Recycled Crafts

Creative DIY Projects That Turn Trash Into Treasure

Valentine’s Day decorations of red branches and heart blocks

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Paint and painting is my “go-to” medium this year. So for each holiday I am going to be painting my new decor elements. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner so I thought I’d spray paint some recycled branches with Testors gloss red to make a large-scale arrangement and play with all sorts of painting techniques on scrap wood blocks using the heart and all things Valentine as my theme.

I highly recommend working on lots of different surfaces as each one holds no stress and you can just play with each one. Here is a list of the different painting elements:

Stencil

Dots

Drybrush

Arrows

Key hole

Cupcake

Letters (x and o)

Checks

Stripes

Stamping heart with recycled TP tube

Glowing

Starburst rays

Corner studs

squiggles

running stitch (dashes)

I used regular colors of Testors Paint along with metallic and Glitter. The more the merrier!

Thank you to Testors.com for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

I cut my wood square chunks from scraps of leftover 2×4’s but you could use anything.

I punched the stencils out of regular sticky back paper.

Here are some of my scrap wood blocks in progress with some of the paper stencils still on. As you can see I used the inside pieces and outside. I just kept playing until each block had several colors, patterns and elements. After I liked all my backgrounds I stenciled half of them with x’s and half with o’s.

For my red branch bouquet I simply went out to the yard and trimmed my camellia tree of a few dead branches.

Then a few coats of Testors Red gloss spray paint rotating the branches in between each so they would be covered evenly I placed them in a large glass vase.

So whether you grab branches from your yard, wood from your scrap bin or buy something from the store put your Valentine touch on it with a bit of paint and spread the love!

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Recycled Paper Cylinder Face Art – A Colorful Win for All Ages

I recently stumbled across this super creative project on Instructables – “Face With Recycled Paper Cylinders” – and I had to share it with you all because it’s just the kind of craft that checks all my favorite boxes: recycled materials, hands-on creativity, and fun for literally any age.

The idea is simple but genius—roll strips of recycled paper (think junk mail, old magazines, leftover printer paper) into cylinders, then arrange and glue them to form a unique abstract face. You can make it funky, realistic, Picasso-inspired—whatever your mood or style dictates!

What I really love is the blend of eco-conscious crafting with true artistic expression. This isn’t just another kids’ project—it’s something you could easily do with a group of little ones, a classroom full of teens, or even as an adult art therapy or weekend wind-down activity. It’s super relaxing and surprisingly satisfying seeing all those paper rolls come together to form something new and expressive.

The tutorial itself is easy to follow, with plenty of visuals to guide you along the way. You don’t need any fancy materials—just glue, paper, scissors, and a board or piece of cardboard to serve as your canvas.

I also appreciate how this project leaves so much room for personalization. Want to make it into a full face? Go for it. Prefer to focus on a single eye or mouth? Totally works. You can even play with color schemes by choosing papers with a certain palette, or painting over them once they’re rolled.

In short: this is a total keeper for anyone who loves crafting with purpose. It’s the kind of project that sparks creativity while gently reinforcing the idea that beautiful things can come from what we usually throw away.

Highly recommend giving it a go—solo or with a group. And if you try it, tag me or drop a pic—I’d love to see your recycled masterpiece!