Crafts Recycling Ideas

Look around your house and you will find lots of empty and useless dish soap bottles, bread bags, beer containers, fabric softener bottles and shopping bags. Just before you toss them away, think of the pollution that they will contribute to after being combined with the environment. So, why not keep them at home, not as an add-on to the waste, but as useful items. How about converting the trash into some decorative and unique items, jewelry, or even décor pieces for your backyard? Not only will they add to your home décor, they will also give you a chance to express your creativity, learn new skills, and spend some time together with friends and family. Further, if you are on a tight budget, they will serve as highly useful materials for making interactive games for kids and for gifting, as well. Now if you’ve just been wondering about the different crafts that you can create from recycling materials, simply scroll through the lines below and find them out. Happy recycling!

Crafts Using Recycled Materials

Magazine Holder

Materials Required

Empty Cereal Box
Scissors
White Spray Paint
Acrylic Paint (light green and dark green)
Sponge or Leaf-shaped Foam Stamp
Thin Paint Brush
Sandpaper/Gesso

Instructions

Cut the top of the cereal box.
About halfway from the top of the box, cut through a 45 degree angle, right up to almost half the length of the box.
Cut straight through the box and then match up with the back side at the same angle.
Sandpaper the outside of the cereal box lightly. Alternately, you can paint a layer of gesso all over the box.
Spray paint the box in white acrylic paint. Allow the box to dry.
Cut out leaf shapes from a piece of sponge or you can use a leaf shaped foam stamp.
Using green paint, make small leaves all over the box.
With the help of a thin paint brush, make a swirled line around the leaves, forming the vine.
Link the leaves and vine from the front to the sides of the box. Add darker leaves first for the background followed by lighter ones for the foreground.

Paper Heart Ornament

Materials Required

Cardboard Boxes
Scrap pieces of Scrapbook Paper (in design of your choice)
Embroidery Floss (in color matching paper)
Sharp Needle
Soft Mat (for pricking holes)
Stick Glue

Instructions

Print out a large heart template.
Trace the heart template onto a piece of cardboard.
Trace out the template on two pieces of scrapbook paper.
Cut out all the heart pieces.
Place the scrapbook hearts on both sides of the cardboard heart piece and glue them firmly.
Using a sharp needle, poke holes at regular intervals around the rim of the heart.
Using a contrasting colored embroidery floss, stitch around the heart using blanket stitch.
Finish off the heart by making a loop with the embroidery floss and attach to the top middle of the heart.

Buttoned-Up Pillows

Materials Required

Buttoned Shirts
Pins
Scissors
Thread
Pillows and Cushions

Instructions

Iron your shirt neatly to remove any excess wrinkles.
Button the shirt and pin the front and back together to prevent them from sliding while cutting.
Place an old pillow case over the shirt and mark a new pillow case, keeping the buttons in the center.
Adding two inches on all sides of the pillow, cut out the pillow case.
Remove the pins and sew the pillow pieces together using a 6/8-inch seam.
To ease turning, snip the corners at an angle.
Unbutton the pillowcase and turn it right side out.
Iron the pillowcase neatly and re-button it.
Stitch the sides of the pillowcase right side out at 1/8 inches from the edges.
Topstitch the pillowcase again at 3/8 inches from the edges.
Unbutton the pillowcase and insert your pillow.
Button up the pillowcase and fluff it to finish your buttoned-up pillow.

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