Cool Recycling and Salvage Crafts

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Cool recycling turns trash into treasure

Today's focus on the environment means that more people are getting into recycling. But with a bit of imagination you can make beautiful and unique products out of your waste.

'Upcycle' bits and pieces of garbage into decorative items for your home, jewellery, new clothes or even items for the garden.

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.

Salvaged Serving Tray 

Serve up a storm on this gorgeous recycled cupboard door

I love this beautiful serving tray, made from a salvaged cupboard door by Craftynest. Follow the link for a detailed tutorial, and you could have your own special serving trays before Christmas!

One of these would make an awesome gift for someone who loves breakfast in bed, don't you think?

Homemade garden toolbelt 

Make a garden toolbelt from an old satchel

A garden toolbelt is a really useful thing to have - it means you don't leave your tools lying around and lose them in the garden, or keep having to dash back to the shed to collect something you've forgotten.

I made this one myself by recycling a messenger bag which had fallen to bits. The pockets were still intact, so I cut off the back (it's vinyl, so no hemming required!), unpicked the strap and turned it into a belt - combining the two plastic strap holders made a lovely simple buckle and a spare scrap of strap made a chunky belt loop.

Minimal sewing, did the whole thing in an afternoon. It's wipe clean and even has a 'secret' zip pocket on the inside!

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.

Semiprecious Salvage 

Creating Found Art Jewelry

Semiprecious Salvage: Creating Found Art Jewelry

Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 07/10/2009)Buy Now

"Semiprecious Salvage shows readers how to think beyond the techniques taught in traditional beading and jewelry books in order to create found art jewelry. Mixed-media applications like sewing, plasterwork and altering found objects tie together to create jewelry pieces such as brooches, pendants, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and belts. In addition to thought-provoking stories on the origination of some of the found items, Stephanie provides the reader with practical jewelry-making techniques that they can incorporate into their own inspired pieces. A simple, organic approach gives the reader limitless ideas for crafting their own jewelry as well as ideas for locating found items whether it be on a nature walk, one's travels or in the comforts of home."

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!

How to make plarn 

Knit or crochet with yarn made from plastic bags

How to make Plarn!

A quick little tutorial on making "plarn" - plastic yarn made from grocery bags. You can crochet or knit with it to make environmentally responsible upcycled trashion items. Woohoo! Visit http://www.aephemera.net to check out the blog that this video is to be featured in.

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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!

Tetrapak Coin Purse 

Save your pennies!

Espirit Cabane have come up with another set of crafty recycling ideas, including this awesome coin purse, which is really easy to make.

Chopstick soap dish 

Saving your soap

Fed up with mushy soap? Worried that those disposable chopsticks are harming the planet? Kill two birds with one stone and make your used chopsticks into a cool and eco-friendly soap dish.

Holiday craft projects 

Projects for Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays

Countdown calendar
Make yourself an advent calendar for Christmas (or a countdown calendar for Thanksgiving, the Winter Solstice, Chanukah or any other holiday) out of cardboard toilet roll tubes. Tutorial from maya*made.
Newspaper bunting
Make your own decorations for any holiday, out of newspaper, using the tutorial and templates from maya*made

Previously featured projects 

Odd ideas don't die, they just fade away

How to make flower pot creatures
Turn old flowerpots into garden friends
Recycling washing machine drums
How to recycle a washing machine drum into a metallic drum pouffe. A wheeled ottoman which can be used as a stool or toy chest.
T-Shirt Underwear
Give old t-shirts a new lease of life by turning them into underwear!
Recycle Lamp-shade - Video
Recycle an old book into an amazing lamp-shade.

esprit cabane magazine 

the magazine of crafty and green living ideas

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Thrifty Fun 

Recycled craft projects from Thrifty Fun

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Sign my guestbook! 

If you've seen a cool recycling idea, let us know :)

momof7 wrote...

Seeing the recycled blue jean rug reminds me of a blue jean quilt a friend made for daughter. Delightfully heavy and rugged, it's her favorite bedspread. Good job on the lens. Lots of thoughtful ideas.

ReplyPosted July 04, 2009

Wysiwigs wrote...

What a wonderful collection of crafts; I'm definitely going to try that coin purse! Very nicely done :o)

ReplyPosted June 21, 2009

a_willow wrote...

You collected some cool ideas here! Love it! You're invited to submit this lens to Reuse it all! group! And leaving you an angel blessing for promoting great thing - reusing! :)

ReplyPosted April 09, 2009

only1bub wrote...

Love your page - you've got some great ideas here and looks like you put alot of work into it! I included a link to it on my page coming up tomorrow "13 ways I saved the world" which is about recycling. I thought your page would be a nice addition!

ReplyPosted February 21, 2009

StephenC wrote...

Terrific lens. I wrote an article on how teachers can create a green classroom. One idea was to reuse trash for art projects. Nothing new about that, but I did reiterate that one must make art out of trash that will be kept! If you toss it away, it defeats the purpose. Love this lens!

ReplyPosted January 27, 2009

 
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