Words aren’t the only thing you can create from Scrabble tiles as jessfun23 over at Craftster shows us. She made this set of coasters a few years ago as a gift for her boyfriend. She says coming up with a … Read More...
Bottled Beverage Art
Artist John Bassett takes discarded glass bottles and plates and then slumps and fuses them into colorful abstract works of art for the wall. A true recycling artist, he even uses materials from old window sashes and door frames when … Read More...
Love Bird Mobile
Folk Art South Africa features a number of colorful and inventive recycled crafts, including a line of one-of-a-kind whimsical bird mobiles made from used plastic, ribbon, threads. When perusing other crafts up for sale on the site, be sure to … Read More...
Egg Carton Valentine
Patricia from The Little Hut once again proves that elegant, modern design can come from garbage. I love this Valentine’s Day ensemble made from egg cartons and vibrant red paint. To top it off, she often frames her recycled art, … Read More...
Fine Feathered Friends – Paper Bird
These aren’t your ordinary origami-inspired paper birds. Cotton Bird Designs‘ little beauties are created from colorful vintage storybook pages (shown), the finest vintage fabrics and interesting newsprint. The fact that they’re entirely hand-stitched makes them even more precious. This … Read More...
Junk Mail Portraits
S.A. Schimmel creates striking portraits not with paint but with junk in the form of flyers, mail, greeting cards and colorful ephemera. The artist, who graduated with a degree in psychology and painting, has a diverse art career, ranging from … Read More...
Rubbish Sneak-Peak
I was fortunate to get a sneak-peak at the new book Rubbish! Reuse Your Refuse, by Kate Shoup. This step-by-step project book is the perfect read for dumpster divas, second-hand shoppers and treehuggers. License plates, tin cans, game board … Read More...
Turn a TV Into A Bar
If you, your parents or your grandparents still have a circa 1982 TV console lingering in your home, it might be best to grab some inspiration from AlpineButterfly, who transformed a TV cabinet into a chic bar. Most stunning … Read More...
Upcycled Cardboard Kids Play Kitchen
Proud momma annam42 over at Craftster designed and built her daughter this finely crafted custom kitchen using salvaged cardboard and contact paper. Added touches such as hot and cold water taps, a recessed baking pan sink and a working oven … Read More...
Bottle Cap Beads
Accent your next beading project with Cathy Collison’s bottle cap beads. These shiny hollow beauties, sold individually, are made with lead-free solder and feature nearly 70 of your favorite soda pop and beer varieties, from the common Coke to … Read More...
Upcycled Vintage Record Room Divider
Room dividers can provide privacy as well as transform any space into a cozy space. Stars of the DIY network show “Creative Juice” Cathie Filian and Steve Piacenza created a divine divider by hanging old LPs from chain. Alternatively, the … Read More...
Extraordinary Ephemera
Add this to my wish-list. One Good Bumblebee offers its (best-selling) Pile of Paper, featuring an “intriguing collection of over 50 carefully selected vintage ephemera and papers including greeting cards, antique photographs, postage stamps, illustrations, matchbooks, postcards, medical papers, labels, … Read More...
Ramen Shrimp Baby Booties
I was tickled to find these appropriately named novelty baby booties made by MoJoTrashion at Etsy. The shoes are made from a recycled ramen noodle package covered in flexible, durable vinyl. The inside is lined with baby pink felt. Is … Read More...
Vintage Dictionary Pins
Suzanna Scott of Sushipot Art Objects has a keen eye and penchant for vintage illustrations, typography and — really — anything old. “My inspirations come from…all things old, chipped, cracked, worn, dusty, used, found, buried, designed, loved, pieced, intricate, aged … Read More...
Cassette-Turned-Business Card Holder
Your cassette tapes from the 80s are probably doing nothing more than collecting dust, so why not turn them into something functional again? Wendy Russell, host of “She’s Crafty,” offers this easy tutorial on transforming clear cassette tapes into attractive … Read More...
Fridge Candy Magnets
It’s eye candy — literally — for your fridge. I love the idea of using the colorful packaging from candy and other bite-size food items as refrigerator magnets. Instructions for this and many other innovative ideas can be found at … Read More...
Wanted: Recycled Projects for Book
Here’s your chance to be published. Author-to-be Lynn of GreenHalloween.org is seeking recycled craft project ideas for a forthcoming book. See below for details, including the submission deadline of Jan. 15:
Lynn writes,
“My daughter and I are writing a … Read More...
Bread Bag Choker
Who knew wrapping a bread bag around your neck would be so fashionable? Garbage of Eden Design at Etsy offers some fabulous trash-to-treasure items, including this bread bag choker, which was made by tightly wrapping a colorful bread bag onto … Read More...
Recycled Cardboard Frame
If your family opened gifts these past few weeks, surely you have all the materials lying around to make this simple cardboard frame at kaboose.com. The project calls for corrugated cardboard, white cardboard (found in packaged shirts), a few everyday … Read More...
Green Christmas Greeting
Here’s a modern take on the folded 3-D recycled booklet desktop tree or angel that so many of us have made in years past. These are cut, however, and weren’t made by elementary schoolchildren but rather by London-based design firm … Read More...