Simple Projects With Recycled Products
Many items that end up in landfills every year can be recycled by giving them a new function, or making them into a stunning work of decorative art. Most vessel-type items can be re-purposed into feeders or a new home for songbirds; clothing can be fashioned into belts, hair bands and jewelry. Dried milkweed pods, branches, twigs and fall leaves can morph into home decorating accents such as Christmas decorations, wall hangings and coasters.
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Recycled Blue Box Items
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Although recycling is environmentally responsible, it's even more satisfying to make something useful and decorative from those plastic water and soda bottles, milk cartons, newspapers and cardboard paper towel rolls. All these items can be transformed into whimsical bird houses, bird feeders and colorful animal sculptures to enliven your garden, using a combination of decoupage, hand painting and paper mache sculpture. In addition to the recyclable items, you will need acrylic paint, outdoor Mod Podge sealer, a craft knife and paper mache base. Look for projects on the Internet or let your imagination direct you.
Recycling Plants and Trees
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Craft projects that use natural plant materials such as flowers and pods or tree bark, branches and leaves are among the most enduring. Bring a little of the natural world indoors to accent your decor -- wall hangings, coasters, Christmas decorations, vases, lamps -- or make plant and tree parts into jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants using crafty techniques such as pressed flowers, rubber stamping, hand painting, resin casting and decoupage.
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Recycling Paper Bags
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A plain, brown paper bag can transform your floors, walls, countertops, coffee tables, cabinets, chairs and even counter tops into masterpieces. Whether you collect the humble paper bag from the grocery store or ask the kids to bring their lunch bags back home, it's easy to accumulate enough bags for this project. Rip the paper into pieces, crumple it for texture, then use a decoupage-like overlapping process using glue or a product like Mod Podge. The finished project is reminiscent of aged leather. Once applied, the bags can also be painted with acrylic paint to complement the color of any decor.
Recycled Books
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For book lovers, it is difficult to part with books, even if they are tattered and worn. One way to preserve the written word is by transforming those well-worn tomes into designer-style hand bags. As long as the basic structure of the book is in good condition, the cover can be spruced up by painting with acrylic paint or decoupaged and sealed with a high gloss sealer. Remove all the pages and line the interior with a luxurious silky fabric that will also serve as side gussets. Add inexpensive bamboo purse handles. Recycled book bags can be further enhanced with Swarovski crystals or gold, silver or copper leaf.
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References
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