1. Grocery Store: ask the produce manager for berry baskets. (they
are
usually willing to give you some if you ask).
· you can weave strips of material through
the sides and make a cute
basket. It's a good size for 3.5 diskettes [B: Colors and Shapes]
· If you cut the bottom, you can paint and
sprinkle with glitter and you
have snowflakes
2. Collect tin cans (clean, no label)
· cover with an old map = and you have a pencil
holder. Could also use
Christmas Cards or wrapping paper...
· fill with ice and freeze. The hammer
nails through the sides and top
in a design (the can will be upside down, so the 'top' was the bottom)
-
place over a candle. [You can also poke hole in frozen juice can ends,
hang
on a string and use in a window or the tree] [B: Me and My Shadow,
J:
Popular Arts]
· paint. Fill with dirt and a plant.
[B: I think Plants has a step like
this]
3, CD's (like AOL, etc.
· glue labeled sides together, leaving shiny
side out.
· decorate with stickers or paint [cut sponges
into shapes and decorate
that way] [B: Colors and Shapes]
4. Nature crafts:
· collect gum balls and make gum ball racers
- Glue 2 sycamore balls together [think
snowman], glue to 2 craft
sticks [think skis], the poles are 2 toothpicks.
You can use
glove-fingers as a hat.
- you can also make spiders for Halloween
with these
· pine cones
- decorate with paint, glitter, small objects
to make trees
- attach a wooden circle (see dowel) as a
head and make an angel
- smoosh flat and do the same
- can decorate with feathers or construction
paper to make turkeys for
Thanksgiving
- service: tie string on the pinecone, slather
with peanut butter,
roll in birdseed and hang outside for the
birds) [B: check Wildlife]
· kudzu
- makes great wreaths - all sizes.
4. paper towel roll:
· cut into sections, cover with fabric - make
a drum ornament
· cut in thirds, cover with paper and tie
the ends (after hiding small
items inside) and make a popper (English) for New Year's
· cut into 2 inch widths - cover and make
napkin rings as Christmas
gifts
5. yarn
· God's Eyes (pattern included)
· yarn dolls [B: Puppets and Dolls]
· friendship bracelets
6. old mattress pads - make snowmen ornaments by cutting into snowman
shape
and stitching up side - then decorate.
Basically, if you're tight on money, look at the material you have or
can
reasonably ask for - and then brainstorm until you can figure out how
to
use it. The WAGGGS_L, an internet newsletter, has letters all
the time "I
have ____ - what can I do with it" and the suggestions are just truly
amazing.
Come up with a list you can ask the parents for - and then ask.
Ask others
as well ? always politely and always willing to take no for an answer.
My recycle request list [partial] is
1. the ends from frozen juice containers
2. tin cans
3. old maps
4. baby formula containers
5. film canisters
6. material scraps
7. yarn
8. CDs (I have a standing request for these at work - they
used to throw
them away)
9. berry baskets
10. corks
11. old puzzles
12. Christmas cards
13. Ratty old beaded car seats (the beads are wonderful!!)
14. Ask Home Depot, etc for their old wallpaper books
15. Home Depot also has a great Oops paint bin (paint?s about
$1 a quart -
but you have limited choices]
16. Basically anything else that someone brings me and ask me
- does this
look like something you could use?
If you know now that you will have tight circumstances in a year, plan
ahead and buy stuff on sale at the end of the holiday season:
1. satin balls (for Rudolph)
2. glass balls (these look really pretty with paint swirled
inside)
3. felt
4. garland.
********************
1. check out the Girl Scouting/Guiding Resource center
(www.cais.net/cwelch/gsrc) ....they have tons of ideas. Specifically, you
might want to click on "craft ideas A-Z" and then scroll down to
"recyclable
swaps". Good luck!
Angelia
**********
2.Tops from Milk cartons, magnet on the back, inside the top stick pastas
and
pulses etc of different colours. Can be painted if desired.
Eileen
**********
3. a. use the bottom half of a milk jug to make a hanging flower pot.
Decorate with colored pens or paints make a scallopped edge etc.
then
punch
4 holes equal distances around the top of the pot and put a hanger in it.
b. Make a watering can for the garden by punching holes in one side of
the
top of a jug after you have decorated it. Leave the lid on.
c.Cut the bottom off of an old milk jug and then cut vertical slits in
it
about 3/4 inch apart. take some pretty fabric or ribbon and weave
it in and
out between the slits. Cut a handle from the top part of the bottle
and use
paper fasteners to attach them. Voila you have a pretty little basket.
You
could even go so far as to line it with more material.
d.Make newspaper recycling boxes by taking large cardboard boxes placing
a
hole in the middle of each side to put string through then decorating the
outside.
e. Make tin can candle lanterns by punching holes in the side of
a tin
can
then placing a candle inside it (you can even make candles from melting
those
old pieces of candle you have around the house)
Laurie Schultz
**********
4. if it's cold where you live, you might consider making fire-starters.
There
are 2 ways:
Firestarter 1:
Egg Carton (cardboard ones, not styrofoam)
Dryer lint or sawdust
Wax (can be crayons, old candles, etc.)
Cut top off of carton. Stuff with lint or sawdust. Melt wax
and pour over
each one. Poof! You now have 12 fire starters.
Firestarter 2:
Old newspapers
String or yarn
Wax (again, old crayons, old candles, etc.)
Cut newspaper into 3 inch strips. Have girls roll several layers
into a
tight
roll. Tie with string and dip into melted wax. let dry.
Angelia
**********
5. We made simple pot pourri drawer perfumers. You just need to collect
the
fluted bottoms of soft drink bottles. size doesn't really matter but if
you
use the small ones you need less pot pourri to make a lot. Just cut the
fluted
part off the bottom, there is usually an indentation just above it. To
get
started squeeze the centre of the bottle flat and cut with sharp scissors.
You fill the base with pot pourri or lavender then cover the top with a
porous
chiffon type fabric, glueing it in place so the pot pourri can't escape.
Trim
this neatly then finish of with a piece of lace edging and a ribbon bow.
these
can be made by girls of all ages.
Kay Pingel
**********
6a. 2 liter pop bottles can be made into "wind socks" by cutting
off the top
and bottom of the bottle. You are left with a cylinder of plastic.
use
paint
pens to decorate the cylinder. Punch 3 holes with a hole punch around
the
top
of the cylinder and tie string in the holes. Gather the 3 strings
together
and tie them onto the little plastic ring that is left on the top of the
bottle after you remove the cap. This becomes your hanger.
Now cut strips
of
light weight colored plastic streamers. Use the hole punch around
the
bottom
of the cylinder and tie the streamers in the holes.
b.Bird feeders can also be made from 2 liter bottles with dowel rods run
thru the middle as perches and small holes placed above each perch.
c. Humming bird feeders can also be made out of smaller bottles.
The
little
"flower" things they drink from can be purchased at pet supply
stores.
d. Anything sold in pretty, decoated recycled jars (babyfood or small pickle
jars) could sell well.
Verna Price
**********
7. Found this web site from the list a few months back. It might
be
helpful.
Someone sent it to the list about the rainsticks and also about the
luminarias. All the crafts at this site are made from recycled materials.
<A HREF="http://users.hsonline.net/kidatart/">Marilyn's
Imagination Factory
</A>
Theresa Rose
**********
8.Glass lit fragrance Bowl:
1 string 25 ct white christmas lights (buy after christmas about 3/$1.00)
1 5 1/2" Ivy Bowl, clear ($.66 at craft store)
scented pot pourri (1 cup loosely packed)
1 5" white cotton croched doily
12" of 1/8" ribbon (red?)
1 mini rose flowerette
18" mini pearl string, cut in 3 lengths
Hot glue gun
Put some potpourri in the bowl, wind in the lights, leaving the plug end
and
about 12" outside the bowl, add more potpourri til full. Set doily on
top,
secure with ribbon, tie a knot. Hot glue the pearls and rosette onto the
knot.
Plug in and enjoy the scent as the heated lights warm the potpourri.
We did this project with 1 adult helping 3 at a time, at a 3rd yr Brownie
Christmas project. It was the mom's idea, and she brought everything needed,
to help the girls make a special gift for their moms for Christmas. Average
cost per finished project: about $1.60. I took mine to work today
and have
had many compliments, people said they would pay from $7.50 to $10 for
one
item. Another said she saw the same type item, only much larger,
at a craft
show, selling for $39.50!
Terri Hartman
**********
9a. At a recent craft fair, I saw refrigerator magnets made from juice
can
lids. They had glued a magnet on the back of the juice can.
The front were
either painted or had some fabric glued on. They had a lot of them
painted
yellow with the smiley face. But the fabric and lace ones were pretty too.
For earth day, you could paint it to look like a globe.
b. Do you have any local plant items that can be made into something?In
Tucson, devil's claws can be painted to look like a deer (reindeer in
wintertime).
c. At day camp, my daughter made a picture frame from cardboard covered
with
scraps of wrapping paper. This one might not sell as well, it's more
a
"my
kid made this" type of momento (ie it really looks like a kid made it!)
You
could also do this with fabric, like the fabric covered photo album covers.
d. Has anyone made stationery from recycled paper? Whenever my kids
do
this is comes out grey and lumpy, but I've heard you can use colored dryer
lint to color the paper.
e. Melt crayons in muffin tins to make big multi-colored blocks of
crayons.
This would have a very limited group of buyers though.
f. How about a bookbag made from old jeans. Isn't that what people
have
given directions for in the past? If your girls are real good sewers,
they
could make vest from old jeans. My mother-in-law has a friend who
makes
these
and has more orders than she know what to do with. I don't know how
many
sizes you would need. This lady obviously makes them to order.
g. Scruncies from left-over fabric. (this assumes you know people
who sew
and have scraps left)
Sally Garnaat
**********
10. Baskets from newspapers, I'll try to explain this basket but you might
have play around with it because I don't know how many pieces of paper
are
used. You fold newspaper long ways. Kind of like a fan but you don't have
to
do the accordian style. Maybe about an inch and a half wide. Thats the
part
I
had trouble with. Then I wove 4 strips of paper together to make the bottom
part of the basket. This will leave room to do the sides. Then you weave
strips around to make the sides of the basket put a piece of tape to hold.
Make sure it is tight as you go along. I know this is really hard to follow
because it is really hard to explain. I hope you understand these
directions.
If not let me know and I will try to explain better.
Val
**********
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed! I'm sure I will be using many
of
these ideas for our upcoming event.
YIS
Dianne Hegarty (ScottyGS@aol.com)