Earth Friendly Craft Ideas

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I believe that crafters are inherently good stewards of our planet.  We like to make it a prettier place and more often than not, we use items that were destined for a landfill.  In honor of Earth Day, I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite Earth-friendly craft ideas.

Containers

You can find crafty uses for all types of containers.  Before you send something to the trash or even the recycle bin, think about whether or not you can use it for something useful around the house.

• Bottlecap Pincushions.  These are so sweet and would make great gifts for any of your crafty friends.
• Yogurt containers.  If you’re really fancy you can make the lampshade from the link.  They have many other uses.  I’ve used these for on the go snack cups in my diaper bag, plant starter pots, punch a hole in the top of the lid and with a straw it becomes a kids drink cup, or use them to freeze individual portions of food.
• Tin Cans.  These are easy to cover and make into plant pots, office supply holders or a utensil holder.

Materials

• Paper. There are millions of ways to re-use paper.  I make beads out of junk mail. You can cover those yogurt or tin can containers with decorated scrap paper.  Decoupage and paper maiche are other ways to use up and give a second life to some of your paper or newspapers lying around.  
• Fabric. Lately I’ve been using up bits of fabric for appliques. You can use a die cut machine or just cut out shapes with scissors.  There are a lot of ways to reclaim fabric as well.  Thrift stores always have a supply.  You also can look no further than your own linen closet.  Consider cutting up some old sheets and repurposing them into pajamas for the kids or using them as lining in a bag.
• Yarn.  You can use yarn in so many different ways.  A great thing to do is to find old sweaters and either rip them apart to reclaim the yarn, or use them to create something new like these sweater messenger bags.
• Plastic. Did you know you can make your own shrinky dinks out of plastic food containers?

Taking the time to look at the things we use on a daily basis is a good way to celebrate Earth Day every day.

Here are some other Type-a-Mom articles that might interest you:

Fat Quarter Project Ideas

Sock Craft Ideas

Green Your Holiday Traditions

Christy Nelson is the Mom Crafts editor at Type-A Mom and loves to craft and write about it!  You can find her tutorials and monthly craft challenge at christynelson.net.

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