Cool Recycling and Salvage Crafts

Mini Greenhouse

Protect your plants with old CD cases

If you've got a few empty CD cases sitting around the house then you can turn them into a mini-greenhouse to protect your plants! A very handy thing to have around, given the flaky weather we've been having recently. It even has a lid you can open on warm days :) There are instructions to follow at Curbly, but to be honest it's pretty straightforward.

Chunky Crayons

Waxing lyrical about waste

This is a lovely idea from Growing People, and a fun way to pass a couple of rainy hours with a little one - turning odds and ends of crayons into chunky new crayons that draw in multi-coloured sguiggles!

Milk Jug Shade

Easy weekend project

If you're looking for a stylish blind then why not try making your own this weekend? This lovely project from Mother Earth News turns empty milk jugs into a surprisingly pretty window dressing.

DIY Scent Diffuser

Turn an old bottle and twigs into a natural scent diffuser

Mother Earth News have got a great weekend project that involves an old bottle and some plant material from the garden - you can turn them into a beautiful reed diffuser and use natural essential oils to gently scent your home.

Recycled picnic set

Sit out in style

I'll have to wait a while before the right weather comes around, but I love this spring picnic set that Bron Marshall has constructed out of recycled cardboard :D

Envelope Accordion Book

Turn envelopes into a handy storage pouck

Here's an idea that might be useful in the New Year, to recycle all those envelopes your holiday cards came in! With a little bit of patience you can turn them into this cool Envelope Accordion Book, which has pockets to store all your stuff! Just follow the instructions over at Paper Source :)

Wine box bug hotel

Turn an old wine crate into a wildlife habitat

Whenever I go into my local wine store I ask whether they have any wooden crates they don't need. So far I haven't been lucky - they either don't have any or they're keeping them for a special display. But if you can get your hands on some then they're endlessly useful around the house and in the garden. Check out this gorgeous bug box - a top notch wildlife habitat - that's been made from a wooden wine box, some lengths of bamboo canes and some wooden offcuts.

Crafty Organization

Recycled Craft Supply Organizers

Those crafty people over at Craftzine.com have come up with a fabulous way to recycle plastic milk bottles into an organization system for your craft supplies. I reckon it would work well for toys and plant labels and all kinds of other things, as well!

Plant Module Filler

Fill your garden modules with ease

Over at Boots and Daisy Roots they've come up with a neat (and recycled) solution to filling your garden modules with soil or compost without making too much of a mess. They've turned a plastic milk bottle into a scoop and funnel that's just the right size for filling modules.

That's just one of the simple ways you can make use of a plastic bottle in the garden. Episode 37 of the Alternative Kitchen Garden Show has twenty more!

The newspaper bag project

Turn newspapers into a bag strong enough to hold your shopping or your lunch, and funky enough to use as a gift bag!

Check out The Newspaper Bag Project for full instructions - all you need is newspaper, a little bit of card, glue and string!

Recycled crate wormery

Make your own worm composter

Worm composters are expensive, but you can make your own out of recycled crates, or anything similar that stacks. Once you have your wormery all you need is composting worms (available mail order, or from bait shops, or dig them out of an existing compost heap) and you can easily recycle all your kitchen waste.

Newspaper basket

Recycle your newspapers into a stunning basket

I love this handmade basket from How About Orange, woven out of strips of newspaper. There's a beribboned version at Craft Stylish, too, which could be used as a cosy pet bed.

Recycled Wall.E

Make your own Wall.E figure out of trash

Wall.E's environmental message about us making too much trash might have been a bit tarnished by the sheer amount of plastic Wall.E merchandise they made to go with the movie, but over at Filth Wizardry they've come up with the perfect solution - make your own Wall.E model out of recycled materials! A great project for the kids this summer.

Brilliant Book Marks

Turn old seed packets - or even junk mail envelopes - into bookmarks

The crafty folk over at Little House in the Suburbs have come up with an awesome way to make sure you never run out of bookmarks!

You can make your own out of seed packets (perfect for marking those useful pages in your favourite gardening books) or junk mail.

You'll never have to dog ear your page corners again....

Cardboard Ottoman

A portable ottoman or side table

I could really use one of these cardboard ottomans in my tv room, so I'll be making one as soon as I can source some suitable tubes!

DIY Snow Globe

Make your own snowy scene

Very topical, considering the weather here in the UK, and something that will only take a few minutes to make and give hours of pleasure - turn an old glass jar into a snow globe! It's a lovely personalized gift, because you choose the scene.

Over at StarWars.com they're making their glitter globes with Star Wars figurines.

DIY: Recycled Glass Chandelier

Glass jars make a beautiful lighting arrangement

Turn recycled glass jars into a holiday chandelier with these instructions from Casa Sugar.

Toilet Roll Forest

Cardboard tube art

There's no shortage of materials available if you want to try your hand at making a Corner Forest artwork for your home - it's made out of toilet roll tubes!

The designer is Yuken Teryua, and you can see more of his work on his website.

Junk Mail Art

Unwanted direct mail becomes a work of art

November 15th is Junk Mail Revenge Day, when people all over the world are being encouraged to return their unwanted direct mail to the advertisers who sent it. Lets see how they like getting a lot of pointless post!

But if you'd rather do something more creative with your junk mail, try out this tutorial for making beautiful junk mail art.

Newspaper Furniture

Chairs made from nothing but newspaper

Via Inhabitat, the very cool furniture that David Stovell is making out of carefully rolled newspaper - something that could be done at home if you have the patience!

Handmade notebooks

Love notebooks? Make your own

Make your own pretty pocket sized notebooks out of scraps of paper, card and paper fasteners, by following the instructions online at espirit cabane.

Keyboard jewellery

Wear an old keyboard with style

Got a tired old keyboard? Turn it into a funky necklace, or some rings. Or maybe you could glue on some little magnets and have some fun with the fridge. Either way, you'll probably have to give those keys a good clean first!

Bottlecap Lampshade

Cap off your recycling efforts with this funky lampshade!

Collect 128 plastic bottle caps to make this ultra-fashionable lampshade for your home. You'll also need some brass wire and a hammer and nail.

Use a low energy lightbulb to protect your creation and also help save the planet!

Recycled jeans rug

Give your cast-offs a new life as a rug

Another easy idea, from This Recycled Life, is to turn your old jeans into a fantastic rug for your home. There's lots of great ideas on this blog, too, including turning your junk mail into envelopes and using recycled fabric to make everlasting flowers.

Recycled cork board

A good excuse to open a bottle of wine

Wine bottles with corks are increasingly hard to find these days, but buying bottles with corks supports the cork growing industry - and the environmentally friendly environment in which cork is grown.

This recycled cork board is a nice way to reuse corks that you've collected. If you're not a big wine drinker then you might need some help collecting enough! It's easy enough to make - simply stick corks to a suitable backing board.

Wine box hedgehog house

Make a winter home for wildlife

Make a winter home for hedgehogs out of a wine crate, or other untreated timber scraps, using these instructions from Gardeners' World magazine.

Plastic bottle decor

Turn empty bottles into a room divider

Michelle Brand strings together the flower-like bottoms of plastic bottles and turns them into designer interior decorations!

Her pieces start at £65, but if you collect enough plastic bottles there's no reason why you can't make your own!

Recycled garden lantern

Brighten up your outside space

Fine Gardening have got step-by-step instructions to turn an old tin/ can into a stunning garden lantern. There's even a demonstration video!