Recycling and re-purposing items are a great way to give a new lease of life to objects that would otherwise be disposed of and potentially end up taking space in landfill. This helps to save money while providing a wide range of interesting and unusual craft materials. Reusing items also helps to save the energy that would otherwise be consumed in the creation of new products.
Easy Green Crafting Ideas
Here are some ideas for projects that are easy to undertake at home with the minimum of special materials and experience.
Clothes and Fabrics
Many clothes and fabrics can be recycled and re purposed. Clothes can be adapted to make other garments whereas textiles of all kinds are perfect for making soft toys, small accessories, bags and purses and other items. Odds and ends of fabric left over from projects are ideal for making fabric flowers and items of jewellery.
Paper and cardboard
Many types of paper and cardboard can be recycled in crafting projects. Old greeting cards are easy to cut down to make gift tags. Wrapping paper and other attractive decorative paper can be used to embellish craft projects such as handmade cards or scrap booking pages. Cardboard boxes are both a useful supply of cardboard as well as providing a cheap alternative to shop-bought plastic storage boxes.
Glass jars and bottles
Jars and bottles are easy to recycle to make attractive vases, food containers or household accessories. Unusual shaped jars and bottles make striking items when decorated with glass paint, covered with natural items such as pebbles or shells or simply covered with paper.
Wool and yarn
Many woollen items and garments can be recycled. Pure wool items can quickly be turned into felt by putting them into a washing machine on a hot setting. Other knitted garments and other items can be unpicked. The yarn can then be used in knitting or crochet projects. When unravelling yarn for use in other projects it is best to wrap the yarn into skeins and to carefully wash this before winding into balls. This will clean the yarn as well as help to remove any kinks.
Metal cans
Food and drink cans can be cut down with care to provide thin sheets of metal that can be used in crafting projects. Punch holes in cans and tins to make interesting candle holders which are ideal for outdoor parties and barbecues.
Useful Green Crafting Equipment and Supplies
There are a few items that will be useful in many green crafting projects:
- Decorative hole punch – a decorative hole punch is useful for punching shapes from paper and cards.
- Craft scissors – a good pair of craft scissors will be used in most green crafting projects. General craft scissors are more versatile than craft-specific scissors. Fancy or decorative edge scissors are useful for creating attractive edges on paper. This can be a quick and effective way to make gift tags and other embellishments from old greeting cards.
- Glue – all-purpose glue is useful for many crafting projects. Specialist glues, for instance fabric glue, may be required for specific or specialised projects.
Green crafting can be an interesting and fun way to recycle and re purpose items. With such a wide range of different items available that are suitable for recycling in crafts, the range of opportunities to explore different crafting projects while also helping the environment is exciting.
