6 minute read
Craft Corner
CRAFT CORNER Getting crafty with your kids doesn’t have to be expensive or dreadful. Just dig out some old materials around the house for a fun afternoon to mix things up and step away from the TV! Using Upcycled, Recyclable Materials
Callee Ackland is a zerowaste activist, public speaker, and business owner of Bestowed Essentials and Hippie Haven. Growing up on the west coast in Oregon and California, Callee had a progressive upbringing which inspired her passion for an eco-friendly life.
In her own store, all decor is created from upcycled material. One favorite is a cardboard cactus! You can easily tackle this craft with your kindergartners and young kids. Grab some old cardboard, scissors and paint and simply follow the steps. CARDBOARD CACTUS content & photos Sarah Richards
28 BLACKHILLSPARENT.COM Cut out the main body and branches of the cactus.
Paint each piece green on both sides, and use a black marker to create little quills here and there.
Attach the arms. To attach the branches to the body, simply make a slit at the bottom. It should then easily slide onto the cactus.
Find it a pot. An old coffee tin, soup can, or even a milk jug can work well. You can decorate the pot however you would like.
This is a great alternative to traditional friendship bracelets and the tools to create them are super simple! On a weekend where your daughter has friends over, collect the wrappers from their sweets (Starbursts, Tootsie Rolls, gum wrappers, Now or Laters, etc.). The only other item you’ll need is a safety pin! CANDY WRAPPER JEWELRY
Collect candy wrappers! Take the edges (lengthwise) and fold them to meet in the middle.
Now it’s time to assemble! Hold the first folded wrapper in the middle where the two ends meet. Fold the wrapper in half lengthwise and repeat this step twice.
You should have a long, skinny piece of wrapper now. Fold this in toward the middle “hamburgerbun style” so the short ends meet.
Repeat steps two-five for each wrapper. Once you have enough wrappers folded, you can start to create your jewelry! You can make a choker, bracelet, anklet, keychain, or even a belt!
Take another folded wrapper, and insert each side into the corresponding part of the original wrapper. Push this all the way through. Continue doing this until your chain is long enough.
Poke a safety pin through both ends of the chain to serve as the clasp and then you’re done!
If you have old t-shirts check out this fun craft. Instead of just tossing them out if the clothes aren’t good enough to donate, this is an easy way to upcycle them. Every rug is different, from the shape (squares, rectangles or circles) to the weight and width. Because of that, there is no set “pattern” for making them. RAG RUGS
Cut your fabric into even strips along the body of the t-shirt. (Note: cut the sleeves off first and cut down one side of the t-shirt to open it up and have one large piece of fabric.)
Separate your fabric into three piles by color. Grabbing a strand from each, start braiding the materials together. You will need to tie a knot at the top to keep the fabric together.
To add new strips you can either knot the strands together or use this method which is a little cleaner. Fold over the end of the strand that you need to lengthen and cut a small slit into the center. Do the same with the new fabric you are attaching. Line up the slits, and take the end of the fabric around through the back of the hole and pull it through. Pull-on both slightly to tighten the link.
30 BLACKHILLSPARENT.COM After braiding about four inches, grab the strand closest to the center and pass it under through one of the loops in the coiled braid.
Keep braiding and looping your material into the coil every few inches.
Once you’ve made the rug to the desired size finish braiding the materials and knot each strand of the material into the coil.
Don’t be too concerned with mistakes or having it lie perfectly flat. If your rug isn’t laying flat when you finish and you don’t want to pull anything out, wash your rug in warm water with extra fabric softener and lay flat to dry with the ends pinned down.
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