recycled crafts

Currently making Christmas teddy s from scrap fabrics.

My mum kept all the little dresses my sister and I had grown out of , and cut them into squares and made a patchwork quilt ( on the sewing machine)
I still look at it and remember my favourite childhood dresses! (especially the one with the Three Blind Mice design!)

thats what i want to do! i saved all my babies clothes from newborn to two but im scared ill cut them up and mess them up cuz ive never made a quilt before

Its easy to do if you have a sewing machine...cut the squares al the same size, make a row by sewing them side to side, then sew the long strips of patches together ( hope this is clear, I'm not very good at explaining! but I can send you a diagram if you like)
The inside of the quilt my mum made was a slightly worn out cot blanket! so it was all recycled stuff, although that was done for economy reasons, rather than ecological

Nora -I like your Mum's style.I took all my hubbies green shirts and made them into a hands and hearts quilts. Also see my "Starry night hanging".These were my son's cut-offs and remains of my fav denim skirt.
I also tried to make a plaited coil rug which turned into a bowl as i sewed it up !

Debs....I love your projects, you've put me in the notion to get the sewing machine out. I also fancy trying to making a rag rug, but I'm not sure how to do it :S

I find old candles at thrift stores and melt them into new ones.. thats my idea of recycling.

i use absolutely everything. lately weve been buying a lot of things that are packaged in that thick, pliable clear plastic that SHOULDNT be disposable because its so durable and great for other stuff...... so i save it all in my craft cupboard. idk if hes figured that out yet or not.... ;)

anyway, i tend to use recycled things a lot of the time in my general crafting; you can check out my stuff and see if anything appeals, or if you get any ideas of unusual things to use. i find that it works out best if i decide what to make and then what to use to make it, rather than the other way around. for example, my little witch hat: i decided to make it, couldnt find felt in this town, and ended up using a cheap shammy and an old tshirt that had been turned into a rag instead.

hope i helped! :-D

I just made a magazine bowl (i think there was one posted about 3 weeks ago) I used about 4 small magazines and made a bowl covered it in Mod! It actually came out pretty cool- just haven't posted a pic yet! I use pizza boxes, magazines, jars, cans you name it I will try to come up with something for it!

I thinks thats whats great about being crafty, using things around you. What do u use old pizza boxes for?

I use old newspapers to make patterns and glass jars to hold things in. I also use scraps of fabric as stuffing.

pizza boxes-either the frozen ones or take out (local pizza) i use the clean parts when something askes for chipboard. I made a stencil for my album art project out of a pizza box! It worked pretty good! Just make sure to use a clean part, grease is no good! and I also made a little coffin with it for Halloween...came out kinda crappy so no post! LOL

Not sure if you have little jars or baby food jars (since you had formula boxes), wrap them with wire and add some beads so you can hang it up, then put a little tea light inside. They make beautiful candles. Here is one that I made- http://www.flickr.com/photos/8069904@N02/2174488772/

I'm a recycle artist, so everything in my etsy is recycled. I use a lot of wire and glass, old jewelry, old bowls etc.

I've been using 2 ltr coke bottles alot for all types of things, but mainly to make these cute yard stakes that look like flowers. Want to post a how to but I'm so busy!! I have a few how to to post after I get caught up.

My latest project involves recycling old sweatshirts in to quilts. I cut the sweatshirts into squares, sew them together, and back it with a cheap/donated fleece blanket (people have tons of these that they no longer use). I give them away to the homeless people in my community. Once a few people find out you're doing this don't be surprised to see a flood of unwanted sweatshirts coming your way.