tiles on a birthday cake. I can’t remember the name of the game that I got these tiles from. (A friend of Fun In The Making reminded me the game’s name is Rummikub.- Thanks Alicia.) Use tiles to put the age of the birthday person. Next time, I might repaint the numbers another color. I got a game second hand and it was missing some of the pieces so I put what I had to use in other ways. More on that in another post.

Dominos might make an attractive addition to your cake if you don’t have any number tiles. And who says you can’t use the tiles, clean them, and then put them back. It doesn’t have to be from a trash bound game.

When I think winter, I think evergreen trees. Here are some easy to make stylized evergreen trees made out of fabric. They can easily be made by children and given as a charming Christmas gift.

Here are some of the trees done by one of my students from my winter sewing/crafting workshop 2010.

Make the tree stump(s)

Find a tree branch of the desired diameter. Cut tree stumps using a miter saw if you have one.

Keep in mind, if the stumps are too small in diameter, the trees will fall over.

Make the tree top

1. Cut Fabric

Use a plate to mark a circle on your fabric and cut out. Next, cut the circle in half. Each half can make a tree.

2. Sew

Fold the semicircle in half with the good side of the fabric facing in. Use a sewing machine or hand -sew a straight line up the side as shown in the photo. Make your cone wider or narrower by adjusting your sewing line.

3. Turn and Stuff

Cut off the extra fabric. Then, turn the cone right side out and add stuffing.

4. Stitch

Using large stitches sew all the way around the bottom of the cone.

5. Gather

Pull the thread from both ends until the fabric is gathered together and the hole is gone.

6. Tie A knot

Knot the thread.

7. Glue

Add glue to the stump and glue in place.

8. Let Dry

Use a glass or another object to weigh down the tree top until the glue is dry.

9. Done

10. Make More

Make a whole forest of trees!

Don’t you just love these charming can Jack O’ Lanterns? They are great. You don’t have to spend money for these fabulous fall decorations. You keep the cans from beign put in a landfill. You would not be buying something plastic which would also most likely end up in a landfill. You can reuse them year after year. And… You would have a perfect way to greet guests during your next autumn/Halloween party.

How to:

Collect used gallon sized metal paint cans. I saved these cans from when I painted my house. First you have to design the face. Next draw it on your can; I used a crayon. Then you need to make a starter hole in each section you are cutting out. Make a starter hole with a nail and a hammer. The can will have a tendency to cave in at this point so be careful. Once you get a starter hole, you can use utility snips to cut the rest. The smaller metal snips work best for me. You will want to use gloves because the metal edges will be sharp. Keep in mind that simple shapes are easier. If you keep them inside, the cans will stay silver. Over time they will rust, however,  if you leave them out in the rain. I like the way they look when they get rusty. At night you can display them with a tea light inside.

Here I have them lined up along my driveway.

I found an old and ugly fame. It needed to be glued in a few spots but nothing a little Gorilla glue and some clamps couldn’t fix. I gave it a light sanding and used left-over pant from another project to give it a clean look and that’s it.

It feels good to give new life to something unwanted. It’s a pretty cool photo prop now!

By the way, the thrift store is a great place to look for costumes of any sort.

 

Add a little fun to your life by making a winter wonderland in the comfort of your own home.

This snowflake was made from an invoice I received. I’ve been collecting these invoices and instead of sending them to be recycled (which is good too) I saved them to make a blizzard. Invoices work because the little bit of writing on the back isn’t overly noticeable. Also, I try to work with the whitest parts.

Put a few of the snowflakes directly on the wall. Also, you can hang one snowflake under another.

Hang snowflakes at different levels for a more natural snowing affect. I used salvaged fishing wire to hang some of the snowflakes. I have some fishing wire found during beach clean-ups. Parts that aren’t too tangled can be washed and reused.

It’s so lovely to go in that room and look up (or if you are lying on the bed and looking up); it makes you feel like the snow is really falling down all around. I couldn’t capture it in a picture so you’ll have to make it to see for yourself.

How to tips:

Paper snowflakes can be made with scrap paper, invoices, and used printer paper that still has a lot of white left. Have you ever printed stuff from the internet and the last page that prints only has the web address on it?

I save my favorite snowflakes to use again. Store them where they can stay flat such as in an unwanted (salvaged) book. The added benefit is that pressing them in a book flattens them out nicely.

Note: I tried ironing my snowflakes. (That’s not a sentence you see too often.) What I discovered is that some invoices such as from Amazon are printed with a heat printer of some kind; thus, rendering one side of the snowflake black when ironed. Best to test your paper first if ironing.

Here is a chance to make use of the paint buckets from your last home-improvement project. Transform them into playful Trick or Treat pails!

How to:

All you need is some black plastic paint buckets, some scrap paper, scissors, glue and some clever kids.

Try making a ghost, Jack O Lantern, scary or scared face, and even a Frank N Stein head.

Cut out the face(s) from scrap paper if you can. Use full sheets of paper only when you need them. We keep a box of colored paper scrapes leftover from other projects. Glue the pieces on with white glue or use Mod Podge. Next, paint on a layer of Mod Podge or equivalent product to help protect your creation so it can be used year after year.

My daughter liked making these Halloween themed pails with me.

If you’d like, add some text like I did. I provided the file here: just print it out and incorporate it as desired.

Crazy about candy

I found this weathered canning jar lifter and was happily surprised to find that the milk bottles that I saved fit perfectly. Of course I thought of a vase centerpiece. The first time I tried this, I used daisies from my wildflower garden and I liked the look even better.  Regardless of the flowers: charming.

What kind of cake stand do you use at a robot party? Something made from salvaged parts,… something creative…
Every party needs food so I provided our guests with robot fuel; ie cake on this industrial looking cake stand.
I combined three thrift store finds; a silver platter (silver in color, it may be silver plated, it doesn’t matter), a glass cake stand cover that lost its bottom half, and a piece of an old aluminum coffee pot (the part that was used to filter the grinds).
I glued the platter to the coffee pot piece I chose for the stand.
You could substitute anything that is metal or looks metal. Another idea is to use a large tomato can.

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• Got Questions?

  Are you having any trouble understanding some of the instructions? Feel free to send me a quick e-mail at HesterJane@FunInTheMaking.net. I’ll do my best to answer your questions. Do you have any suggestions regarding a specific post? Maybe you have a better way and would like to share it with the other creative people visiting this site? -Hester Jane