Green Options

Are you looking for more ideas to make the holidays handmade this year? Drop by FaveCrafts.com.

There’s a great article Go Green This Christmas full of ideas and links to fun Christmas crafts that would make great gifts. Make sure to check out the list of 34 green Christmas crafts.

Stampington and Company launched a new magazine on August 1st.

GreenCraft is their ode to all things green, recycled, upcycled and more.

In the premier issue you’ll find over 50 stylish and sustainable projects to inspire you.

Ever time I pick up a new eco-craft book I am so amazed at the creativity I find inside and I swear I like each new one even more than the last, though every book I have found has fun, new ways to take old things and recycle or more accurately upcycle them into fabulous new items.

Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, And Found Materials is full of cute, whimsical and super adorable crafts that kids, especially little girls, are going to love.

I just came across a craft site I had not been to before- FaveCrafts.com. It’s pretty great for a free site full of crafty ideas, how-to’s and step by step tutorials.

Learn more about FaveCrafts.com after the jump.

The Green Crafter: 52 Eco Friendly Projects for Every Week of the Year is a cute book by Richela Fabian Morgan.

In the book you’ll find a bunch of cute eco-craft projects for adults and kids. You’ll find detailed directions for fun projects like sock monkeys, very awesome paper dolls, garden butterflies, paper flowers, rock animals, ghosts on a string, photo ball ornaments, and keepsake boxes…just to name a few of my favorites.

The Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts ( Leisure Arts #4802) is a collection of fun and fabulous crafts made from all kinds of trashy, upcycled products.

I see quite a few old favorites in this Leisure Arts publication from other Leisure Arts books including the Trash to Treasure books.

I also see a few new crafts and one that I am thrilled to have found the instructions for.

Soap boxes (from bath size bars of soap) can easily be transformed into fun little gift boxes. These soap boxes are small and cute and can easily be made by anyone, even the youngest children. They can be customized for any occasion.

Kids can easily decorate them with stickers, scraps of old wrapping paper, cutouts from old greeting cards, foam shapes or anything on hand in the craft box.

The boxes can be decorated in so many ways and are the perfect size for gift cards. Stuff the box full of tissue and slide the gift card in, that way the receiver still gets to open a gift not just a card. Plus the hand decorated box makes it so much more personal.

My family goes through a lot of yogurt, mainly my toddler. He’s on this thing where just about all he eats is yogurt and he’s picky about it. Wants it straight from the little containers not in a regular old bowl. So we end up with a lot of yogurt cups which aren’t accepted for recycling at the local drop off site.

So I have come up with easy and fun ways to use the yogurt cups for crafts with my kids.

Do you like to make things for people who like to make things or would you rather just give them things that they can use to make things? Or, are you Julie’s mom? Either way, check out these affordable eco-friendly craft supplies that would make great gifts…maybe even to yourself!

Have you checked out the indie craft show circuit lately? It has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years. There is definitely a trend toward eco-friendliness and charitable initiatives, but with a signature grass roots flair.

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.

We are pretty sure this contest is right up our readers’ alley! Do you find yourself perusing through your local big-box during the holidays and getting a little worked up about all the cheap plastic junk they have on the shelves just for the sake of temporary decorations? Here is your chance to show ‘em what stuff like that should really be made of.