Trend: Go Green!

photo by Heather Holbrook

One of the hottest trends in crafting right now is going green. More and more companies are working hard at becoming environmentally friendly.

Close To My Heart recently reported how they are becoming a more green company. All of their papers are SFI (Sustainable Forest Initiative) certified, this means that the pulp used comes from sustainable forests and that every process used to create it from harvesting to the final product is environmentally friendly. And that the process to make their clear stamps uses soap and water soluble chemicals for clean up to avoid harming the environment. Visit their website to find a consultant near you. The card shown here is one I made using Close To My Heart papers and their fun set called ”Treetops” which is available from their new Summer Catalog and Idea Book.

photo by Die Cuts with a View

Die Cuts with a View has got an adorable new paper stack called The Green Stack as well as chipboard that are made from 70% recycled paper.

photo by K & Co

K & Co has recently released their Remake line printed with soy based inks and made from 100% post consumer waste.

photo by Unity Stamps

Show your support for the environment by stamping with Unity Stamps cool Eco Chic set.

The July/August issue of Papercrafts magazine is devoted entirely to being green, it’s got loads of great ideas for crafting green, it’s on newstands now.

And of course check out all the fantastic ideas posted on our Recycled Crafts blog right here on CraftGossip!

-Heather

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

Have you read?