Beaded Pen Holder

Crafts, Green Crafting, Home Decor, Projects, Techniques and Mediums No Comments

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

My darling little son recently broke one of my bracelets! Great! Along with the one I broke last month, I was pretty bummed! I hated to toss what remained of the bracelet so I held onto it until today. I am always losing pens, so I decided to make a pen/pencil holder. I think this turned out much better than and cheesy pencil holder I could buy at the local retailers. Additionally, this would be really pretty to throw a tea light candle in it! Bam! It’s multi functional!

What you will need:

Directions:

Using a hot glue gun decorate your mason jar. Be sure to get an idea of what you want it to look like before gluing your décor into place.

I used mine as a pen holder, but I think this would be beautiful with a tea light candle in it as well!

This would be a really great gift idea too!

 

 

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Recycled Army Tank

Crafts, Green Crafting, Kid's Crafts, Seasons, Summer No Comments

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

We eat, breath, and sleep army type stuff in this house. So, when I seen a rather large box in the garage I knew just what to do with it. However, if you don’t have a large box tucked away in your garage, your neighborhood Lowes or Home Depot sells them.

What you will need:

Directions:

Tape the medium box to the large box. Cut off the top. Cut a hole in the large box so that you can fit into it.

Cut a small hole into the medium box and insert the paper roll. Secure it with tape both on the inside and the outside.

Cover with construction paper using school glue to attach. Cut 6 round circles and glue them on the bottom to make wheels. Cut out two rectangles and write US ARMY on them. Glue them on. Make a star for the front and back.

GO PLAY!

 

 

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Seed Packet Matching Game

Crafts, Floral Crafts, Green Crafting, Kid's Crafts, Projects, Seasons, Spring 1 Comment

By Crafts for Learning Contributor, Danielle from the blog Crayonbox Learning.

Recycled crafts can be fun to create as well as educational.  This project is one that the kids can help you with!  There aren’t any set rules as to what types of seed packets you use.  In my example, I have used a packet of vegetable seeds, and 2 flower packets.

Materials needed:

Directions:

1. Gather together recycled seed packets.  Select 5-10 different seed packets that feature a picture on the front.

2. Look through seed catalogs, websites, or ads for pictures of the flowers/content of the seed packets. In my example, you’ll see that I selected a picture of Acorn Squash, Dianthys, and Zinnias. Even though the pictures weren’t exactly the same pictures as my seed packets, they were close enough. 

3. Cut out or print the pictures of the flowers/veggies to match the seed packets.

4. Trim the pictures to fit on the end of a large popsicle stick. Laminate for durability.  (Optional)

5. Count out as many popsicle sticks as you have pictures.  With a permanent ink pen, write the name of the flower/vegetable on one end of the popsicle stick. 

6. Glue the picture at the end of the popsicle stick opposite the writing, and let dry completely.

7. Once the tags are completely dry,  the game is ready to be played.

Variation:    Another variation to this game is to have the children sort vegetables from flowers by sorting into recycled aluminum cans marked with seed packets.

All of the supplies used to create this activity can be purchased from CreateForLess.com.

 

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Hip-Cycling Candle Holders

Crafts, Green Crafting, Home Decor, Painting, Projects, Techniques and Mediums, Trends 1 Comment

By Craft Celebrity Mark Montano, from the blog Mark Montano’s Big Ass Blog.

If you’re like me, it’s tough to toss jars when you’re creative because you know they will come in handy for something! Last year I wrote an article for Hamptons Magazine and thought I’d share with you the project I made especially for them.

YOU’LL NEED:

HERE’S HOW:

1. After your jars are sparkly clean, tightly wrap them with yarn in a crisscross pattern and tape the ends on the underside or the inside so they stay in place. Don’t place the tape on the outside of the jar where you will be painting.

2. Cover an area in newspaper and give the jars 3 light coats of white Krylon spray paint (waiting 5-10 minutes in between coats) and let dry.

3. Remove the yarn and wrap the tops with the bias fabric securing them with a knot. You could also use ribbon for the tops, it’s up to you.

4. Add your tea lights and set your table.

 

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Recycled Robot

Crafts, Green Crafting, Kid's Crafts, Paper Crafts, Projects 1 Comment

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

For this craft you may need to head out to the recycle bin! What I loved most about this is that my son had the opportunity to really put on his creative thinking cap! I sat several boxes, cans, toilet paper rolls, etc… into the center of the table. From there we began constructing out Recycled Robot guy and we had some great laughs in the process!

 What you will need:

  • Recycled Containers (Goldfish, cans, coffee containers, etc…)
  • 2 toilet paper rolls (cans work as well)
  • 2 towel rolls
  • Googly eyes
  • Construction paper
  • Glue
  • Tape
  • Scissors

Directions:

  1. Assemble your robot as pictured or as desired.
  2. Use tape to adhere the toilet paper and towel rolls (legs and arms).
  3. Cut out several strips of constriction paper and crinkle it accordion style.
  4. Glue it on the top.
  5. Glue on the googley eyes.
  6. Cut out a nose and mouth. Glue it on.
  7. Decorate any way you wish!

 

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Seed Bombs

Crafts, Floral Crafts, Green Crafting, Home Decor, Mother's Day, Projects, Seasons, Spring No Comments

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

It’s finally Spring and Earth Day is right around the corner. Introduce the kids to planting, beautifying their surroundings and helping the Earth by making these fun and easy Seed Bombs. We made these Seed Bombs in no time, the worst part is waiting for them to dry before we can share them with our friends and the environment.

The idea has been out there for decades, for gardening when one doesn’t have the time to do the prep work of the soil and of course beautifying the areas of vacancy. These Guerrilla Gardeners have been bombing for years, but all of a sudden the idea is mainstream with Seed Bomb vending machines!  By making these at home you can beautify the land for pennies!

We are going to make ours using air dry clay, potting soil/compost, water and native wild flower seeds. The bee population is in serious danger and without bees, fruits will not be pollinated and we will not have honey – a huge source of healing and sweetness in our home. It is important for us to share this with our daughter and try to help the bees in our area by planting lots of flowers.  But feel free to use veggie seeds, like lettuce and spinach if you want to try a garden without much work.

Supplies:

Air Dry Clay
Potting Soil or Compost – the key is to have clean dirt – so you don’t contaminate any area that you bomb.            
(You can purify dirt from your yard by baking it in the oven.)
Water
Seeds

The recipe is by parts so you can make more or less depending on your ambition.

                3 parts air dry clay
                2 parts potting soil           
                1 part seeds

Start by scooping the air dry clay out and placing it into a mixing bowl, next add the potting soil. Since we are using clay that already has moisture to it, start mixing the two together with your hands. Add water a little bit at a time, really no more than a tablespoon at a time. Too much water will make a runny mess so less is more. If you add too much water try to fix the consistency by adding equal parts of clay and soil. In the end it should be mushy enough to push through your fingers, but hold a ball shape when rolled in your hands.

Once you’ve gotten the mix to this consistency, open the seeds and pour them in. Mix the seeds in really well. Next start making your bombs by rolling little balls in your hands, about the size of marbles. Lay the balls out on a rack to dry. Let them dry completely. I recommend a cloth bag to store them in, that way if there is any moisture left the Bombs will be able to continue to dry out and they will not mold.

Now, what do you do with them? Go out into the world, find a vacant lot and bombs away! These are also great for people who don’t really have the time to garden. The potting soil gives the seeds a good base to root to and the clay will hold in moisture. The rain does most of the work. We are going to use them on our property where it is too hard to dig and tend to the garden like a steep sloping  hillside.

Here is a note on seed choice: Choose wisely. Look for native seeds to your area. One of the packs of wildflowers we found are annuals for our area. These are the Seed Bombs that we are going to give as gifts to our friends. These plants are not invasive and will not come back, they will be there for one season and not cause problems for the future. For ourselves we are using a mix of annual and perennial  wildflowers because we know we want the hillside to be covered year after year.

Go out and Beautify our Planet!!!

 

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Fabric Stamping Tutorial

Crafts, Green Crafting, Guest Bloggers, Painting, Projects, Techniques and Mediums, Trends 4 Comments

By Guest Blogger Jenny, from the blog a bird in the hand.

Here is a tutorial for creating and using your own fabric stamp. The fabric stamp I made was carved out of an eraser. The only supplies you’ll need are an eraser, craft knife and fabric paint. I used an owl charm to help create my design, you can use a stencil or free-hand a drawing to stamp.

Start with an eraser. I chose to cut the stamp in half since I was making a smaller stamp.

Sketch out your design with a pencil. I traced an owl charm on mine. I kept it fairly basic so that it would be easy to carve.

Using whatever knife or carving tools you have, start cutting away at the eraser. I found it easy to slice down around the design and then into the side of the eraser.

Continue working until you have cut out the whole design. Now start stamping! Do a few practice ones on paper to start. I chose to stamp on some fabric bags I had on hand but it was challenging to stamp on the uneven surface.

 You can leave it like that or do what I did next and trace around your design. I wanted to add details and let the whole piece pop a bit more.

 

 

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