Green Options » upcycling

Fab Fabrics: Recycled Wool Felt from Feltwerker

Becky Striepe — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:45 +0000

Fall is officially here! It’s cool and blustery, and we’ve got cozy fabrics on our minds. What better way to welcome in the lovely changing leaves and chilly weather than with some beautiful recycled felt? Feltwerker, a Chicago fiber artist, offers beautiful recycled wool felt scraps that you can incorporate into your Fall and winter projects!

Review of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse

Wenona Napolitano — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:20:21 +0000

“Artists and crafters have always been recyclers, but for many, it has not only become a thrifty choice, it has become a moral imperative. 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse contains a cutting edge collection of the most inventive work being made with re-used, upcycled, and already existing materials. The work in this book ranges from clever and humble personal accessories to unique and important large-scale works of art, including paper art, fashion, jewelry, housewares, interiors, and installations.”

Read more of this story »

Recycling Plastic Bags… Because Sometimes You Forget the Reusable Ones

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:48:17 +0000

Got a collection of reusable shopping bags? Same here… but I’ll freely admit that sometimes I forget them, or decide to stop to pick things up when I don’t have them with me. You’re probably in the same boat: despite your best efforts to reduce your use of plastic shopping bags, you’ve still got a stash of them somewhere…

So what do you do with them? You definitely want to keep them out of the waste stream, so obvious uses, like lining trash cans or otherwise using them for waste disposal, aren’t the best choices. You’ve got other options, though… and, as you’ll see, your choices for responsible disposal are expanding.

How to Reuse Plastic Bags

If you’re not going to pick up the dog poop with them, or line the bathroom trash can, how can you put those plastic bags to (re)use? Turns out there are quite a few upcycling options…

Make a sweater… or a scarf: You crafty types can turn those bags into yarn… and then knit, crochet or weave with it.

Fuse them into “cloth”: Got an iron and some old paper? You can make cloth-like crafting material out of your bags, also.

Protect and store food: Making a trip to the farmer’s market? Put a few of those plastic bags inside your reusable one to separate and protect the food you buy. You can also use them for storage once you get your produce and baked goods home.

Read more of this story »

Green Crafter Profile: So She Sews

Becky Striepe — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:00:48 +0000

I met Brooke Bennett of So She Sews at the Indie Craft Experience last weekend and fell instantly in love with her designs.

Like a lot of crafters, Brooke grew up in a handmade household. Her mom even ran a crafty business in the 80’s selling handmade “hair poofs.” Mom’s craftiness didn’t stop there! She also made a lot of Brooke’s clothes, including “this crazy pair of poofy overalls” out of old curtains.

Now, Brooke makes clothes, accessories and housewares constructed out of repurposed materials, like vintage fabric and linens, for her own crafty business. She sees vintage and found materials as a way to avoid “contributing to the raw textile industries which aren’t always fair to their workers overseas.”

I’m also totally digging her clutches and pouches made from fused plastic bags that would have been headed for the trash bin. I couldn’t even tell that it was plastic at first glance!

Brooke says she draws her inspiration mainly from the materials she finds and her “love of indie style.” She takes some of her cues from “international street fashion blogs like hel-looks.com.” Put it all together and you get beautiful, unique pieces like this teal and black dress that I’m coveting:

Read more of this story »

Crafty Reuse: Your Guide to Junk Mail Crafts + Art

Becky Striepe — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:00:33 +0000

Rather than toss all those catalogs and offers into the recycle bin, you may as well take advantage of the free craft supplies!

Despite our best efforts to stop marketers from sending us junk mail, the stuff still seems to find its way into our mailbox. We use some of it for things like grocery lists and keeping score when playing Scrabble, but what to do with the rest? Here are some project ideas and junk mail art inspiration.

Read more of this story »

Rhonda’s Recycled Craft Challenge

Becky Striepe — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:30:35 +0000

Rhonda wants you to get your upcycle on for fun and profit!

Her Etsy shop, The Junk Stop is full of awesome recycled goodies, and now Rhonda is hosting a contest to get us upcycling, too. It’s easy to enter, and I can’t wait to see finished projects start rolling in over on the Recycled Craft Challenge Flickr pool. The winner gets a $20 gift certificate to The Junk Stop! Here’s how you enter:

Read more of this story »

Crafting a Green Craft at the Summit of Awesome

Becky Striepe — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:30:25 +0000

The Hello Craft Summit of Awesome was this past weekend, and it was fantastical! The Summit included workshops, demonstrations, and talks about all aspects of crafting and crafty business from planning a show to greening your process. I spoke on the Crafting a Green Craft panel with the amazing Liz Grotyohann and Jeff Fein-Worton of Cosa Verde and Jamie Chan and Blas Herrera from Urban Fauna Studio.

[Green Crafting Panel at the Summit of Awesome. Photo by Christy Petterson]

Inspiration
Liz and Jeff kicked things off with some green crafty eye candy. I was particularly struck by a soap-making company that they talked about: Ethically Engineered. The Chicago soap-maker produces 100% organic vegan soaps using solar-powered equipment. Even their packaging is recycled and biodegradable!

Amazing, right? That’s the sort of crafty practice that I feel like most green crafters are working to achieve. Not everyone is quite to this point yet, but don’t despair! One of the themes that ran through all of the talks on this panel was the idea that you shouldn’t let the fact that you can’t do it all stop you from lowering your crafty impact wherever you can.

Read more of this story »

Fab Fabrics: Bionic Yarn

Becky Striepe — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:30:52 +0000

What do you get when a musician and a textile company get together? It looks like what you get is a plan to bring recycled fabric into the mainstream!

Music producer, singer-songwriter, and rapper Pharrell Williams is teaming up with the New York-based textile firm Bionic Yarn to work on a new fabric made from recycled plastic. Williams started out as a hip hop artist, writing lyrics for folks like Wreckx-N-Effects and going on to produce albums and release his own music. He’s had his own fashion lines before, co-founding Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear. Now, he’s planning to make upcycled fabric a viable option for clothing makers!

Read more of this story »

San Francisco Pillow Fight Party Gone Wrong? Upcycle the Leftover Feathers!

Lucille Chi — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:11:41 +0000

Since a recent Valentine’s Day pillow fight cost the city of San Francisco $20,000, officials have been talking about a crackdown on flash Mobs. We think this pillow party could be transformed into a craft festival the day after, recycling the wasted feathers into magical crafty creations!

Bridal feather headdresses are stunning and the ideal example of how to upcycle feathers. More ideas include:
Read more of this story »

San Francisco Designer Trunk Show at Clary Sage Organics on Fillmore Street

Lucille Chi — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:51:34 +0000

For those of you who live in San Francisco, Clary Sage Organics is having a Mr. Larkin trunk show this weekend!

Mr. Larkin combines organic whimsy gypsy girl draping with careful architectural pattern-making. The line features eco embellishments and upcycled vintage beads and charms from the 30’s and 50’s..

Read on for more details ~

Read more of this story »

Upcycling Inspiration: Stunning Pieces of Found Object Art

Becky Striepe — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:15:30 +0000

Turning trash into treasure is at the heart of Crafting a Green World. A green crafter sees beauty in scrap heaps, recycle bins, and objects on the side of the road. Julie talked just yesterday about making sure you know exactly what you’re working with before you start your project. Even after you’re sure you aren’t about to take a blowtorch to a rare piece of vintage vinyl or antique Colonial silver, sometimes you still need a little inspiration. Here’s a little art assemblage eye candy to get you going!

Read more of this story »

Fab Fabrics: Raid Your Scrap Bin!

Becky Striepe — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0000

As I’ve confessed here before, I can’t stand to throw things away. Sometimes, that causes some storage problems. Other times, though, it means inadvertently collecting an awesome stash of fun fabric scraps! Let’s focus on those times.

Even if you’re careful to only choose organic, sustainable fabric options, there’s a carbon footprint that goes along with any new materials: from production to shipping to your trip to the fabric store, all of that adds up. If you’re not a scrap-saver now, give it a shot! You’ll be surprised at how fast those bits and pieces accumulate, especially if you sew on a regular basis. Not only does sewing with scraps keep that fabric out of the waste stream, it’s super duper fun! Here are a bunch of great projects you can make using those odds and ends.

Read more of this story »

Seven Uses for Empty Cereal Boxes

Becky Striepe — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:00:14 +0000

[Creative Commons photo by Stevan Sheets]

Cereal is the third most popular food product in the U.S.. When you add up all those bowls of Lucky Charms and Cheerios, that equals a whole lot of empty cereal boxes! Rather than send all that perfectly good cardboard to the landfill, try one of these ways to give it a whole new life!

Read more of this story »

Crafty Reuse: Ten Projects for Old Bottle Caps

Becky Striepe — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:38 +0000

[Creative Commons photo by dyanna]

As I’ve confessed before, I’m a hoarder. Right next to that bowl full of used corks is another bowl full of bottle caps. I just can’t bear to pitch them! Also like with the corks, a certain husband has been wondering what in the world I plan to do with all these bottle caps.

Luckily, there are a ton fun projects that I can choose from!

Read more of this story »

Lost Found Art is Looking for Vintage Collections

Lucille Chi — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:02:19 +0000

Do you create and assemble vintage or antique collections that are unusual and artful? If so then meet Lost Found Art: a unique design company that specializes in sculptural installations and assemblages using antique and vintage pieces. LFA may just be interested in acquiring those odd collections (you’ve been thinking of selling) for their unique contemporary art sculptures.

Read more of this story »

Green Crafter Profile: What the Hey is a Hip Bouquet?

Becky Striepe — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:00:19 +0000

Atlanta artist Stephanie-D uses vintage and scrap fabric to construct her beautiful Hip Bouquets

[Nuclear Picnic Hip Bouquet]

“But what’s a hip bouquet?” you ask. Stephanie describes her creation:

Read more of this story »

Rose and Radish in San Francisco Features Cool Spring Crafts in their New Floral Gallery

Lucille Chi — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:04:57 +0000

The Rose and Radish gallery and boutique in San Francisco offers a fresh mix of springtime creativity!

I am inspired by this creative way to upcycle felt with these little tabletop cup cozies. Their goals for showcasing craft designs are admirable and charming:
Read more of this story »

Book Art Ideas I Love from Elle Deco

Lucille Chi — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:44:29 +0000

Are you an avid reader and fan of the literary arts? Have you ever been to a book art opening? Reading Elle Decoration recently, I found this lovely post on the subject.

“Food and Interior Stylist, Paul Lowe of Sweet Paul has been styling a series called The Written Word“. The paper sculpture vases and the picture holder in the pics above show some of Paul’s creative spark.

If your in the mood to create functional upcycled art here is an adorable tutorial on how to make a book table, if you are looking for a stylish book recycling project.

Read more of this story »

Cute and Creative Ways to Reuse Metal

Lucille Chi — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:25:29 +0000

1. Sculpture: Look at this inspiring upcycled artistic re-creation of metal made by artist LadybugCircus on etsy for an interesting wall hanging, clock, or hook.

2. Furniture and Lighting: A light fixture made out of an old shredder, or cheese grater looks cool. Perhaps you are into the steampunk look or modern, recycled metal for cabinets, sliding doors, cabinets on wheels and storage containers all look slick…
Read more of this story »

Green Crafter Profile: My Mom’s Basement

Becky Striepe — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:42:25 +0000

Atlanta crafter Emilee Heath started My Mom’s Basement as an outlet for her and her friend Justin’s zines. When her grandmother, also a crafter, gave Emilee a sewing box full of beautiful vintage buttons, her crafting turned to jewelery.

Read more of this story »