Recycled Watercolor Bunting

My daughter loves to paint. Oh, boy, does she love to paint. She's such a fan, I have to keep paints and a jar of water out at all times for her to paint throughout the day. Since I can't keep every single painting she has ever made, I have to come up with some other ideas for what to do with them. Here's an idea for a pretty bunting made from recycled watercolor paintings. I hung ours over my daughter's play area.

Recycled Bat and Pumpkin

Halloween is my favorite time of year! I have craft ideas I've been saving up all year long until October rolls around and we can finally pull them out. So far this week, we've made a little recycled vampire bat and a festive pumpkin that will make a great centerpiece for Thanksgiving as well.


For the pumpkin, you can use any size brown paper bag. We used craft paper that was used to pack some items that arrived in the mail. I balled up some of the craft paper and wrapped a square piece around it which I tied tightly at the top with a piece of yarn. I let my daughter paint the pumpkin and once it was dry, we used a brown chenille stem for the vines and some green construction paper for pumpkin leaves. I just pushed the tip of the chenille stems through the base of the leaves before curling the ends with a pencil.


The bat is made from a toilet paper tube. Fold the top of the tube in half to create a crease on each side, then fold the two top sides down into each other to make ear shapes. Paint the entire bat black. Once dry, you can glue on googly eyes or paper eyes or you can paint them on. We used red glitter and glue to make sparkly, spooky eyes. Little scraps of white paper glue on for the teeth. The wings are just hands traced on construction paper and cut out. You could also make some super cute owls the same way using brown construction paper and leaving the toilet paper tube unpainted.

Recycled Inch Worm Catarpillar

Here's a simple, cute, recycled craft I made with my three year old using one old paper towel tube. You could also use a couple of toilet paper tubes. Cut the sections out and secure them together at the bottom using staples. I let my daughter paint the whole thing green (she loves getting to do the painting part of crafts) and then we glued on a face and stuck chenille stem antennae through his head once he was all dry. It's surprisingly sturdy and my daughter loves carrying it around the house and playing with it.

Jellyfish in a Bottle

If this little homemade jellyfish in a bottle isn't just THE coolest thing ever, I don't know what is. Thanks so much to Bhoomplay's Blog for sharing this fantastic idea!

How to Make Your Own Hourglass

I love this activity from Paris Bourke. All you need are a couple of bottles or jars, some twine, glue, sand or salt and you're set. What a great way to teach kids about passing time. You could also use it if you do time outs and need a timer or if you time things like hand washing. They are also pretty enough to set out as decorations, maybe in a nautical themed bathroom.

Green Gift Wrap

Do you want to green your Christmas but just can't give up your pretty pattered wrapping paper? You don't have to! How about buying some beautiful Christmas themed cloth, seaming the edges and using it to wrap your gifts furoshiki style? This beautiful Japanese style gift wrap can be used again and again. Head over to Etsy for their Storque article on how to create these lovely gifts.
In addition to tying, you can sew reusable cloth gift bags for your friends and family. They can reuse the bags as totes or gift wrap. Christmas fabric looks very festive for the holidays and other prints can be used year-round. Check out these cute bags available from Lucky Crow or if you're handy with a sewing machine, make some of your own! Sewing bags and flat pieces of cloth for wrapping is great practice for kids just learning to sew.

Do you have any old canisters? It's easy for kids to make these beautiful recycled gift cans using paper, glue and a little bit of ribbon. These handy cans can be reused again and again. Head on over to Crafty Nest to see how to make them.

Instead of buying plastic made-in-China bows this year, why not make your own gift wrap bows? Check out The Hybrid Chick for directions on how to make this easy craft yourself from wrapping paper, felt or recycled materials.

Here's an oldie but goodie from She Knows Parenting. Wrap gifts using 100% recycled butcher paper or brown paper grocery bags. Use homemade stamps to make your own prints.

Recycled Earth Day Binoculars and Nature Journal

I just love this cute binocular and nature journal set from Our Big Earth made from recycled materials. It reminds me of being a kid and running around with a toilet paper tube, pretending it was a spyglass. This would make a great project for Earth Day or every day!

Recycled CD Clock

If you are looking for a beautiful and unique gift, try making one of these simple CD clocks. Kids can purchase the clockwork kits in almost any craft store and most are very simple to put together. Kids learn about recycling and reusing as well as how clocks work and how they are made. This awesome find came from In the Know. They also have lots of other fantastic ideas (awesome lamp, anyone?) on other ways you can reuse those old CDs rather than send them to a landfill.

Recycled Carton Wallet

How awesome is this wallet made from a used juice carton? It's definitely unique and a fun craft for older kids. What better way to teach about recycling and reusing old things? Head on over to the Disney Family Fun site to see the tutorial on how to make one of your own.

3D Paper Ornaments

These three-dimensional paper Christmas tree ornaments from How About Orange would be a great project for a beginner sewer. The ornaments can be made from colored paper as well as recycled magazines and junk mail. Try using wallpaper samples or wrapping paper. You could even reuse something sturdier such as old gift bags. I'm excited to try my hand at them using felt for something a bit more permanent and heirloom-quality.

Recycled Bottle Cap Magnets

I love these fun and adorable magnets featured by the Disney Family Fun website and made from recycled bottle caps. In some areas, bottle caps are not recyclable. What a fun way to reuse them! Best of all, you can make them from things that you probably already have laying around your house. Now I know exactly what to do with all of those Virgil's Rootbeer caps my husband has been collecting.