Green Options » Craftster

DIY Gardening: Make Your Own Earth Box

Becky Striepe — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:00:25 +0000

Container gardening is a great way to grow your own veggies, even in a limited space. We’ve looked at making an upside down tomato planter. Now let’s make use of that patio or back porch’s floor space with a home made Earth Box! Not only does this contraption let you grow a bunch of veggies and herbs in a small space, it’s self-watering! Once you start to get sprouts, you just have to add a bit of water from time to time to replenish the reservoir if you don’t get any rain!

Craftster is My Master: All Hail to Their Many Recycled Crafts Projects

Julie Finn — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:50:04 +0000

I’ve gone on and on about Craftster swaps before, but I haven’t yet loved on Craftster itself–Craftster the community of like-minded and helpful friends, Craftster the DIY resource, Craftster the organizer of the swaps that I love, Craftster so full of inspiration for my own work and admiration for the beautiful work of others…

Ahem. Um…I really like Craftster?

In my own challenges to work only within the boundaries of my ethical beliefs (I really do follow my green crafting manifesto), I find Craftster to be one of my best guides. Crafting from primarily recycled materials doesn’t often make working to a pattern or specific tutorial easy, but Craftster, with its indie spirit and overarching environmental ethic, provides a lot of both abstract and direct inspiration.

Here are some of my favorite of their projects, all utilizing primarily recycled components:

Do You Swap? You Oughta!

Julie Finn — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:24:34 +0000

When my babies looked in their felted wool stockings on Christmas morning, among the assorted wonders they found crocheted play food and handmade matching beaded bracelets—made not by me, because I don’t crochet or bead, but by my Christmas in July Stashbuster Swap partner.

Do you swap? You oughta.

A swap is a theme-based exchange of handmade goods between crafters. You sign up, get assigned a partner, learn a little about each other, then both do your best to craft things to send that your partner will really like and that will fit the theme of the swap.