I happen to be someone who simply looks at thread and enjoys it on display. This jar is pretty all by itself. But if you would like more ideas on what to do with your scrap thread stash pop on over to the link Agatha sent in to the post at the blog Agy Textile Artist for more recycled thread projects.
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Have you read?
How To Make A Milk Carton Village – A Recycled Craft for Kids
Ready to turn your recycling bin into a colorful, miniature village? Grab those empty milk cartons and let’s create a town filled with tiny houses, shops, and even a school or bakery! This craft is perfect for kids of all ages and encourages imagination, storytelling, and eco-friendly creativity.
What You’ll Need:
Empty milk or juice cartons (washed and dried)
Paints or markers
Paintbrushes
Craft glue or glue stick
Scissors (adult supervision recommended)
Colored paper or old magazines
Bottle caps, buttons, or plastic lids (for windows or decorations)
Sticks, straws, or skewers (for flag poles or chimneys)
Optional: glitter, stickers, washi tape, cotton balls (for snow or clouds!)
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Step 1: Clean and Prep the Cartons
Make sure your milk or juice cartons are washed and completely dry. Remove any plastic lids or caps and keep them for decorations!
Step 2: Plan Your Village
Decide how many buildings you want to make. Each milk carton becomes a house, shop, or whatever your imagination dreams up. Arrange them side by side or in a circle like a real village square.
Step 3: Cut Out Doors and Windows
With the help of an adult, carefully cut small door and window shapes into your cartons. You can also glue cut-out shapes from colored paper if you’d rather not cut into the carton.
Step 4: Paint and Decorate
Use paint or markers to bring your buildings to life. Make brick patterns, colorful siding, or roof tiles. Let each child choose their own theme – rainbow bakery, monster house, fairy home, or tiny fire station!
Step 5: Add the Roofs
You can paint the top pointy part of the carton like a roof, or glue on cardboard triangles to create overhangs. Want to add a chimney? Glue a straw or cardboard roll on top!
Step 6: Make Flags and Signs
Cut small flags from recycled plastic or paper and tape them to straws or sticks. Glue your flags to the rooftops. You can even create tiny signs for each building – “Toy Store,” “Library,” or “Super Cat’s House.”
Step 7: Build Your Village
Place all the finished buildings together on a large piece of cardboard, tray, or table. Use bottle caps for stepping stones, cotton balls for bushes or clouds, and draw roads with marker.
Step 8: Play!
Now that your village is built, use little toys, action figures, or LEGO people to live in your new town. Create stories and adventures—your Milk Carton Village is officially open!
Learning Bonus:
This craft is not just fun—it also teaches recycling, fine motor skills, creative thinking, and storytelling. Plus, it’s a great group activity for playdates, classrooms, or family craft nights.
Let your kids’ imaginations run wild—and remember, no two villages need to look the same. Each one tells its own story!
I save mine for the whole year and in the spring put the pieces out for nesting birds.
To Cindy G. about saving her threads for the year and then putting them out for the birds …. EXCELLENT IDEA! My parents taught my sisters and I to find some way to give back in some way to nature, whether it be composting, or leaving some bread crusts, nuts or carrot slices, etc., out for birds and bunnies and squirrels, and THIS just falls right in along those lines! I am SO HAPPY you posted this idea! THANK YOU ! (and why didn’t I think of that? LOL)
You can use them as “art” in lots of different ways. For example, you can spread them out like a network of “veins” on top of a sheer fabric and cover them with another sheer fabric, put some wash-away stabilizer under all of the layers (to solve the flimsy problem, if you have it), and stitch away with invisible (or any other kind of) thread in the top of your sewing machine to create a new “fabric” that is immune to losing the random threads. That “fabric” could be employed as a pocket, yoke, cuff, applique, etc. for a garment. It could get incorporated into a quilting project. It could get framed for the wall. It could get inserted in the plastic cover sleeve of a 3-ring binder for your craft idea print-outs.
I read in one of Anne MaCaffery’s that a a native group use all kinds of recycled scraps of any fabric to make the covers for quilts. They used & reused all the feathers & down, cleaned shed fur from all the livestock & wild stock. Then quilted it with all sorts thread, yarn, fishing line, old fishing nets, old sweaters,.remnants left from making clothing, & other clothing that was being recycled. It’s what became the fancy patchwork & quilted tops of today. They even used rags in rugs when too worn out to clean
with. You could latchhook a rug using not just yarn, but thread, floss, ribbon, twine, string, shreds from rags, even leftover or recycled macrame, reclaim some old sweaters or blankets. Save the old saddle blankets. These become heirlooms to be handed