upcycling

Happy Earth Day 2011!  My parents met on the very first Earth Day back in 1970 and the rest is history!   This Earth Day I have decided to share what I am doing with my craft library to lessen my carbon footprint.

I buy, read, and SAVE craft magazines, mainly for knitting but also for sewing and quilting.  Three months ago I cleaned out about 1/3 of my stash and recycled a lot of my magazine. My husband and I believe that recycling is perhaps the easiest thing we can do for the earth and for our daughter Anne.  It is time for me to clean out my craft magazines again in preparation for our move at the end of next month.

At least for the most part they are organized

Except the ones that are just floating around my hous

The first and most fun thing I am going to do is a magazine exchange with my bff.  We will go through the magazines we both own, figure out which ones have patterns or projects we actually PLAN on doing. Those are the magazines that we will keep. The ones that do not have patterns we plan on doing we will trade with each other.

If we run across magazines that neither one of us wants then we will be donating those magazines. Here are some great places to consider donating to: your local library, your local Children’s Museum, local schools, and local art programs.  All of these places usually accept all things having to do with crafting.

Here are some other fun projects that I found on the web that you can do with your magazine stash:

Image Courtesy of: How About Orange

This is a great tutorial I found to turn your old magazines into gift bows, and I actually followed this tutorial to make hair bows for Anne when she turned one!

I made the bow, my bff made the hat and embellished the onesie!

Image Courtesy of: Craftster.org

I think this project is particularly cool because I have seen these little woven purses in boutique stores being sold for anywhere between $20 and $40. Why spend that kind of money when I can make it myself! Check out the tutorial and make good use of your stash!

Image Courtesy of: http://alittlehut.blogspot.com/

This magazine bowl project is awesome and uses half of a magazine according to the tutorial. It is for a magazine bowl that can be used for just about anything that isn’t wet! I love this one because when we move I will have my very own sewing studio and I think a couple of these bowls would really bring some personality in my studio!

Image Courtesy of: How About Orange

These magazine coasters are a quick and easy project that could easily be done with young children (just make sure that an adult is yielding the glue gun!). They are stylish looking and could easily jazz up your coffee table and keep that coffee table safe from cup rings at the same time!

This is an awesome tutorial on how to make paper beads!  This idea has totally fascinated me and while I have not done any jewelry making to this point in my craft life it definitely gives me ideas if I decide to venture into that craft.

And last but not least…Christmas Tree Ornaments!

Image Courtesy of: How About Orange

I thought these ornaments were amazing and I would love to make them myself for our Christmas Tree this year! I think they would also be beautiful strung together as a garland and depending on the color scheme you make them out of you could easily use them to decorate for other occasions as well!

So what are you waiting for?!? Get out your scissor and glue guns and get crafting!!!

How are you celebrating Earth Day? Is it a teachable moment for you and your family?