Recyclers Anonymous: Creative Recycled Projects on a Budget

Paper Bag Gift Bags

2010-06-16T19:14:00.000-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous fabulous idea we wanted to share with you ... this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

This was a little more complicated than we expected, but once you figure it out, it's not difficult at all.
Things you need:
2 pages Newspaper
Jute or Ribbon
Stapler
Index card
scissors
Plastic bag (optional)
Pen

Start by stapling the open end of the folded newspaper, approximately one inch apart all the way across.

Fold about an inch down and then flip it back over on the other side and fold it back in the same crease. Then go to the other side and do the same thing. Tuck in the sides and make flat as in picture below.

Staple along bottom of bag. Then do the same folding technique on the bottom of the bag. Reshape bottom to create bag form.

Cut the index card in half and put two holes in them with a pen. Then put index card inside the bag near the top and make small holes in bag to match holes on card. Put jute through holes and tie on the inside.

And there you go, a gift bag out of an old newspaper. We are using these for our Father's Day gift bags, did you notice it says Mother's Day on it...

Simple Greenhouse or potted plants

2010-06-15T21:36:00.000-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous fabulous idea we wanted to share with you ... this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

Using an old Food Container and an old butter dish we created a little herb garden.
Materials:

Old food conatiners
Seeds
Screwdriver or something to poke holes

First thing that you do is to poke holes in the bottom of the container that you will be planting your plants in. The reason for this is when you water it you don't want to drown your plants so the water needs a way to get out of the container.

Then if you want to make a greenhouse you need to also poke holes in the top of the container top. Also if you want to make a greenhouse you need to make sure that the top is clear and see through so that the sun can get through.

After you have the holes you just put the soil in, and plant the seeds. It is as easy as that and is a great way to get rid of old food containers.

Burlap Type Sack into Shopping Sack

2010-06-14T06:03:00.001-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous fabulous idea we wanted to share with you ... this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

This is an original today.

Earlier this month Lindsey mentioned a friend of mine had let us go through some of his stuff and we came back with some treasures. This is one of them. He works with farmers and received these sacks, similar to burlap sacks, but made of nylon material. So we transformed them into a shopping sack.This was pretty easy.

The few things you need:
Burlap type sack or potato sack or vegetable sack (the sack used was about 1 1/2 wide and 2 1/2 feet tall)
Electrical tape
Scissors
Jute robe or ribbon

Before we started we washed this bag in the washer with detergent and bleach to make sure it had any yuckiness out of the bag. We let it dry in the garage overnight.

Start by turning the bag inside out. Fold over the top into a few layers. Cut six pieces of jute or ribbon.

Braid the jute into two handles. Cut a small hole to put the handles through. We didn't cut through the front of the bag, only through the layers. Work the handles in through the holes then tape them down and the layers down. We added a little hoop at the end, just in case we wanted to use it as a shopping bag to hang it while loading groceries.

Turn the bag right side and there you go. We also folded and rolled it up. This allows us to carry it more easily in either the car or pocket book. Create your own.

Distressed T

2010-06-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous fabulous idea we wanted to share with you ... this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

I came to this idea because I wanted to make a tie-dye shirt with some yellow dye I had purchased at the store. I didn't let it dye for long enough so it came out distressed looking, and I thought it still looked really cool. Also this season all kinds of T-shirts are in season, and this is an easy way to make a recycled one that is cheap.

Materials:
T-shirt ( I used a mens undershirt, which we usually have around our house because my brothers grow out of them)

A box of Dye
Twisty Ties

First thing that you do is to mix up the dye, and to do that you just needs to read the directions on the box.

This is what my yellow dye looked liked when I mixed it up.

Then you use the twisty ties to tie around the shirt in all different areas. When I tied on the twisty ties there was no rhyme or reason, I just tied them on wherever i felt.

Then you dip the shirt in the yellow dye.

And mix it around with a spoon, for a minute or so. I did not do my shirt for very long because I wanted a pale yellow.

Then you take the shirt out and rinse it, the box will tell the instructions of what to do though.

Then you take off the twisty ties, and see your end result. I washed and dried my shirt, and then it was ready to wear.

Jazz up Flip-Flops

2010-06-10T09:06:00.000-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous fabulous idea we wanted to share with you ... this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

I know that everyone has those plastic flip flops that you can buy almost anywhere. I have a pair in my closet for when I go to the pool or when I need shower shoes. Lets face it they are just not the cutest sandals out there. Well with some imagination and some supplies you can defiantly make them cute.

Materials:
Extra fabric

Old Flip-flops
Glue gun
Scissors
Optional: Beads, jute other items that can be used to decorate sandals.

When we decided to make these we both just used our imagination, and maybe others that we had seen as inspiration. We didn't want to make the same ones so we put all of our supplies on the table and got creative. The girl that I was babysitting decided to tie fabric scraps around the straps of her sandals. This is really easy all you do is double knots with the strips, its really easy and fast, and there is no glue involved unless you choose to put beads in the middle.

The sandals that I decided to make were a little harder to make, but not by much. I choose to glue fabric around the straps of the sandals.

When putting the fabric on the thongs make sure that you put the fabric on in a way that it is evenly distributed on both sides of the strap.

When you start to fold under the strap you have to make sure that you fold under the fabric so there are not raw edges. This makes it so that you do not have the frayed edges when the fabric starts to unravel.

Then on mine I lined the brown fabric with jute just to give it a little bit extra detail. Then you have a cute new pair of sandals!

In a Clutch Hobo Bag

2010-06-09T06:31:00.000-04:00

Recyclers-Anonymous has a fabulous idea that we wanted to share with you ...

this project may be an original or borrowed idea.

In a Clutch Hobo Bag

Let us start by saying Happy Birthday Mom and Yaya (both the same person). We love you!

This idea came from an older crafting project we saw done with a scarf, but we changed it up just a bit.

This is the cutest and easiest bag you will ever make in just a few minutes.

Supplies:

Fabric, a piece of square fabric or square scarf (approximately three feet wide is what we used)

Tie each corner at least six inches down in a knot.

It looks like a turtle. Now tie two of those ends together in a knot. And adjust it so it is a cute bag. Beautiful, easy and fast!

Try this with an old wrap around skirt or some scrap material, even a light weight table cloth.

These bags in this picture are made of scrap material. You could have a new bag every day.

T-Shirt Necklace

2010-06-08T09:25:00.000-04:00

This idea was one that was found on the internet, but it is a great way to get rid of those old t-shirts that are not wanted anymore.

Materials:
T-shirt
Scissors

First step in this project is to cut around the bottom of the shirt. You should cut a circle about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. Make sure that when you are cutting that you are cutting a circle because that is what makes it a necklace, do not just cut strips of fabric that are not connected.

The picture above is about what your piece of fabric should look like once you have cut it.

The next thing you do once you have cut the desired amount of circles is to stretch them. When you stretch the fabric it makes it into a tube like structure that looks more finished.

Then after you have done this to all of your strips you put them together and be creative. There are many different ways that you can mix and match these strips. You can even pick different color shirts to mix with or add accessories.

Savvy Scarf Holder

2010-06-07T00:02:00.001-04:00

This idea came from my friend, Ange'. She saw the paper ring trash can and thought this might be a good project, so we tried it.

Here is what you need:

Magazine or sales flyer
Glue stick
Trashbag twisties

Make circles out of magazine pages - rip out and fold long ways, and fold, and fold and fold - then glue together to make a circle with a glue stick.

Make approximately 25circles. You can add more or less, depending on how big you want to make it. Attach each circle with the twisties. Secure on each side of circle. We went down six rows, three on one row and four on the next.

This is the finished project. We hung approximately nine or ten scarves on the holder. I went back in and secured the hoops a little bit with a few more tacks It works great.

Cute Jar Lanterns

2010-06-06T08:20:00.002-04:00

Thanks to one of Mom's friends from work, we obtained a lot of new recycled stuff for today's project, and more to come. He gave us a ton of things that we could pick and choose from so we were very excited. For the first project we chose to use an old pasta sauce container to make a candle votive lantern. Here is a picture of the final product we had hanging on our porch.With the flash of the camera it is hard to see that they are lit but they are.

Here is another picture without the flash, so that you can see them glowing.

Materials:
Recycled Clean Pasta Jar Containers
Votive Candle
A Recycled Cable Wire that you do not use anymore
Wire Clippers
Utility Knife
Pebbles, Rocks, Marbles, Shells, or anything that can be put at the bottom of the holder

The first step in this project is to separate the copper wires inside of the old cable. How we did this was we used the utility knife to cut a little slit in the white plastic until we saw that colorful copper wires underneath. We then pulled them away from the white and they come loose pretty easily. This part is defiantly not for kids because of the big razor or knife that is used.

Now when you open up the cable you notice that there are usually different colors of wire underneath. We had four different colors and they were green, brown, orange, and purple. For our two lanterns we used the orange, brown, and purple. To measure how much of the wire that you need, you should wrap the wire around the top of your jar at least four times. This will ensure that you have enough to make it secure and make your loops to hang it with. You will also need about one and a half separate wraps of either the same color or a different one in order to make the hanger.

The next step is to wrap as tightly as you can the wire around the mouth of the jar. We wrapped it around 3 times, and then made sure it was tight, because you don't want your jar falling.

After you have it wrapped you then, make loops like shown above. Make two that are on opposite sides of one another. Make Sure that if you lift your jar up by the loops that they are balanced because if they are not the jar will lean.

After the two loops are finished you then will make a little hanger to go into your two loops, to hang the jars up with. Use the one and a half extra wire that you cut to make the hanger.

After that fill with the stones, pebbles or whatever you got to go on the bottom, put the candle in and Voila a cute Votive candle holder!

By the way the box in the back is all of our new recycled materials for crafts in the future, YEA!!!!

Bucket Garden

2010-06-05T09:40:00.000-04:00

This is our version of a mini garden. We call it the Bucket Garden. It has been about a month since we planted these and they have grown to this size. We have green tomatoes now and it looks like the peppers will be sprouting soon. Here's what you need to start:

Buckets (old paint bucket or drywall bucket)
Spray paint
Soil
Rocks
Seeds or starter plants

Start by cleaning bucket and drilling three holes in the bottom of the bucket for drainage. Spray paint buckets. We added some decorative flowers to the buckets too.

Add rocks to bottom for drainage then soil.

These are the tomato plants, picture taken this morning, We should be eating them in the next week or so. The peppers will take a few more weeks. We did have a deer incident where there was some missing leaves one day, so we moved them all to the driveway and leave a light on at night and the deers don't seem to come so close to the house on the driveway.

Create your own Bucket Garden and enjoy those fresh veggies!

Easy Button Kit

2010-06-04T11:44:00.000-04:00

The idea for this one came from an online search that I did. This project is not only for seamstresses, it is also for everyday people who sew on buttons. It is a great gift and also a good way to get rid of extra canning jars.
Materials:
Old Sock

Glue Gun
Scrap fabric
Canning Jar (any Size)
Scissors
Construction Paper

The first step in this incredibly easy project is to trace the lid circle on the construction paper, and cut out the circle. This piece of paper will be used to cover up the raw edges of the fabric after it is glued to the lid.

The old sock is what we used as the batting for the top, so that pins would stick into it. I cut enough sock so that is would give a little bit of cushion. I did not use the entire sock when I did this.

The next thing I did was to put the fabric around the sock and the lid and to glue it on. I cut off the excess fabric so that it was not bulky on the underside of the lid. After the fabric is glued on top of the sock and the lid, you then put the piece of construction paper underneath to cover up the raw edges.

Then you fill the jar with buttons, put pins and needles on the top and screw back on the jar.

Finished Product!!!

The Swirly Twirly Coasters

2010-06-03T08:42:00.000-04:00

On day three of our projects we decided to do another magazine project, with the same kinda feel as the trashcan. We also found this one on the internet and since we already had all of our magazines out it worked out great. It is the Swirly Twirly Coasters pictured here at the right.

This projects starts out about the same as the last project.
Materials:
Magazines
Glue Gun
A Border for the Coasters such as Jute or Ribbon

The fist thing that you do in making your coaster is to start folding the paper like you did for the trashcan. Make sure when you are picking out pages from your magazines that you pick out the most colorful ones, it makes for a more interesting coaster. Also you can color coordinate if that is desired, just pick out some of the same color magazines pages to fold. The only difference is once you have folded the paper you do not make big circles with it. After you have some pages folded you then start to make a coil.

As you coil glue the magazine together with a glue gun. When you use the glue gun though make sure that you do not do big spots because it will leave hole in your coaster. Make sure that the glue is smooth and even when it is dispersed.

When your coiling has reached the desired size for your coasters, you then will wrap whatever you have chosen as the border around it. We choose jute to wrap around ours.

After that you are finished and now you can enjoy wonderful beverages without having to worry about rings on your table. Also you got rid out some magazines and made something cool out of them to boot!

Recycled Paper Trash Can

2010-06-02T13:52:00.000-04:00

Day two of our summer adventure begins with a fun and pretty easy recycling project made out of just a few items. We'll start out with a few pictures of the project. We hope you can get the full effect by the photos:

Only a few items were used to create this fun and creative garbage can. We found the idea on the internet and modified it to simplify the project. These are the things that we used:

Plastic lid of a coffee can
Old Magazine
Hot glue gun
Glue stick

Tear off sheets from an old magazine, no cutting, just rip it from seam (don't worry if it's not even, it will still work). Find colorful pages, it will make it even more original.

Then fold pages in half, long ways, fold and fold and fold again, pressing down at each fold to make smooth edges.

We did this while we were sitting watching t.v. or talking to family, that way the time went by faster. Then we took a glue stick and made a circle out about 35 folded pages, glued the edges inside of each other. We then took about 6 prepared pages and cut them in half and made smaller circles.

Next comes the fun part, assembly! At the bottom of this project is a coffee lid, glue circles around the lid with a hot glue gun. We did the bottom of the circles first, then glued the sides of the circles to each other. Then went to the next level and continued up until we got the shape that we wanted.

At the top, when we felt it was tall enough, we added half circles to finish it off. We then put a recycled grocery bag it in and set in the bathroom. It is perfect for our small half bathroom.

Try this out. It really wasn't difficult and didn't take long at all. You could make it into a bowl, make the circles smaller, we may try that at a later date as another project. This turned out to be a fun and attractive project.

Day One of Recycled Projects Begin!

2010-06-01T09:06:00.000-04:00

Hello Blogging world, today is the first day of our great recycled adventure. We hope that everyone is having a great day. As our first project we decided that it had to be something that was easy and quick, because we all know that we don't have all day to be crafting. We chose what we like to call FRAMERINGS!!! Our recycled items that we used for the day are an old frame, and scrap fabric.
This idea came about because my mom would keep all of her earrings in a drawer in her nightstand. She could never find a match when she was rushing out of the house to go to work. So I decided to make something that was attractive that she could keep on top of her nightstand, displaying her earrings, and this is what I came up with.

Supplies: Old Picture Frame
Scrap Fabric, old shirt, or recycled pillow case (the size to fit the glass of the frame)
Glue Gun
Ribbon
Scissors

The first step is to take the glass out of the frame. Then you place the fabric around the edges of the glass and cut the amount of fabric that you need to cover the glass.

Next thing that you do is glue the fabric to the glass. Make sure that it is tight around the glass.

After the fabric is glued all the way around the glass, you then measure the ribbon to make sure that it fits across the glass. I do 3 rows of ribbon because some of our earrings are longer than others.

After the 3 ribbons are glued onto the glass, then put it back into the frame, and put the back on the frame.

Then you have a FRAMEARING to put your earrings on.

It is a really easy recycled project that is cute to boot. Have fun!!

(The top picture is the first frame I made, its not the same one as the one I worked on in the project.)

Welcome to our blog...

2010-05-26T21:37:00.003-04:00

Beginning June 1, 2010, Lindsey and I are going to start daily projects of recycled goods. We intend to recreate and reuse products, hopefully some good ideas that you can recreate too.