Our 2010 round-up of our favourite ideas for making upcycled/recycled Christmas decorations has been very popular this year and I hope it’s provided lots of people with lots of inspiration – but if you’ve still got a little space to fill before the weekend, here are some more last minute ideas:

Paper wreaths have been very popular over the last couple of years but I love this one from EcoEmpire because, aside from staples, it’s entirely made from reusing household waste – newspaper, cereal boxes and a little scrap of ribbon (Kat suggests the loops from clothes – I’ve got a drawer full of those!)

Sticking with paper crafts, I also love these paper ball ornaments – either as individual baubles or strung together into a garland. I also love the idea of using foil packaging to make silver or otherwise shiny ones.

These letter ornaments, decorated with scraps from old sweaters, would also work well on their own or as part of a garland spelling out a holiday greeting/special word. “Merry Christmas” if you’ve got a lot of scraps, “joy” if you haven’t ;)

If you prefer your decorations a little more natural, these mini Christmas trees made from twigs are just fab – a simple idea but really nicely executed.

The Crafty Green Poet also reminded me that you don’t have to just use special Christmas ornaments on your tree – any ornaments or little items that don’t usually see the light of day can be hung up on there – even earrings on smaller trees for a little sparkle/bead-y delight.

Finally, Deb/Urbanwide sent me this fun Nativity scene idea: the whole Nativity crew painted on champagne corks. Perfect if little ones want to play with the scene – although if you want one for this year, you’ll have to get working on drinking all the champagne ASAP ;) (A slightly healthier alternative – but one that needs nearly as much forethought – is to use Actimel bottles for the bodies instead.)

Anyone else got any fun recycled Christmas decoration makes or discoveries to share?

(Photos © EcoEmpire & MicheleMadeMe respectively)

1. Reuse them around the home

Our cats have a dedicated old fork for their food; I have an old dessert spoon with a handle bent up at 90° for skimming misc and oil from the top of sauces; and, I have an old tablespoon in with my laundry stuff for spooning in wash boosters.

In our tool kit, we have a fork which can be used for holding nails in place while hammering, a(n admittedly more flexible than most) old butter knife for smoothing filler and several old spoons for stirring filler, paint and whatnot.

What do you reuse them for around the home?

2. Reuse them around the garden

They’re almost equally as useful in the garden too!

Forks are useful when transplanting seedlings – use them to lift the plant’s tender new roots out of their starter tray – and can also be used to temporarily pin thin runners in place if you want, for example, strawberries, to spread in a certain direction.

Knives and spoons also make fun row markers or plant labels in pots. Some people (like dkshattuck, who made the ones above) sell ready made sets for herbs , stamped with the names or otherwise labelled so they’ll last for years and years.

Do you use old cutlery in the garden? If so, what for?

3. Coat hooks and cupboard handles

Sturdy cutlery can be bent into fun coat hooks or key hooks like those pictured above. They’re by Jeremy and Jen Evensen, who sell via Etsy – such fun designs!

They can also be used to make fun kitchen cupboard handles – attached to the door either through the bowl of the spoon/fork or through the handle. And if you’re doing that, why not make a couple more standalone hooks for fun curtain tiebacks?

4. Jewellery

There is loads of gorgeous jewellery knocking around made from old knives, forks and spoons. At a most basic level, all you need is an old fork, some pliers and a few minutes, et voila! a fun and free bracelet.

At the other end of the scale, artisan crafty people are making some really lovely bracelets – the one above is by MarchelloArt and like that one, some bracelets still look like the original tool. Some other are a bit more dressed up and some, using just handles, don’t look like cutlery at all – just lovely silver pieces for around the wrist or “>as a pendant for around the neck.

And if jewellery isn’t your thing, they can be used for other accessories too – from money clips to tie pins.

5. Pass them on

While reusing is all well and good, don’t forget about passing them on. Take them into your workplace or community centre to build up a stash in the kitchen to discourage people from using plastic cutlery.

Most charity/op/thrift shops will accept incomplete sets if you’re just missing a couple of pieces and some, particularly those targeting very low income families/supplying homeless people or refugee populations, will accept random pieces, for people who just want single pieces. Some soup kitchens, food banks and local shelters also accept cutlery donations.

Failing that, keep them all yourself to use on those rare occasions when you suddenly need to feed 5000 – again, to save having to buy disposable plastic cutlery.

What are your favourite ways to reuse old cutlery/flatware? Do you have any other suggestions for how to pass it on?

I love silly Christmas jumpers but not to wear, god, not to wear! I’m thinking of getting some to make into Christmas cushion covers but thought I’d ask to see if you had any ideas for making other things from them too and the bits like the sleeves etc.

Some of the various sweater-to-cushion-cover tutorials I’ve seen have used the sleeves to make a flap like on a housewife style pillow. Another tutorial suggests making patchwork cushion covers – depending on the patch size/style, that could easily use up all the different bits of a jumper. Sleeves could also be used to make hot water bottle covers, with the cuff “hugging” the neck of the bottle.

Other ideas for the jumpers: lots of people make Christmas stockings out of old jumpers – the sleeves might be enough for that too. Could they also be cut up to make Christmas placemats or pot holders? If they’ve got a high wool content, they could be felted for extra heat protection (although that would probably distort the pattern). Or how about a skirt for the Christmas tree if it’s in a pot?

Any other suggestions for Edie?

(Photo by lisa humes)

Ever since I made that first batch, I’ve been on the look out for what I can use as moulds this time around. Last time, I had two old food trays for bar soaps, but when I ended up making a lot more soap than I’d originally intended, I grabbed whatever else I could find – some shaped fruit trays (small hand soaps), an old round ice cream tub (too wide when sliced into discs so had to cut them into semi-circles, which was a bit odd) and the square edged plastic bottles the olive oil had come in (nice size hand soaps, but it was awkward to get it out). (The latter two can be seen in the picture.)

All sorts of packaging has been subject to my “would it make nice soap?” eye. A few weeks ago, I was reading about someone else’s soap making on Simple, Green, Frugal and she mentioned using poster tubes (with the bottom sealed up) to make nice sized round soaps. As we’ve not had any posters or the like delivered recently, we haven’t got any of those but it got me thinking about similar cylinders: a litre-ish, straight-ish juice or pop bottles would probably about the right size, although it’d probably be awkward to get out like the olive oil bottle. That led me down another juice line: John has got a bit of an obsession with chocolate soya milk at the moment which comes in tetrapak containers – that would be a nice size for square bar soaps and be easier to cut out…

Anyway, long story slightly shorter, what else can I reuse or recycle to make either interesting shaped soaps or simple practical ones? If you make your own (cold-process) soap, what do you use?

Do you have any upcycled moulds that you can reuse again and again rather than destroying (like would happen with the poster tube or my juice containers)?

Or on the flipside, anything you’ve used that you’d urge other people not to use?

(A few notes for non-soap makers: the soap mix at the point of pouring is about body temperature for “cold-process” soaps so plastic melting is not usually an issue, but it is incredibly caustic at this point, and will react to metals other than stainless steel. It’s poured into the mould when it’s hit “trace”, a gloopy rather than full liquid stage, and left to set in the moulds for a few days, then popped out of the moulds to continue “curing” for a few weeks before use.)

I’m currently crocheting a tank top thing to wear as a woolly layer over long-sleeved t-shirts and it’s going to need blocking. For non-crafters, blocking is a finishing technique used for handmade items using natural fibres, which involves gently stretching the dampened garment into its correct shape and pinning it in place to let it dry. It’s not essential but it can improve the hang/drape of the finished item and needs to be done, to a slightly lesser extent, whenever the item is washed (which is why some items have “reshape while wet” on the label).

Purpose-bought blocking mats can be bought – usually rubber or foam mats that allow the item to dry without developing damp mould, are flexible to use (often interlinking so you can use a small piece or a large sheet, depending on your need) and easy to store. Crafters tend to plough all their hard-earned money into precious yarn though so are good at making their own or finding cheaper alternatives: I’ve heard of people using swim floats, garden-kneelers or the like from the £/$ store, of others using clean carpet tiles and others still using cardboard in a pillowcase or under a light towel.

They’re all good ideas but I wondered if the Recycle This community, which I know contains a lot of crafty people, had any other ideas.

What do you use for blocking? Have you made or repurposed anything for the task? Any ideas or advice will be gratefully received!

As I mentioned yesterday when talking about damaged books, it’s easier to revamp or reuse hardback books for practical purposes because they’re that bit tougher. They can be used for everything from statement bed headboards to “floating book” shelves.

On a smaller scale, they can be turned into purses/handbags, clocks, self-supporting photo frames, notebooks, iPhone charging units – and even table legs.

@AlishaAnnn told us about the table below on Twitter yesterday: “Table legs from recycled books with a metal rod through. They are sturdy and spin. Old barn window on top.” Great recycling!

That’s not to say paperback books aren’t without their reuses – their relative flexibility is an asset for things like this card wallet:

Other people prefer to use the pages of old books: either as art in themselves or as canvas for printing/painting, to decorate greeting cards, envelopes, super retro bunting or, on more elaborately, this fantastic paper wreath.

And BellwethersDB on Twitter had a good few ideas for using the pages too: “Tear out the pages and print vintage images on them and frame them! So pretty”, “Tear the pages and mod podge them onto old ornaments, add glitter and a ribbon. Voila! A “new” ornament!” and “Paper beads! Then paint them and string them on ribbon.” @_jennifergrace_ also tweeted us to say she’d used book pages as the background for welcome cards & name badges for a hen weekend, to make her own ideas notebook and as part of a bigger art project.

And speaking of pages, this desk tidy is made with a phone book but any oversized book – old annuals or craft books – would would just as well.

Finally, Alice in Blogland sent us a link to this fab recycling books for booklovers story, such amazingly intricate work!

Have you seen any other great example of reusing, recycling or upcycling of old or damaged books? If so, let us know in the comments!

• With the major gift giving time of the year looming in the near-distance, I love this idea of reusing colourful children’s pictures to make gift bows instead of using generic plastic ones. Of course the same idea can be applied to any old paper – as the tutorial shows black-on-white newspaper text looks pretty cool too.
   
• I’m always a sucker for stuff made with drinks cans but these flowers are rather cute – I especially like the painted ones.
   
• Tinplategirl emailed recently her new tutorials site about working with tinplate – the smooth heavier-weight metal from various large tins & cans. The site includes a number of free videos introducing the craft – where to find the materials and how to work with them – and how-to PDFs for making all sorts of things (some free, some costing up to $9.95). A great resource for people wanting to move on from working with the more malleable drinks can metal.
   
• And speaking of large tins, this tiered unit made from old biscuit/chocolate tins has been around for a while now but I thought it was worth mentioning because it’s a lot of fun and useful.
   
• Another thing that’s a bit old but feels newly relevant given the sudden switch to autumn this week: how-to recover an umbrella frame. Great for revamping a brolly or fixing it if it gets torn – double up your green points by using old fabric (an old tent? old synthetic clothes?) for the umbrella and reclaiming the best bits of the original fabric for other craft projects (a water resistant swimming bag? or to make foam bath cushion?)
   
• Oh, and if you haven’t seen it, do check out WeUpcycle.com, which started as a 30 day/30 upcycled things project but is now a wider collection of upcycling ideas. No how-tos but lots of inspiring, pretty pictures.
   

Have you seen any fun or interesting reusing or recycling projects recently? Or have you got anything you’d like to show off of your own creation? Do leave a comment below!

I have a bit of a dilemma. I’m from Minnesota USA, and I have a pen pal in California. We love sending “snail mail” to each other in this day of somewhat impersonal emails/Facebook. While it’s very fun, I’ve recently been thinking about the waste. I keep the cards she sends me, but is there a way to purchase/make more eco friendly cards and envelopes? Thanks!

I’ve been thinking about going back to snail mail for keeping in contact with some people recently (to cut down my computer time) so this is a very well timed question!

You certainly can buy cards and envelopes made by upcycling old paper – old packaging, old maps, old books – all sorts of stuff. If you search for “recycled envelopes” on Etsy, you’ll see the range of stuff available (including ones from friend of Recycle This, SwirlyArts.) You could make your own if you’re that way inclined too.

Look around your home/office to see what you can reuse as writing paper – on my desk in front of me right now, I could use the white-side of some pretty-designed security envelopes, a brown paper bag or if I was feeling more delicate than I generally am, an old sewing pattern. I’d probably cut them neatly with a guillotine or straight scissors, but scrapbookers/papercrafters with the tools on hand could jazz them up with wavy scissors or punch designs. One pre-cut idea might be to use old blurry photos – the type that aren’t suitable for the photo album but look pleasantly abstract by themselves.

Another idea might be to use cards that will serve a different purpose once they arrive with your message – the most obvious idea is picking ones that are so pretty that they can be framed as art, either individually or if you fancy something bigger & bolder and a fun ongoing project, you could make your own large scale design (perhaps by decorating/upcycling card/cardboard packaging) and chop it into card size pieces for gradual reassembly at the other end. More practically, you could find/make a design for recipe cards or dividers for a seed box (or anything your penpal might use for a hobby) – print it on one side of your card/paper and write your message on the back.

A finally suggestion/question from me: it is, of course, better to Reduce than reuse or recycle – would it be possible to make a secure reusable envelope/pouch that could be sent back and forth? If it can be made from existing materials all the better – any ideas?

Any other suggestions for Mary?

Any other good ideas for using fabric. I have tons of it and I am getting bored making blankets and tote bags. I want to make something useful.

I asked her to clarify what type of fabric – old bedding, old clothes, old yardage/fat quarters etc – and she added: “The fabric in question is in small bits. I have so much fabric in small pieces I just don’t know how to use it all, and I don’t want to throw it away.”

While I’d challenge the insinuation that blankets & tote bags aren’t useful, I do know what she means – we currently have more than enough shopping bags and throw blankets (even with a messy/often soggy dog) so new ideas are always welcome.

I’ve seen some lovely pieces of patchwork used for revamping old chairs etc recently – painted woodwork and patchwork seats – and also patchwork cushions, but I’d imagine the latter would quickly become the next blanket/tote bag — a couple is all you need.

Individual little bits of fabric could be used for appliqué for upcycling/revamping old clothes, or used for creative repairing. Bunting is also super popular at the moment as an all-year-round decoration as well as at party time.

Involving less sewing, jersey/t-shirt material can become reusable washcloths or wipes to replace toilet paper. I’ve also seen lots of fabric wrapped bangles and necklaces recently. And don’t forget rag rugs – I recently saw a cool way to make round ones using a hula hoop but if the fabric pieces aren’t big enough for that, a knotted one might work better.

Any more recycling ideas?

• Drinks can pop top lampshade I love this lampshade made with drinks can pop tops – it’s like modern chainmail :)
• Drinks can bottoms necklace The other end of the cans – a great reuse since so many crafts using the pop tops or the sides of the cans, but I’ve not seen many using the stiffer curved bottoms.
• Fake shell-like pendants from bubble wrap Following on in the “you’d never guess what this necklace used to be” line, this tutorial shows you how to make shell-like decorations for jewellery from bubble wrap.
• Old jeans into placemats I think I’ve seen something like this before but it’s still a great idea – denim placement from old jeans, using the pockets as cutlery/napkin holders – cute!

• Very fun bench from three old chairs Speaking of cute, how fab is this bench made from old chairs?
• Old t-shirt wrapped bangles Revamp old boring bangles with old fabric from t-shirts or the like – two upcycles in one!
• Thumb-controlled watering can from an old bottle The simple on/off functionality of this quick creation from Hester at Fun in the Making would be perfect for watering little pots and seedlings in the garden without wasting water.
• Quick bags & punnets from newspaper Finally, Lucie has been in touch to show off this ace video for making small bags for fruit/veg from newspaper. Perfect if you want “disposable” bags for sharing your crop gluts this summer:

(Bench photo by Kindall)

• Matt from Mes Footwork has been in touch to tell us about their new range of upcycled trainers: “We make shoes in Newcastle from recycled leather jackets (or any other item of clothing). The jackets are usually bought in charity shops, or people can send us their own. A cycle of recycling, giving back, ethical production and fashion.” Good to see upcycling – and ethical shoe production in the UK.
• Annette emailed to say “I have recently posted an article called How To Make A Recycled Asprin Bottle Knitting Spool. The article is a short tutorial on converting a small plastic bottle into an old fashioned knitting spool. I believe your readers may enjoy learning the technique.” I believe you guys may enjoy learning about it too ;)
• The wonderful Alison Bailey Smith is working on a new project at the moment – “de-junk, re-junk”:
  

  We are about to embark on kitchen extension which means demolishing the old 70′s utility room and gutting the kitchen, so I have been tidying and removing what I can in preparation for the building work…coincidently I was asked again by my two helpful guys seconded to Wirral Council to organise and exhibition for them (I helped with one last year) so have used my de-junking to provide materials to artists from the networking event I run “With These Hands” and wider afield in Merseyside and told them to go forth and create for the show. We plan to display the work on hollow doors and cabinets transformed into plinths etc.

  She is also currently working with the local Mayor’s office to recreate the Mayor’s chain and badge of office from recycled materials. More info and pics on her blog.

First up, Vernon got into touch to tell us about his plastic bottle creations. He says he’s been making them for 15 years and sent me pictures of a wind twirler and a flower made from old bottles – but this bird was my favourite – such a fun character!


And speaking of creative characters, Mario Caicedo Lange sent us a link to his Flickr account featuring the “arts, props and crafts” he’s made from recycled materials. He makes little robot style creatures – with many of his recent onesdoubling up as plant pots!


Next, Malcolm was in touch to tell us about Juzi jewellery – chunky beads made from recycled magazines by two self-supporting cooperatives in Kenya. Turning colourful magazines paper into beads is a fun way to recycle them yourself – but if you’re not a crafty sort, then this seems a great way to get the look and help others at the same time.


Agy on Green Issues Singaporeemailed to say she’d created two new lampshades – one from an old tshirt, the other from an old computer keyboard. Two very different looks but both fun!

Thanks for all the emails guys!

• I love, love, love Emily Grace and the Yellow Suitcase jewellery made from fused plastic bags and wire. Some of the pieces are delicate delights others bright & bold – but always beautiful.
• Sticking with jewellery, Raw Skies Studio make lovely flower brooches – pretty pansies and dramatic red roses.
• Moving into the more practical realm, there are some very nice strong fused plastic shopping bags & tote bags around – Radical Recycks makes some lovely ones. This Spongebob one is more of a handbag/purse but how fun!

• And to go in that bag, how about a fused plastic wallet? I really like the use of layered patterns on this wallet from Bece but equally the geometric shapes from kurbantrash (right) are very cool too.
• If you just need something for your cards, Ecoark make fused plastic credit card holders
• And following on from that, OfLandandSea combines fused plastic with strips of scrap fabric to make protective but cool passport protectors.

• But wait! Fused plastic fun isn’t just for grown-ups – how cute are these fused plastic bibs? And these mobiles would be pretty against a window in a nursery.
• Finally, I love the use of fused plastic and letters from different bags to protect and decorate this sketch book.

We all know to say “no” to carrier bags these days & use reusable ones instead – but in case you’ve got any of left over from before you saw the light… how to fuse together plastic bags. Rubbish Revamped in Manchester also run workshops on fusing plastic which are a great way to get started if you’re scared of melting plastic!

(Photo of a very pretty hairclip by EmilyGraceSuitcase; a bold & fun wallet by kurbantrash; and a cuter-than-cute bib by recyclemoe)

• Andrea Cook has been making cute Valentine’s Day cards out of recycled handmade paper and fabric scraps. Coupled-up kitties!
• Sarah from Wrapped up with String has also been making pretty recycled paper cards.
• And Alison Bailey Smith told us: “I pulped up lots of paper, in different colours & add hearts using plastic from advent calendars to make cards” – cute idea.
• The Spotted Sparrow has come up with some fun print-and-make ideas: a book of love coupons or an old fashioned library card. I like the idea of reusing the latter each year but that’s possibly because I’m cheap ;)
• Not strictly Valentine’s-y but I love this notebook made from recycled materials – an old shirt, beer mats and reclaimed tissue paper have been used to make it. It would make a fab diary.
• We saw the equivalent at Christmas but I still love the idea of magazines being upcycled into garlands – using a heart-shaped punch and a sewing machine, this Valentine’s Day garland is made in next to no time. (A flower seed catalogue would work well too – pretty coloured flowers a-go-go – and they’re very common at this time of year.)
• Another way to make a heart garland is to curve strips into hearts – and hearts within hearts. Lots of pretty examples made from maps, old books, music scores and other vintage papers…
• If your loved one is, like mine, not exactly the most punctual person in the world – how about a heart shaped clock made from an old vinyl record?
• Personally John and I aren’t big Valentine’s people but have been known to bestow the occasional love token upon each other at other times of the year. A couple of years ago, we bought something in a paper bag with red hearts on it – when John was out, I cut out all the hearts and left them in his closed laptop – when he opened it, they flew everywhere – a shower of hearts. :)

Will you be upcycling or recycling anything for your loved one(s) for Valentine’s Day? If so, tell us your plans – if it won’t ruin the surprise ;)

(Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions via Twitter!)

• I’m often amazed what fab things people can make from old toilet roll tubes and these are no exception – fake wrought iron artwork. A great idea – I’m going to make some for our porch, reflecting the curled wrought iron railings we’ve got at the front of the house. They’d make fun picture frames too if you left out the centre sections.
• Speaking of which, I love this idea for making custom photo frames from old board game boards.
• It’s a lot warmer now than it was this time last month, but we’re still all about blankets & quilts here – and this is a great how-to from Daisy Janie on how to make a quick quilt from an old fitted sheet and some contrasting thread.
• Started spring cleaning early? Turn a plastic bottle into a drain declogger to clean the bits you can’t normally reach!
• Move away from home stuff onto clothes, I love this idea from Hester Jane – patching holey knees in jeans using back pockets from another pair. So cute! (I also love Hester’s idea from the weekend for decorating plastic plant pots with strips of tree bark – I heart the centrepiece one.)
• Want to learn how to make jewellery from recycled materials and are in the north-west of the UK? I’d heartily recommend Alison Bailey Smith’s workshop on the Wirral next month.
• I love this guide to adding better shaping to a too-big/unisex t-shirt – I’ve got about half a dozen shirts that I’d wear more if they fitted better. Definitely something for my project file.
• And finally, in case you haven’t seen it, I’m restricting the amount of clothes I buy this year – no more than 12 items over the year. You want to join in the fun too?

Have you spotted any great reducing, reusing or recycling how-tos recently?

• I love, love, love using the metal of drinks cans for things – and this is a wonderful reuse – a very special Christmas card. (Keep the prettiest cards from this year to make them next year!)
• Eaten your fill of shop-bought mince pies already? Use the pie tins to make a table centre piece for your Christmas meal!
• Still got to wrap your offerings? Here’s a cute wrapping idea: make a shiny bow from a sweet wrapper or crisp packet.
• These super simple tree decorations made from scrap card are great – from cutting out to on the tree in less than five minutes!
• A little more involved, these sheet music tree decorations would be very fun for musical families.
• And even more personal decoration idea: use old flour to make salt dough and make animal/children paw print tree ornaments to mark the year. I love the idea that making these could be incorporated into a family Christmas tradition – each year make more to add to the collection.

For all those celebrating Christmas, have a very merry one!

For all those not celebrating Christmas tomorrow, have a fab weekend!

Now I know I could just find some pretty fabric and whip up some mats on a sewing machine, maybe with a bit of batting/couple of extra layers of fabric in the middle to make them more heat resistant – but where’s the fun in that?

Have you made placemats by reusing/upcycling anything fun? I’d imagine old clothes are rip for upcycling since they’re just shaped fabric (for example, placemats from old t-shirts or from old jeans with cutlery pockets; I imagine felted jumpers would work too). Does anyone have any other ideas clothes recycling ideas?

And what about other ideas? John has been enjoying the patterns on logs recently – if we could take a thin slice from the ends of some pretty logs and varnish them, that might work. I’ve also got another half idea of weaving some mats using old packaging materials – some colourful card (although it would have to be at least wipe-clean), some plastic from bottles or drinks cans… Anyone done anything similar?

Would love to hear any and all ideas!

So… Christmas crackers. In one of the many, many newspaper articles about having a frugal Christmas during the New Austerity Age, I read that making Christmas crackers is a false economy – because it often costs more to make them at home than you can buy them for in the shops.

But money isn’t everything – homemade ones can be a lot lower waste – using up household rubbish and can contain actually useful (or delicious) prizes rather than bits of plastic tat.

There are many tutorials online for making basic crackers out of toilet rolls tubes and squares of Christmas wrapping paper (with purpose-bought crackers snaps for that bit of bang) but I wondered if anyone had any ideas for making them more interesting or creative.

Is it possible to make reusable Christmas crackers? The body refillable each year?

And does anyone make their own paper hats to go inside them?

(There is a strong “reduce” angle here obviously – both to save on money and waste, but for many people they’re an essential part of the Christmas tradition so best try to reduce as much as possible by reusing and recycling instead.)

(If you’re saying to yourself “what on earth is a Christmas cracker?”, just ignore this post – it’s a silly British thing.)

(There are a lot of asides in this post, aren’t there?)

There are lots of ways to make them reusing waste paper, scrap fabric, or random other things from around the home and garden – and they’re certainly not all just for kids.

Here are some of our favourites:

• Want to have a starry, starry night? Use twigs from the garden to make window or tree decorations. (Or if your garden is as cold & icy as ours, any other sticks will suffice – perhaps the project to use up your hoarded collection of “disposable” chopstics or lolly pop sticks?)
• If you fancy something a little shinier, make stars from old foil cake or pie tins instead.
• Or if you prefer your stars in a classy matte, how about making these Christmas fairy light shades from old brown/manila envelopes?
• Brown paper shopping bags – particularly ones with a Christmas themed print on them – can be made into decorative Christmas stockings.
• Or if you’d prefer to have fabric stockings to stuff full of treats, how about recycling a pair of old jeans for a modern look?
• Smaller scraps of old clothes or fabric can be upcycled into scrap fabric wreaths – these ones made from scraps of old felted wool clothes are just lovely.
• If you’re more of a paper person, this origami Christmas wreath could be made with coloured waste paper – envelopes from Christmas cards for example.

• Or if buttons are more your thing (mmm, buttons), you could make this fab wreath instead – if you loosely sewed the buttons onto the card, you could snip them off to reuse as buttons as you needed them for actual buttoning purposes!
• If all these are a bit too grown up for you – or you’d like a project to keep the kids busy while you’re assisting Santa, how about using wine corks to make reindeer tree decorations?
• Or if you’ve still got last year’s Christmas cards, they could use them to make a cute bunting banner.
• Finally, a couple of our favourite ideas for revamping existing decorations that are getting old or tired: I love the look of these fabric wrapped Christmas items (I’ve done a similar thing before with a single colour frogged yarn – very pleasant).
• Or, turn plain baubles into fun (angry!) characters with a little paint.

I’m guessing everyone in the northern hemisphere is waving at their computers right now. It’s pretty brr.

On my frugal/cooking/growing blog The Really Good Life, I’ve written about the five frugal ways I’ll be keeping warm this winter – but one thing I missed off is the list is draught excluders (aka draft dodgers).

I used to have a black fun fur one – which matched our black real fur cats – but it was in the days when the cats were more territorial … and amorous. I’ll let you finish that lovely story yourself. Last year, after we’d just moved into our new house, there were so many draughts and bits of bad insulation that draft excluders seemed pointless so I didn’t bother. This year though, game on!

So what have you made them from? Recycle This regular BookstoreBabe made some from her daughter’s old heavy patterned tights and rag-bag stuffing – but warned that they stretch! I’ve also heard of people making them from old woolly jumper sleeves or trouser legs – just sew up the ends and stuff.

I imagine the duvets from the other day would do the job too without any sewing or cutting need – just tied into a roll. And don’t forget, it’s not won’t be sitting on it, so it doesn’t need to be stuffed with soft filling like a cushion or pillow – you can use newspaper, carrier bags or stuff like polystyrene foam peanuts — anything to provide a bit of bulk.

Have you made your own? What did you use? Send pics/links if you’ve got them!

We don’t celebrate Christmas but I know that one or two people around the world do – and some of those people have Advent calendars to open on the run up to the 25th.

When I was a kid, I’m pretty sure my mum gave us the same calendar several years running, with the doors closed neatly back into place – it didn’t matter because the joy of opening the door to see what was behind it was enough. Then when I was my early teens in the early 1990s, chocolate advent calendars suddenly became cheap and wide available, the chocolate rather than the drawing of the bell or the reindeer became the goal and the calendar was suddenly disposable.

But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are some great examples of creative – and reusable – advent calendars out there – such as the this spool advent calendar kit from Cathe Holden of Just Something I Made – I imagine something similar could be made by recycling any sort of plastic tubing or even decorated toilet roll tubes if you haven’t got 24 cotton spools to hand. I love the idea of having treasure hunt elements to the messages or having Christmas preparation activities to-dos – or they could be silly jokes to get everyone warmed up for their Christmas crackers.

I’ve also seen some examples where people have gathered together 24 boxes – they could be old packaging painted or covered in paper as well as numbered – and stuck them together to make a countdown calendar with plenty of storage. They wouldn’t have to be filled with treats or gifts – tree decorations would work well – many kids would love to decorate the tree an item at a time as each item is revealed. And weekend days could be filled with craft supplies that they have to make into a tree decoration.

And it’s not strictly recycled but I also love the reusability of Attic 24 Lucy’s advent garland – it could be recycled if you used reclaimed yarn or upcycled fabric to make sewn stars instead of crochet).

Have you made an advert calendar by reusing or recycling anything?

Or have you seen any more great examples out and about on the web?

There are lots of suggestions out there for making biscuits, cakes or jams, or knitting or crocheting something pretty — but if you’re after a truly frugal Christmas, all those ingredients & yarns add up: what about things which you can make by reusing/recycling/upcycling things from around the home?

Here are my favourite ideas for simple & frugal upcycled Christmas presents:

1. Hankies

Handkerchiefs are easy to make from any soft old cotton fabric – bedding or clothing for example. They’re simple but always useful – and help the recipient cut down on their disposable tissue usage too.

Don’t feel they have to be boring white – I made the ones in the picture out of an old pink gingham shirt – and consider monogramming/embroidering them to make them extra special.

(Use 100% cotton fabric where possible and 100% cotton yarn too so that they can handle being washed at a hot temperature if needs be.)

2. Reusable shopping bags

Similarly practical, there are one metric bajillion tutorials out there for making fun shopping bags from pillowcases, t-shirts, scraps of yarn, old plastic carrier bags… You name it, you can make a shopping bag out of it!

Pick your poison depending on your skill set and again, customise/personalise it to suit the recipient.

If you’re giving them other presents at the same time, use the bag instead of wrapping paper to save even more waste.

3. Jewellery

We regularly feature ace examples of upcycled jewellery on here – people taking food packaging and other waste materials, and transforming them into wonderful bracelets, necklaces, earrings and other accessories.

If inspiration isn’t enough, there are plenty of tutorials out there too – for example, turn a drinks can into a flower brooch, or plastic bottle earrings, or a bottle cap charm bracelet.

4. Wooden garden planters

If woodworking is more your thing than sewing or jewellery making, turn old pallets or other scrap wood into wooden garden planters. They’re easy to work with and widely available – keep an eye out when passing skips or in industrial areas.

5. Raid your seed stash – make envelopes & plant labels from scrap

And what about something to go in those new planters? If you grow your own flowers or veg, you probably have a stash of surplus seeds – share your favourites!

Make small seed envelopes out of scrap paper – the insides of security envelopes or brown paper look fab – and write the sowing details on the outside – and how about including an upcycled plant label too? You can make those from lolly sticks or metal strips cut from drinks cans.

6. Personalised notebooks

Or how about making a notebook/journal from an old hardback book? Personalise it by finding something by your gift-ee’s favourite author – or a favourite book from childhood.

What are you making people for Christmas? What are your favourite upcycled handmade items? What would you like to receive from other people!?

• Julie from NotesOnPaper makes fun brooches out of plastic bags and other waste materials – check out this fabric version made from a promotional health & safety advice (!) scarf…
• The fab MaryHoresh sent us two of her favourite recycled jewellery links – first, Niki Guy’s lovely sea glass/tumbled glass creations…
• And second, Judith Williamson’s jewellery and accessories made from old packaging – mostly tinplate from old sweet/biscuit tins. Mary also recommended Judith’s workshops: “good fun”.
• Fluxplay’s Maria Whetman also works in tin – I love her rings but I have to admit that this cute pinwheel brooch is probably my favourite item!
• Kathy from ArtworkbyKD makes fantastic earrings from old plastic bottles – covering the plastic in tissue paper and vintage texts to upcycle them further. She also uses old drinks cans – one of my favourite recycled jewellery materials – to make big hoop earrings – ace!

• LianaKabel makes very fun items using old craft equipment – plastic knitting needle bangles and statement necklaces, and also brooches and hairclips using tape measures.
• The House of Ismay makes deliciously simple brooches and cufflinks using off cuts of wood and vintage magazines, books and maps – sometimes less is more.
• The main “ingredient” in these earrings by Bella Tierra Jewelry is plastic bags – fused together to make a interesting, malleable material. And there is a how-to if you want to make your own!
• And another how-to – Alicia of TheMayFly has written a great tutorial: how-to make old belts into wrist cuffs.
• Finally, if you need somewhere to store your jewellery – somewhere as fun and wonderful as the creations above – how about using an old tennis or squash racket? I regularly see vintage wooden ones popping up in charity shops – they’d look fab on a plain wall.

What are your favourite pieces? Do you have any other great examples of random stuff recycled or upcycled into jewellery?

I often see huge bins of clothes patterns at thrift stores. Most helplessly outdated or missing instructions. I have used them in the past as packing material but was wondering if there was any other uses. Seems like there has to be some use for the tissue type paper.

I’ve only just started making stuff from patterns but I’ve already built up a little stack of dressmakers’ tracing paper squares from the excess bits of paper from around the edges of the pattern. If I was more artistic/less clumsy, I’d imagine that I could make an interesting (low-power) lampshade by layering them around a frame or even a privacy shade panel for a window – but since I’m not, I’ll keep them in an envelope pocket in my sketch book for when I need to trace.

Lots of people seem to use them for decorative decoupage projects – for example, decorating little boxes, gift tags or furniture (I can’t find the pictures now but I’m sure I’ve seen a sewing table covered in an old pattern). Just remember to use some sort of sealer so they don’t get wet and/or tear.

They also be used for just about any tissue paper craft – the only “problem” being the somewhat muted colour compared to most bright tissue paper. That doesn’t mean they can’t look great though – pale flowers can still look fantastic whether as a bouquet or as mini fairy lightshades.

More practically, I do like Carol’s idea of using them as a packing material and they could also be used as delicate gift wrapping paper for handmade projects.

Any other suggestions?

• With Halloween approaching, check out this fab tutorial on making mini skull lanterns out of little plastic bottles – she says “milk bottles” but from a British POV, they look more like little yoghurt drink bottles. Either way though, ace!
• SueAnn on Lil Bird Told Me has posted a great idea to make old carrier bags easier & neater to storage/carry around – fold them into triangles. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this since I do it obsessively with every crisp packet I see!
• Have gloves magically disappeared from your winter warmer collection over the summer? If so, you could use the remaining odd ones to make a cute animal plushie toy! Dinner for Mousci has a how-to.
• I love these chunky beads made from old cereal boxes – very fun!
• Finally, in case you didn’t see it, friend of Recycle This Petra made a clothes peg airer thing out of “some electricity pipe, an old iron coat hanger, some rope and pegs” – I want to make my own too now!

(Photo by Care for DollarStoreCrafts)

Anyway, Mary Anne thought Recycle This readers may be interested in the following Flickr groups:

• PET Bottle and other Plastics Recycled Creativity – jewellery and other knick-knacks made from old plastic bottles
• Fan>TAB>ulous Aluminum & Tin Can ART – art and accessories made from, or incorporating, drinks cans or can tabs.
• Cardboard Tubes ReCrafted – all sorts of ornaments and other things made from assorted cardboard tubes – from toilet roll tubes to giant sturdy ones.

Lots of wonderfully creative work – inspiring stuff.

Thanks so much for the links, Mary Anne and sorry again that it’s taken me so long to post them!

(Roses photo by rosely pignataro; cardboard cutout photo by giulia massera)

The wonderful Alice helped me justify wanting to sleep later than daybreak and added:

Is there anything else you could give up or change to save the equivalent of £100 in a year to compensate? For instance I’d go a whole year without a takeaway to pay for being able to lie in all year, and that’d probably save me enough money over the year (as well as probably compensating somewhat in carbon/environmental terms). Can you “trade” anything else in your life that you don’t really need, motivated by knowing that the sacrifice is “paying” for the lie-ins?

As I said, Alice is wonderful and this is a great idea – and without naming any particular thing, I’ve decided to I’ll give up numerous often-fleeting wants over the next few months to (retrospectively) pay for it — mostly, I suspect, unnecessarily food while I’m out and about, stuff that can be easily done without and isn’t really missed outside of the moment — money thrown down the drain for little value.

Anyway I thought it would be fun to keep track of this money through a moneybox/piggy bank so I can see it building up (and at the same time, see how much I normally fritter away!) – and whenever I think something like that, the next thing that comes to my mind is: “how can I make one of those reusing or recycling stuff?”

So what can I reuse or recycle to make a money box or piggy bank?

Around our house, we already have some old coffee cans with slits in the tops for collecting change and my dad uses a giant old whiskey bottle from a bar for his pennies. They’re both very practical but I’d like something that’s a bit more fun if possible.

One idea I had was to make a papier mâché chicken from old newspaper and out of date flour. I imagine a hollow plastic ball could be used in the same way instead of the papier-mâché – and could be decorated in a similar way to become a rotund hen.

So any ideas?

First up, Alan wants bottle caps:

I make beautiful replicas of fine art (e.g. Matisse, Warhol) and logos from bottle caps: See my site at www.bottlecapartwork.com

Also, If you have caps, please email me at bottlecapartwork@gmail.com and I can get you some money for your trouble to send them to me. Paypal available.

And Laura’s colleague Vicky wants wine corks:

On of my colleagues is looking for wine corks (real or synthetic) to use for her wedding. Have a look at her blog post here: http://adessi1010.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-corker.html and if you’re interested in sending some of your corks please feel free to contact me via the comments or on email laura.coyne@adessi.co.uk

Contact the relevant person if you’ve got some to send along!

Daniel emailed us pictures of cannon he made reusing and recycling stuff. Yes, you read that right, a CANNON. (Ok, ok, a decorative rather than functioning cannon but still).

I applied for a job working on the gun side of BAe, I did not get a reply and took it upon my self to make my own as a personal token of disgust with them out of rubbish.

The barrel is made from a plastic spoil down pipe, which is resting on a tables extending brace that is found underneath, with the tow bar that was picked up off the road while walking the dog. The handles at the base of the barrel is a bit of broom handle, and the end cap is a plastic part of a polishing buff for cars. The brass hub cap is the back plate off a door handle, and the fire hole device is a letter of a car name badge, with the brass design in the middle coming from a handle back plate off an old video cabinet, the axle is a cut off from a scaffold pipe. It’s painted with black and copper paint from the shed.

Good job Sellafield replied!. (Didn’t get it.)

He also made a decorative well with a weather vane attachment for his garden:

The roof is made from slate taken from where a velux window was installed. The two support beams were from a shed, the rope was washed up on the beach, the rope is wrapped around the other half of the cannon barrel pictured earlier, the winding mechanism on the right side is part of the table extender mentioned earlier, the winding handle is a pedal and cog that has been adapted. The base is the wooden base of a fish tank that has a plastic liner and two fish-(not recycled).

The eagle is weather vane that always faces the wind and keeps seagulls out of my garden. This is made from a broken wheely bin with the wing tips heated to curl up, the legs are made from the same brush handle as the cannon and is set in attack mode with talons made from half a clothes peg. The eagle is painted in the eagle colours using shed stains, and the north, west, east and south is off a xmas and noel decorations… Full time score=EAGLE 1:0 SEAGULLS.

Great reusing & recycling Daniel – fantastic to see so many things being reused so creatively!

Patty got in touch to tell us about her reuses. She reused some old placemats to make crumb catchers/bibs for messy eaters on the go:

It catches all the droppings from sloppy eaters! The bottom edge snaps up to catch the crumbs. A ribbon is around the neck and attaches to a small button. It can also be unsnapped, rolled up and buttoned to keep it snug and then just rubber band it to the visor to be used in the car.

She also told us about using old egg boxes (particularly plastic ones) in her jewellery drawer:

I have used my cartons in my jewelry drawer. My rings and ear rings fit where the eggs go and necklaces and bracelets go around the opened top side where the separators stick up. That keeps them from tangling. If you have a deep drawer, they stack beautifully!

As someone who is constantly detangling bracelets & necklaces, thanks for the great suggestion Patty!

• I’m a big fan of reusing milk bottles for all sorts of things and this idea for using them as stationery organisers is fantastic. If they were for use by little delicate hands, I’d be tempted to sticky-tape the cut edges to make them less sharp.
• Kristin from Craft Leftovers used the offcuts from fitting a bamboo blind to make coordinating twined coasters.
• Jan McNeil, a Sculpture & Photography student from the University of Ulster, emailed to ask if anyone has any old baby dummies/pacifiers lying around – she wants them for an art project. Get in touch if you’ve got some – or have any ideas for where she might be able to get them from – and I’ll pass your details/suggestions along.
• I love the idea of this toothbrush holder made out of old toothpaste tubes. (Although I’d want to make sure it was easy to clean – which, with the lips, I’m not sure it would be in this design).
• This reusable lunch bag how-to uses new shower curtains but it could equally be made from a clean old one. A great way to reuse to reduce.
• Someone – a name didn’t make it through so I don’t know who – sent over some photos of a birthday table cloth made from old balloons: “I recycle my birthday ballons by gluing them to a clear plastic sheet, gotten in the fabric dept. They make a cute table cover for the party!”