Creative upcycle and downcycle ideas
I’ve been searching for a unique and well crafted recycled Halloween costume, and I think I found it at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories. Along with a detailed tutorial of making a homemade bat costume, the author includes matching — … Read More ... “Umbrella Bat Costume”
If you know how to crochet and love to recycle, this simple tutorial is a keeper! Escama Studio shows us how to create a cute flower using old soda tabs and crochet thread. Add a pin-back to use as a … Read More ... “Soda Can Tab Flower”
Nancy of Sassafras Creations combines two of her loves — knitting and recycling — to make beautiful jewelry, like this striking pendant. First, she drills into and cuts up the needles by hand, tiny piece by tiny piece, using a … Read More ... “Knitting Needle Jewelry”
If you’re looking for some alternative materials to add to your jewelry projects, I encourage you to take a look at Nicole Noelle Sherman’s new book, Making Designer Jewelry from Hardware, Gems, and Beads. It’s packed with funky designs … Read More ... “Hardware Jewelry Book”
Here are the details on the latest ReadyMade magazine MacGyer Challenge, due September 22. Show ’em your creativity!
MACGYVER CHALLENGE: PRESCRIPTION BOTTLES
Increasingly, stealing a peak into the average American’s medicine cabinet reveals a rainbow galaxy of brightly colored pills … Read More ... “From Empty Prescription Bottles to … ?”
Check out this cute pink-and-lime-green shoulder bag made from a vintage tea towel. It’s offered in She-Su’s Etsy shop, along with a sampling of other wonderful wearables reconstructed from neckties, pillowcases, vintage fabrics and other thrift store finds.
[tags]vintage, … Read More ... “From Tea Towel to Tote”
The Rust-Oleum Project Contest sounds like the perfect challenge for any trash-to-treasure crafter out there. Share a project you’ve done with Rust-Oleum (spray paint), and you could win a $1,000 Home Depot Gift Card and a custom makeover for a … Read More ... “ReadyMade/Rust-Oleum Project Contest”
If you have a Walgreens in your area (in my hometown, there’s one on nearly every corner!), this week you can get a great deal on recycled juice pouch pencil cases. They’re just $2.99 to begin with, and this week … Read More ... “BOGO Juice Pencil Case”
I’ve written about junk mail portrait artist S.A. Schimmel before, but a reader recently reminded me of this fabulous artist. Now it looks like S.A. Schimmel is looking for fresh subject matter for her portraits. Submit striking portraits of … Read More ... “Junk Mail Portrait Artist”
Christine from New Life Artworks creates lovely frames and treasure boxes by combining her love of mosaic with the interesting look and textures of Scrabble pieces, text, molded clay pieces and more. In fact, the photo frame is a conversation … Read More ... “New Life Artworks”
Michelle Stitzlein’s new book, Bottlecap Little Bottlecap, is a how-to arts and crafts booklet for kids that focuses on using plastic bottlecaps from milk jugs, orange juice cartons, water bottles, soda bottles, shampoo bottles and margarine tubs. For both … Read More ... “Bottlecap Little Bottlecap”
This pretty — and very tactile — ribbon is just about as green as you can get. Cream City Ribbon is made from 100-percent biodegradable cotton yarn and comes in a variety of solids and stripes. If you regularly incorporate … Read More ... “Cream City Ribbon”
Mosaic artist Jason Mecier takes macaroni art to the next level. The artist is known for making portraits of the stars with alternative materials, like this Carol Channing work made with junk. Also featured in his art are jelly beans, … Read More ... “Junk (and Macaroni) Portraits”
Sylvia Anderson‘s steampunk ring is a hands-down portable conversation starter. Made with an antique watch movement — including interesting embedded jewels — this particular ring is adjustable to nearly any ring size. While the gears may not help tell … Read More ... “Steampunk Ring”
I love the idea of recycling postage stamps — artwork in miniature — into earrings. The fact that I’m a Frank Lloyd Wright fan doesn’t hurt, either. C.D. Childs offers a number of vintage postage stamp jewelry items, each … Read More ... “Postage Stamp Earrings”
