I see fat, winged babies in the gift card aisle. I see rows upon rows of pink wrapped chocolates at every store I go to, even if it’s a tire shop. I start seeing ads for “single awareness” parties. This could only mean one thing… Valentine’s Day. With V-day rapidly approaching, and no one forgetting about it, I started to struggle for ideas to give to my husband that are cute and fun while being green and sustainable at the same time. Here are a few of the ideas I came up with, and will pass them along to you! Regardless of if you’re single, partnered, or in one of those “it’s complicated” relationships, these are fun gift ideas that could be used for any day of the year.
Shoes are something that most people have around. There are the pair that lurk in your closet for months and you never wear, and there are shoes that you wear every day and now have big gaping holes. When your shoes reach the end of their lifespan, here is a creative way to reuse the soles of the shoes by making customized rubber stamps.
By Kelly Rand •
July 10, 2008
I think I have an obsession for bulky yarns. Especially yarn that is hand spun and hand dyed with fantastic color ways. I find myself lusting over the most heavy and super bulky yarns in the hottest dog days of summer; a time when I’m supposed to be knitting and thinking only about lightweight yarns and projects so I won’t sweat to death. But when I came across Crafty Yarn, the shop just fed my obsession and I needed to learn more.
Most of Crafty Yarn’s bulky weight yarns are hand spun recycled yarn made from mill ends and scrap fiber. The other available skeins are made from reclaimed sweaters that have been frogged for their yarn. An avid knitter and recycler, Molly Bachelor, owner of Crafty Yarn, was interested in material reuse and doing something that was about the hand made process. She had always loved fiber and working with it so she learned how to spin and started to sell her recycled yarn a little over a year a go.
Finding good quality sweaters is key for Bachelor. Sourcing much of her material from large clearance centers and thrift stores, she is mostly drawn to natural fibers; especially wool. If a synthetic fiber is of particular interest she will buy it and “if it’s cashmere, I’ll grab it,” she said. She searches for fiber by sorting by type then looks to the sweater’s construction since she deconstructs it for reuse. She ends up with only about 5 to 10 percent of what she originally picks out.
