Three {Crafty} Ways to Celebrate Earth Day!

Earth Day originated in 1969 with the growing awareness of environmental issues. Today, it is celebrated worldwide with various events and festivals.

Earth Day should be celebrated everyday. With cheaper product costs, we have become a single-use society. We need to seek the potential of the products we use once.

These three upcycle crafts are perfect for celebrating Earth Day.

Newspaper Basket via Nifty Thrifty Things

 

 Wine Bottle Planters via Recyclart 

Plarn Coaster via Look What I Made

It takes creative thinking to upcycle, but the results are exciting.  

Happy Earth Day!

Unfinished Weave

We all have half-finished projects laying around. Works in progress, as the craft community calls them, can speak to where we are in our lives. Some projects are never finished; they are too complicated, so they packed away and forgotten. Others are waiting for the right moment, the right detail, to be finished. 


You may remember I found the loom at Eaton Community Hospice Thrift Shop. I bought a large bag of loops at Hobby Lobby. I wanted a small project to work on in between larger ones. 

This woven project has been on my loom for over a month, but every spare moment has been devoted to our wedding. I am not sure if it will become a coaster or potholder or trivet, but I know that this project is waiting for the right moment to be finished.

Pew Bow Tutorial

After I saw the price of tulle bows ($7.99 for one bow!), I decided to buy tulle and make them myself.

I made two sizes: large bows to hang on the church pews and small bows to attach to a tulle garland. I based my project on the Pew Bows and a Bow Tutorial from Jill Rule & Co.. 

This project requires a ruler, corkboard (or thick foam), pins and tulle. I recommend T pins; sewing pins bend too easily.

I placed two pins 15 inches (7 inches for the smaller bows) apart. Then I wrapped the tulle around the pins approximately 10 times. 

I cut a piece of tulle about 5 inches long. I wrapped it around the loops and tied a knot.

After I tied the knot, I pulled the loops into fluffy bows. 

The bows were an easy project that only took a couple hours. I recommend this project to the indie and/or frugal bride.

If you liked these tulle pew bows, you will also like the DIY Pom Poms on Once Wed's site.

Fiber Nest Filler

As a crafter working with various fibers, I've accumulated unusable bits of ribbon, string and yarn that I cannot bear to throw away.

I put my fiber scraps and laundry lint in plastic fruit netting, and behold! nesting material for our neighborhood birds! Next time I might use a suet feeder.

Now I don't feel guilty for holding on to useless fibres and the spring birds will have warm nests for their chicks.

Pattern Review: angry t-rex roars' Knitted Kitty

angry t-rex roars' Knitted Kitty pattern is easy, quick and whimsical. The kitty was a St. Valentine's day gift for my boyfriend, who lives in a dorm and can't have pets. I finished it in under three hours. The pattern isn't difficult, and a beginner would only need to know how to knit, decrease and increase. I recommend the pattern as a stash buster; I used scraps of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Yarn I bought at Michael's for $1.00. I used US 6 needles. The kitty is stuffed with cotton balls.

*Cross-posted to the Knitted Kitty discussion on Crafster.org.

Website Review: Craftster

With the anthem "No Tea Cozies Without Irony," Craftster is a forum for hip, rebellious crafters. The forum has approximately 88,300 members to date that "Loves to Make Stuff, Hates Potpourri". The number doesn't reflect crafty, unregistered "lurkers."

Craftster is literally an encyclopedia of diverse crafting ideas. Members share finished crafts, ask advice and get inspiration for their next project. Some finished projects are selected to become featured projects. Members also participate in craft swaps. Although using the forum for selling is forbidden, a section of the forum is designated for promoting crafty shops.

Craftster was started in 2003 by Leah Kramer, a computer programmer who describes herself as a "self-proclaimed craft junkie". Leah lives in Boston, MA; she owns Magpie, a store which features local artists and vintage collectibles. She also helps organize Bazaar Bizarre, a "not-your-granny's" craft fair.

In April 2006, Leah published The Craftster Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts: Fifty Fabulous Projects from the Fifties and Sixties, a full-color collection of fifty craft projects dated from the 1950s and 1960s.

Craftster has been featured by the press, including Time, Jane, Budget Living, San Francisco Chronicle, London Guardian, and Houston Chronicle, and on National Public Radio.

Charity Crafts: Knit/Crochet Blocks

Just inside Michael's door sits a box of blocks. Knit and crocheted in a variety of colors, the blocks wait for one purpose: to become a blanket for someone in need. Michael's Warm Up America! program is the perfect opportunity to do charity work. As an added bonus you get rid of leftover yarn.

The requirements are simple: knit or crochet a 7" x 9" block out of 4-ply acrylic yarn. A full size afghan has forty-nine squares; seven strips of seven. The blocks are joined by volunteers, directed by the Store Event Coordinator.

Other References: Knitting for Charity, Head Huggers