Eco Crafts are any crafts made from recycled materials. These materials are typically items that would be thrown away. The purpose of eco crafts are to repurpose and reuse things in fun way, and to keep more items out of our landfill. My initial reaction to eco crafts were that they would be a great way to recycle and reuse things in different ways. They interest me because I hate just throwing things away. Since everything is recycled, there are a ton of options for things you can make, but this does involve some imagination!

Check Out This Book!

This book is located in the Eagles Landing Library and has tons of ideas for eco crafts that you can make at home or in the makerspace!

How to Make:

Supplies:

Toilet paper roll
Old magazine pages (or colored paper)
Glue
Scissors

Steps:

Tear out around 10 sheets of colored paper or magazine pages.
Roll each sheet into a tube and secure the tube ends with glue.
Place glue on the sides of the toilet paper role and attach all the rolled pieces of paper. Repeat steps 1-2 if there is not enough paper to go around the whole tube.
Extra: cut off any tall ends of the rolled paper to help balance the tube and make it look pretty.

How to make:

Supplies:

Plastic dome drink lid or to-go container lid
Lots of paper (depends on size of bowl)
Glue
Water
Bowl
Mixing spoon/device

Steps:

Mix 3 parts water to 1 part glue in a bowl creating a soupy mixture.
tear the pieces of paper into strips (about 1 inch wide).
turn the lid upside down to create a bowl shape OR create a bowl shape out of a full sheet of paper, cutting off the uneven edges.
dip a strip of paper into the glue and water mixture, making sure to get the whole strip wet.
start covering the "mold" you made with either a lid or paper with the wet paper.
let dry and enjoy your new bowl!

Left: made with a paper base

Right: plastic lid base

How to make:

Supplies:

Milk Jug
Scissors or Knife (something sharp)
Hot Glue
Candle

Steps:

Cut the top and bottom off the milk jug
Make a cut down the side of the jug so that the plastic can lay flat
Cut 5 large ovals (around the same size) out
Cut 5 smaller ovals (around the same size) out
Place the large petals at the bottom and glue in a flower shape
Place the 5 smaller petals on top of those to form a "flower" and glue (making sure there is room for the candle)
Place candle in middle

Top Picture: My example

Bottom: Online example

How to make:

Supplies:

Scrap paper (the more paper, the more beads) - the more colorful the better - I used old magazine pages
Glue
A stick/rod/needle (needs to be thin/same width of string)
String

Steps:

Cut a triangle around 2 1/2 inches long, with the top being 1/2 inch wide. (These should be a long and skinny triangle).
Start at the large part of the triangle and place the stick/rod.
Begin rolling the stick towards the skinny part of the triangle - wrapping the paper around it as you go.
Once you get to the pointy end of the triangle finish wrapping it around and then glue it down to the rest of the paper.
Remove the stick and let dry
Repeat steps 1-5 to make as many beads as you want
String your new beads and tie the string to make a bracelet or other jewelry.

Bonus: You can also seal the beads, once dried with more glue or something like Mod Podge in order to make the beads sturdier.

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Websites for ideas:

Video for ideas:

Review:

I really like these crafts because they are different than other kinds of crafts. You do not have to go buy many extra supplies, most or all are from things you already have at home. Some of the crafts were more difficult and others were super easy, it depends on what kind of supplies you have access to. There is not any prior knowledge needed to make these crafts. I didn't have any real prior knowledge and I was able to create these crafts fairly easily. There is no real assistance needed or training. One cool thing about eco crafts is that you can create anything you want. You can create art or even something useful, such as a pencil holder! The verasitility of these crafts make it so much fun! It all depends on what you have lying in your trash!

What Next?

Next, I would like to work on creating something bigger and using different kinds of trash. I would also like to maybe work together with other people to create something like a mural out of bottle caps. I also want to make something that I could use everyday, like a bag.