Crafting a Green World

A Review of Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything into High-Style Handbags

Wenona Napolitano — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:05:34 +0000

A woman’s handbag is an extension of herself. It shows off her style, her personality and her ability to coordinate the perfect bag with her outfit. Many of us can’t really afford to have a bag for every outfit or mood but with a little craftiness and the help of this new book…maybe we can.

Refashioned Bags: Upcycle Anything into High-Style Handbags is a new book that shows us how to turn almost anything into a fun, funky and fabulous handbags.

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FaveCrafts.com Full of Green Holiday Inspiration

Wenona Napolitano — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:03:12 +0000

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.

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Handmade Holidays: Felted Acorn Ornaments

Becky Striepe — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:32 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

If you want to have a totally handmade holiday, now is the time to get started. Over the next couple of months, we’ll be posting about recycled gifts and giftwrap you can make yourself and great handmade finds for sale!

I just love ornaments! Not only do they look lovely on the tree, they make great little stocking stuffers. In this video, Kim Buchheit of Wildly Wooly shows us how to make acorn ornaments out of felted wool and real acorn caps! You could also use them as pendants, like in the photo above, by just stringing them onto a cord or some hemp and adding a simple clasp.

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Fab Fabrics: Organic Cotton Screenprinted by Showpony

Becky Striepe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:00:14 +0000

I am totally falling in love with these nature-inspired prints from UK fabric designer Showpony!

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Quilting for Climate Change Awareness

Kelly Rand — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:31 +0000

Quilting for Peace is the latest in craft books by Katherine Bell. In the pages you’ll find stories and inspiration of organizations as well as people using sewing and quilting to help make the world a better place.

The book covers giving to deserving charities as well as using quilts as an activist tool. There are patterns and projects to replicate those the organizations make as well as where to donate your creation if you so choose.

From veterans to kids, Quilting for Peace covers a wide range of issues in which sewing has brought people together for a cause. We asked Katherine to stop by talk a bit about her book and quilting from an environmental perspective.

The following is written by Katherine:

Quilts can change people’s minds and alter the course of history. That was the idea behind 19th century quilts promoting prohibition and abolition, the 1,293,300-square-foot, 54-ton AIDS Memorial Quilt, and The Ribbon, a project that wrapped the Pentagon and Hiroshima’s Atomic Bomb Dome in miles of quilts to protest the nuclear arms race. Now a new generation is using patchwork to call attention to an existential threat – this time it’s climate change. Here are three ways you can join them.

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Tutorial: Small-Space Vintage Wallpaper Collage

Julie Finn — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:14:30 +0000

At an Upcycle Exchange event a couple of months ago, I scored the awesomest vintage wallpaper swatchbook ever. I have loads of vintage upholstery swatchbooks that I craft with probably every day, so I was super-stoked to receive a wallpaper swatchbook.

Until I actually tried to work with it. After totally thrashing the cutting mat for my Cricut, I realized that the wallpaper in this particular swatchbook was waaaaay too brittle to do most of the wallpaper craft projects that I’d had in mind.

And of course, there’s no point in actually wallpapering with any of the hundred or so 20″x20″ samples.

Or is there? Imagine a huge number of wallpaper swatches, all in complementary colors and patterns. Are you imagining what I’m imagining?

You betcha! Decoupage!

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Handmade Holidays: Recycled Felt Journal Cozy

Becky Striepe — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:51 +0000

The weather is getting colder, and we have a handmade holiday on our minds! Handmade gifts have heart, are better for the environment, and, if you opt to buy, it supports independent artists!

Really, it was like kismet. My girlfriend’s birthday brunch was on Sunday, and on Saturday my booth at the Cabbagetown Chomp and Stomp was right next to the lovely Lightdaughter Press. Since my friend is back in school, I picked up one of their journals printed with “Today you will be happier than a bird with a french fry” printed on the cover. To make the gift extra special, I decided to make her a little cozy to keep it in along with her favorite pen. I just love that her gift is a combination of a purchased handmade item and something handmade by me!

Want to make your very own journal cozy? Here’s how!

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Fab Fabrics: Indian Summer Collection from Betz White

Becky Striepe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:41 +0000

Did you dig her Family Cottage collection? Get ready to fall for Betz White’s new Indian Summer line of eco fabrics!

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Handmade Holidays: Scrap Wood Snowmen

Wenona Napolitano — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:26:10 +0000

Do you woodwork? Chances are you have a box of leftover odds and ends of wood that can be turned into something cute for the holidays.

My husband has a huge box of wood pieces that he throws leftovers into after he’s done making a project. These pieces can range from tiny little scraps to half a two by four. But for some reason he had a bunch of pieces that were all about the same size left over from making something and we came up with these cute little snowmen.

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Handmade Holidays: Stockings Made from Scrap Fabric

Wenona Napolitano — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:20:11 +0000

Holiday stockings don’t need to be made from plush furry fabric or rich red velvet. They can be made from any fabric you like that reflects your style, eclectic tastes, or interior decor.

A long time ago I worked for a furniture store. One day they were clearing out all the sample fabric swatches and books that had been discontinued. And what were they going to do with it all?

Toss it in the dumpster. Stacks and stacks of rich, fancy, and fabulous pieces of fabric. All to the trash. I just couldn’t let it happen.

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