Five Eco-Crafts For the Kids

Christmas may be over (already!), but Christmas break is not. If the cold winter is keeping you all cooped up inside, why not occupy busy little minds and hands with a few fun crafts projects? Savvy parents know you can turn just about anything into a craft project.  With a little paint, paper towel tubes can become swords or caterpillars.  Shoeboxes can become dollhouses or a little red fire engine.  Why not use everyday throwaway items and turn rainy or snowy afternoons into crafty afternoons?  Here are five eco-crafts the kids can have some fun with during the winter break:  

#1.  Jazzed up origami.  Origami, the Japanese art of folding paper, teaches children to have patience and follow directions, and they can make some pretty amazing projects.  A collection of old magazines or used Christmas wrapping paper can become a star mobile or a lantern or mobile they can hang in their bedroom. You can find lots of fun books full of origami projects online or at your local library. This was one of my favorite hobbies as a kid!

Milk carton (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#2.  A milk carton birdhouse.  You’ll need a clean and dry cardboard milk carton, white glue, tempera or other non-toxic paint, twine, and scissors. 

Glue the top of the carton shut.  Paint carton with paint and let dry.  Cut a 2-inch hole about 4 inches up from the bottom of the container.  This is the bird’s entryway. 

Poke a hole through the top of the feeder, string a piece of twine through the hole and hang your feeder on a tree. Place a bit of birdseed inside container to attract birds.

#3.  Use old socks to make neck warmers.  Fill a ski sock or other large sock with buckwheat and dried lavender.  Sew up the end of the sock and you have a neck warmer.  Pop it in the microwave to heat the buckwheat to soothe sore neck muscles and enjoy the aromatherapy.  Pop the sock into the freezer and place on your neck to use during warm days or to place on injuries to reduce swelling.

#4.  Collect small metal items - cans, bottle caps, bobby pins, buttons, and square spice or other food containers and have your children make their own robots!  You can also use mismatched silverware for their arms.  Plastic lids work well for heads.  You’ll need a good craft glue that can bind metal to metal and plastic to metal.  Old screws, bolts, electrical wire and nuts will add to your child’s imagination.

A glue gun. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

#5.  Old jeans also make a variety of fun projects including a book bag or a notebook cover.  Adults can do the large sewing jobs or for smaller projects, children can sew by hand.  A notebook cover needs to be measured for size, making sure to leave enough overlap that the cover can be closed, cut and hemmed on all sides.  A button fastener can be attached to keep the cover closed. 

Book bags can be made by cutting the seat of the jeans off mid-thigh, cutting through the place where the legs join and then sewing front and back together.  A handle can be created to carry the bag or a zipper can be sewn in the waistband. 

There are literally a thousand craft options to make good use of things you  have lying around the house, or were planning to throw away.  These are just a few ideas to get you started.  Get creative, and have some fun with it!

Video: Recyled Mushroom Craft Project

Here's a fun kids craft using some recycled materials. All you need is empty toilet paper rolls, scissors, glue, and some construction paper to make a whole mushroom forest in all different colors! Make this craft even more eco-friendly by using cereal boxes instead of construction paper - you'll get great funky color combinations and cool designs. This one is good for kids 5 and up, and younger kids may need some help with the cutting and gluing processes.

How to make a toy mushroom from a toilet paper tube
In this episode we show you how to make a toy mushroom from a toilet paper tube For more information about this tutorial visit : www.simplekidscrafts.com www.artsandcraftstv.com and English: www.manualidadesconninos.com www.manualidadestv.com Simple ...

Finding Fun Recycled Craft Supplies

Many of us want to do crafts, either on our own or with children. But sometimes the necessary supplies can get expensive, and they are not always eco-friendly. Here are some ideas for craft supplies that are not only eco-friendly; they are inexpensive (even free!) too.

Look to Nature

Natural materials are wonderful for crafts. Whether you are weaving baskets, making wreaths, or building "log" cabins, nature provides all sorts of craft supplies. Here are some possibilities.

(Photo credit: Muffet)

* Evergreen branches can be cut and woven into wreaths - this is a great winter-time craft, and could even turn into a lucrative hobby if you find a market for your wreaths around the holidays!
* Pinecones and berries can be glued onto a circular frame to make a wreath (another good idea for those slow winter afternoons indoors).
* Strong, flexible plant fibers such as sea grass can be woven into baskets.
* Attractive branches can be made into picture frames.
* A handful of small, straight sticks can be used to build a log cabin or even a whole town.
* Pretty leaves can be pressed, dried, and used in decoupage.

Cardboard Tubes
Don't we all have those toilet paper and paper towel tubes in our recycling bins, or sitting out on our countertops? These readily-available tubes are good supplies for a variety of crafts, such as:

* Constellation-viewing telescope - fit of piece of aluminum foil over one end of the tube and secure with a rubber band. Punch holes in the foil in whatever design you like, then hold up the telescope to light and look into the non-foil end. Your design will look like stars.

* Hair clasps can be made from toilet paper tubes. You just cut the tube in half length-wise, decorate the convex side, then use a hot glue gun to adhere a plain hair clip to the undecorated, concave side.

* Varying sizes of tube can be painted a uniform color, and then glued vertically to a cardboard or wood base. This makes a good holder for pencils, paper clips, pens, etc.

A Papier-mâché project in progress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Newspaper

Newspaper can be used for more than just covering your workspace. Tear it into shreds to make papier mache. Or shred it, mix it with water, then press out the water through a screen to make your own recycled paper - a fun craft for kids!

Cereal Boxes

Some craft projects call for paper plates. But cutting circles out of used cereal boxes is more eco-friendly, and often yields a sturdier circle. Other uses for cereal box cardboard are:

* Fold square sheets of it into decorative boxes.
* Cut one corner off and make a stand-up magazine or paper holder.

Potatoes and Apples

Cut a potato in half and carve a design into the cut surface. Use as you would a rubber stamp. To make an apple stamp, cut the flesh away from the core, and then cut the core in half cross-wise. Use as a rubber stamp - it will make a star shape.

These fun ideas are great for making crafts with the kids on cold winter afternoons when they can't get outside to play. They can have a source of creative outlet, and you can teach them about how much fun it can be to find eco-friendly materials for their crafts - make it a fun activity for the whole family!

Video - Eco-Friendly Craft Project - Cereal Box Picture Frames

Here is a fun little craft project for a rainy summer day when the kids are home from school. This one's also good for you scrap-bookers and other crafty types! Turn old cereal boxes and used wrapping paper or old newspapers into unique works of art, and then put pictures in them. It's pretty simple, and you or your kids can embellish the frames with all kinds of neat objects - feathers, leaves, dried flowers, or ribbons and charms as shown in the video.  Get out all your old pictures you've been meaning to frame someday, and have some fun with this one....

Cereal Box Picture Frames: Eco-Friendly Crafts
stylewithasmile.tv I love eco-friendly crafts where I get to upcycle things that would normally go in the trash. Here I transform old cereal boxes into beautiful picture frames.