CPSIA Legislation May Put Crafters Out of Business 

The CPSIA(Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008) states that even a simple wooden toy maker will be required to have a third-party lead test every different variation of marionette he makes, costing upwards of $2000 a pop. While well intentioned in the wake of numerous recalls of imported products for lead and toxic chemical content,  CPSIA ignores the financial constraints and mostly excellent track records of domestic toy manufacturers. It means that as of February 10th, 2009, if you offer for sale any items marketed to, or for use by children under age 12 that have not gone through an expensive beaurucratic rigmarole, then my friend, you are a criminal.  

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At the Giant Dwarf Make and Take Trunk Show on Saturday in Philadelphia, PA, Sue Eggen will be sewing her gorgeous hats from recycled materials. She is inviting attendees to customize their item, and will whip it up for them, right there on the spot. This is a fantastic way to not only demonstrate a craft, but let the consumer witness part of the fabrication process.

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Image courtesy of boxercab on Flickr

It’s chock full of eco-project goodness, and what green crafting smorgasbord would be complete without a signature rant by yours truly? Even former CAGW head writer, Victoria Everman, has contributed a list of web resources. Click here for an exclusive preview!

If you are interested in finding out more about the concepts in my article, be sure to check out the Make Like a Tree series I wrote for Etsy.

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Where do we go from here?

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or 250 Aluminum Can Granny Square Tote Bags…

or 1000 Aluminum Can Maracas for your kids, because music can help fill the void in your financially depleted soul…

or you could smelt all of it into molds to make mod lawn furniture.

The possibilities are endless. Bottoms up, my crafty friends!

Image courtesy of sandossu

The first part of this equation poses many obstacles. For instance, enough cash to order all the marketing materials I need printed on recycled cardstock with soy based ink from a company across the country (because no one does that locally) and offsetting the carbon emissions it takes to ship them to me. But that’s just the beginning. I’m truly starting to understand the woes of the organizers of this year’s Democratic National Convention, even if they had $70 million to work with. Pfft… pocket change in terms of going uber-green.

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Netflix Origami has over a dozen different well illustrated examples of folded critters, containers, and more. Thinking ahead to the holidays, many would make great substitutions for bows on small presents. The cube and heart would be cute tree ornaments too!

If any of you get Blockbuster instead, I’m wondering if those flaps work for this as well? Experiment and let us know in comments.

That’s not exactly what I had in mind for the focus of this post though. Protests are a great example of craftivism that easily tips the scale to activism. After all, you can’t buy “Fuck the War” signs at Wal-Mart.

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The thing about crafters is that we acquire our stashes with creative intentions. Sometimes it can be hard to let that go. I still see promise at the back of the craft closet. Projects I used to be excited about are getting stale though.

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At least I have a say as to what goes in their lunches. I’m planning on buying Sigg bottles and adorable handmade snack sacks by gnomeclothes, but due to the back-to-school bank account drain, it’s going to be bags of chips and juice pouches till the next paycheck.

You know the old saying: When life give you Capri Sun Lemonade, sew zipper pouches! Check out this great tutorial for a recycled juice pouch pencil bag on Skip to my Lou.

First, came the disappointing news from some of our former and potential sponsors that such contributions had been stricken from their budget. Then, I started hearing the various woes of crafters. They couldn’t afford to travel here due to gas prices. They had to go back to working “real” jobs full-time. Their small businesses were no longer financially sustainable. Disheartening as that is, a silver lining is unmistakable.

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DigNSwap.com aims to be a catalyst for online clothing, shoe, and accessory trading. You simply upload photos of stuff you want to swap, and indicate a few attributes such as size, color, brand and condition. Then, you “dig” through what others have to offer using convenient category and tag based searching. When you find something you like, you can bid on it with items in your stash. If your bid is accepted, then you ship the items to each other. Pretty neat, right?

This site recently launched its beta release, and tapped CAGW to help get the ball rolling with participation. That means YOU can be among the first people to help build an online community that facilitates revamping fashion rather than trashing it. For those not familiar, “Beta” websites are, for the most part, fully functioning, but may have some bugs that need working out. Most site administrators encourage visitors to disclose glitches or issues with functionality during this period with hopes that tweaking will culminate an ideal end-user experience.

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Kelly recently showed us some great examples of glass bottles turned useful again, and here is another project to add to the list. You will need: a glass bottle with an opening that would fit a standard cork, Heavy gauge wire and cutters, and a purchased stopper for a hummingbird feeder. You can find these on pottery supply sites such as Aftosa, and occasionally at specialty garden shops. Thoroughly wash out the bottle. Then, wrap the wire around it so that it will hang upside down or at an angle in the location you will be placing it. Fill it with nectar, cork and hang! Here are some simple instructions for mixing nectar from Hummingbirds.net. They stress not to add red dye, as it may be dangerous for the birds to consume:

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Al Gore has been all over the airwaves recently proposing a challenge for America to eradicate the use of fossil fuels by 2018.  I’m picking up what he’s putting down. It’s like dealing with that friend who’s always late by telling them to meet you 15 minutes earlier than when you plan to arrive.

Alternative energy is the top priority of the environmental agenda, and rightly so. It slightly dwarfs the significance of making snow globes out of baby food jars. However, after we all start driving electric cars and installing affordable solar panels on our roofs, more intense focus will turn to how stuff is made, and I think green crafting is worthy of a slide or two on Mr. Gore’s next Power Point presentation. That is, if we can get his attention.

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Mary Jane’s Farm, a publication of Mary Jane Butters, appears to be Martha Stewart Living for organic farm girls, or those of us who wish they were organic farm girls. Usually, I have a big problem with putting one person’s name and image all over things that were the combined effort of many talented people. However, my distaste of personified brands was trumped by aesthetically charming, recycled pages awash with useful content, and the company’s dedication to recycling and alternative energy usage.

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