Although upcycling empty film canisters may soon be a thing of the past, here’s a sweet-and-simple modern take on salt and pepper shakers made from canisters. They’re available from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) store for $35, but — … Read More ...
Dia De Los Muertos Shrine
In honor of Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), grab some inspiration from this handmade used mint tin-turned-shrine by Crafty Chica (Kathy Cano-Murillo). Although the Day of the Dead celebrates the lives of those who are no longer … Read More ...
Crushed Can Art
Artist Charles Kaufman‘s work can be found on the pages of underground comic books and on gallery walls around the world. His colorful cartoonish paintings can also be found on used aluminum soda and beer cans.
“Using acrylic paints … Read More ...
Connect Four Photo Framer
Steven James, owner of macaroni and glitter, created a charming Connect Four Photo Frame and Calendar for Craftster’s monthly challenge of transforming an old board game into something new. (Alas, this wasn’t the winning entry, but it is in … Read More ...
Leg Warmers — for Your Arms
I’m in love with these handcrafted arm warmers, “Armies,” by Gaye Abandon. Made from recycled sweaters, the entire line of Armies gives wearers the mobility they need in their hands without the more-often-than-not ragged look found in fingerless gloves. Plus, … Read More ...
Dr. Seuss Purse
Truly Feminine Notebook
No post-consumer cardboard packaging is off limits for Ivy Lane Designs, home of “crafty-licious, one-of-a-kind, insta-collectibles,” which offers a boat-load of nicely crafted notebooks and journals made from discarded boxes. Most of the notebook covers are made from cereal … Read More ...
127 Sale
Tammy Jones of HGTV.com approached the world-famous Highway 127 Corridor Sale with crafting in mind, and came up with some unique creations.
“The key to yard sale crafting is to try to envision an object’s potential — brightened with a … Read More ...
Altoids Tins (Because You Can’t Get Enough of Them)
I love the fact that there’s an entire category on MAKE magazine’s site that’s dedicated to repurposing Altoids tins. Most of the entries are over-my-head electronics-related, but there are a couple of entries I could actually relate to, including Girl … Read More ...
Repurposed Rolodex
Love to organize? Would you love to become organized? Christy Petterson at getcrafty.com transformed a hand-me-down Rolodex into a craft organizer. She’s especially fond of dyeing fabric and making jewelry, and she finds that she can keep track of tiny … Read More ...
Ruby Re-Usable
Ruby Re-Usable, a.k.a. artist Diane Kurzyna, is the diva of the Olympia Dumpster Divers in Olympia, Wash. She dedicates her life to art and craft made from recycled materials, which she also blogs about. Her website includes a portfolio of … Read More ...
Quoth the Raven
Artist Mark Orr of Scavenger Art repurposes an interesting family of items — billiard balls, shutters, stair balusters, wooden shoe forms and more — into striking one-of-a-kind artworks. Take this “Raven on 8 Ball,” for instance, made of carved and … Read More ...
Tiny Cassette Tape Purses
Check out these microscopic Barbie purses crocheted from cassette tape at MyRecycledBags.com. (And don’t miss the recently posted matching Barbie halter dress and hat.) The creator, Cindy, generally crochets standard sized handbags, totes and other useful objects not … Read More ...
Silver Dollar Ring
MAKE magazine (the older sibling of CRAFT magazine) offers a video podcast on creating a one-of-a-kind hardy hand-crafted ring from an old silver dollar.
Even I (who has zero background in jewelry making or silversmithing) feel as though I could … Read More ...
From Junk Mail to Fine Art
Paper craft extraordinaire Patricia from A Little Hut has created a series of recycled art projects on her blog, including this first in the series of six (so far). For this project, she simply cut junk mail into thin … Read More ...
