Thanks, Niki!

debra roby — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:54:59 -0500

With the holidays coming up way too soon, making some nice gift card holders and recycling? Perfect.

Debra
A Stitch In Time
Weight for Deb

I updated my blog with

Niki Meiners — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:42:36 -0500

I updated my blog with directions to the Toiltet Paper Roll. I hope you make one soon!

nikimeiners.wordpress.com

The Second Carnival of Green Crafts!

debra roby — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:00:15 -0500

What do empty toilet paper rolls, plastic shopping bags, old cordoroy pants have in common with a call to ban PVC? They are all part of the second Carnival of Green Crafts. This new carnival is alternately hosted at Crafting a Green World and other blogs. Submissions right now will be part of the August 21st carnival at CAGW then the party moves over to Whip Up.

I received some wonderful submissions for this edition.

Home Decor

Taking clever dog paw bottle caps from Trader Joe's, BlogHer member Condo-blues satisfied her need for thrifty crafting and an entry for Haiku Friday, with How to Make a Bottle Cap Tile Picture Frame:

paw print bottle caps

craft challenge issued answered

gifted photo frame

She also wrote a great tutorial on how to turn a (shadow box style) picture frame into a raised pet feeder.

True Living Space highlighted recycled paper home decor items created by Phillipino artisans as part of SAPSPA.

Clothing

I love how Cheese Pirate turned an old pair of cordoroy pants into a skirt. She shares the challenge of using cordoroy instead of the denim used in the original BurdaStyle tutorial.

Well, here is why not: the fabric on a pair of cotton trouser pants is far easier to work with, sew and reshape than corduroy. This oversight led to spending an hour on what I probably could have finished in half that time. The issue was the fly.

Organicasm's Christina Laun offered Tips for Great Deals on Organic Clothing.

Recycle Cindy suggests that a cute hobo-styled handbag can be crocheted by cutting plastic bags to create a recycled plastic yarn she calls plarn.

Crafts

Using empty toilet paper rolls seems to be a fun trend among the green crafters. At ecosalon, Larkyn Mongovan admits:

This may sound strange but I actually get a sense of accomplishment from changing an empty roll of toilet paper. Often at a party or while a guest at a friend's house I secretly hope the t.p. will run out while I'm in the bathroom so that I can replace it with a fresh roll. It makes me feel like I have done my anonymous good deed for the day. Unfortunately, I have to admit I don't do much more than toss the empty roll in the trash bin (after I've given myself a pat on the back, of course)

She then points to the more than 50 patterns that DLTK offers for creating shapes from these rolls. Meanwhile, Niki Meiner shows a toilet paper roll turned gift card holder. I hope instructions for this come soon.

WiseBread's Myscha Theriault gets creative in What to do with Wire Hangers. She has gathered some original ideas and a number of links to other projects that will have you cleaning up that pile of old twisted hangers quickly.

If you are a machine knitter, check out Kathryn's three part post at Knittsings on making your own needle retainer sponge bar. Most knitting machines require this bar in order to work.

Food for Thought

The authors at Crafting a Green World have offered several posts on "craftivism" that leave us with something to chew on when it comes to living "green" and crafting.

First, Kelly Rand wrote a two-part article on Crafting Vs. Vinyl. In Part One, she calls for a ban on PVC products, including the "fabric" found in everything from the clear window in a wallet to designer purses. Later, in Part Two, Rand offers suggestions for replacing vinyl products in our crafting.

In Consumer Choices Alone Won't Craft a Green World, Skye Kilaen not only lists the four current strategies for crafting green (thrift, recycling, buy handmade, and buy sustainable), suggests that a fifth stragegy is to buy less, and offers the true major force for the future is political action.

Usually I see green crafting written about as essentially how to cute your way to a healthier environment.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to find pleasure in lovely things, make better consumer choices, or consume new craft materials. I am saying that we need to ask harder questions about the impact that our hobbies and/or livelihoods have on the environment, going beyond our individual acts to a critical look at what it takes to make this stuff.

Debra Roby blogs her creative life at A Stitch in Time and her journey to fitness at Weight for Deb.

BlogHer - The Second Carnival of Green Crafts! - Comments

Thanks, Niki!

I updated my blog with

The Second Carnival of Green Crafts!