Create Craft
17 Eco-Friendly Arts and Crafts Projects (For Kids & Adults Alike!)
It might be time to reconsider your approach if you enjoy browsing the aisles of your neighbourhood craft store to gather supplies. While looking through new materials can be entertaining, it is not necessarily environmentally friendly. In addition, you probably already have the necessary materials; they may just be hiding in your waste can.
Styrofoam, used milk cartons, broken crayons and toilet paper rolls may all be used as excellent art supplies. All you have to do is learn how to use them.
Repurposing and upcycling these products will cut down on your trash while producing something fresh and useful, benefiting both you and the environment.
I’ll be showing you 15 various arts and crafts projects today that are appropriate for both kids and adults, most of which use supplies you may already find at home. For each thing on the list, I’ll also include instructions or a link to a tutorial.
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1. Eggshell Mosaics
When you next hard boil eggs, preserve the shells and create colourful mosaics with them. Children in the preschool and elementary grades will enjoy making this craft.
Use food colouring to dye the eggshells various colours, then ask the kids to create an image on some paper. Then, assist your children as they glue the shells onto their artwork. Display them on your refrigerator after giving them a glossy, completed coat of hairspray.
2. Styrofoam Stamps
Do you happen to have any styrofoam packaging lying around? It will take decades for that to degrade, so don’t toss it out. Make stamps out of the material instead by reusing it.
Only a few more supplies, such as tacky glue and scissors, are required for this project. After finishing, you’ll have a selection of handmade stamps you may use to embellish stationery or create framed artwork.
Step 1: On the flat piece of polystyrene, draw a design. This will be the look of the stamp. Make sure the letter or word you are designing will appear correctly (and not backwards) when it is stamped on paper.
Step 2: Use scissors to cut out the drawn pattern.
Step 3: on make a handle, glue the stamp design on the underside of another piece of styrofoam. Or, to make it seem prettier, you could glue the pattern onto a wooden or cardboard handle.
3. Bedazzled Pinecones
This craft is actually rather easy to make. On your next stroll through the neighbourhood or a nearby park, collect some pinecones. Once at your house, decorate them with glitter, paint, or googly eyes.
If you’re feeling very crafty, you might use essential oils or a combination of spices to make them into potpourri. Put them in a bowl and set it on the bathroom vanity or another surface in your house that can benefit from some freshening up.
4. Homemade Marble Crayons
Use broken crayons to create new ones by melting them down. A muffin pan and several used, unwrapped crayons are all you need. Place the bits and pieces in the tins before baking them.
For marbling crayons with different hues, either group like colours together or mix & match. Draw away after removing them from the tin once they have cooled and hardened.
5. Wind Socks
Make windsocks out of used oatmeal and toilet paper rolls to hang on your porch instead of throwing them away. Kids will love making this activity because all you need are some simple art items like markers, glitter, string, and whatever else you choose to use to adorn the socks with.
Even better, you could hang some bells from one end and use it as a wind chime.
6. Twig Vase
Pick up some twigs while you are out searching for pinecones as well. Break them up into sections that are roughly the same length. As a template, arrange the twigs vertically all around the vase. Next, hot glue the twigs together.
As a basis, tall, cylindrical vases perform well.
You can take the vase out once the adhesive has dried and replace it with a fresh twig vase. Add a ribbon for extra style, or wrap the package in twine for a beautiful rustic look. Enjoy your new, outside atmosphere by lighting a candle.
7. Pressed Flowers
Despite being practised for centuries, his art is remarkably straightforward and is still in demand today. Pick some gorgeous flowers, leaves, and petals from your backyard, your favourite botanical garden, or a nearby forested area.
Then, press them to make sure they are dry and flat. The end result can be used in a variety of ways, including making bookmarks, phone cases, candles, frames, and card decorations. You have a plethora of choices.
8. Plastic Bottle Planters
Particularly in our oceans and delicate ecosystems around the world, plastic is a major problem. By repurposing plastic containers as planters, you can reduce your trash.
Herbs and succulents thrive in plastic water bottles, while larger containers like milk cartons and milk jugs are ideal for larger plants. Just cut the pots in half, decorate them however you like, and then plant your preferred flower, veggie, or other leafy green buddy within.
9. Crochet Water Balloons
Traditional water balloons encapsulate the joy of childhood and warm summer days. It’s practically hard to make sure you’ve picked up every last piece of rubber, though, until the last balloon has popped.
Of course, it’s not very environmentally friendly to leave your yard covered in water balloon fight debris. These crocheted water balloons are useful in that situation. Make it, soak it, and then throw it—shrapnel-free! The nicest aspect is that they can be used year after year.
10. Magazine-Coil Jewelry & Art
It will take some patience to complete this task, but with perseverance and hard effort, you can create some extremely attractive art pieces or necklace pendants with nothing more than some magazines, scissors, and glue.
Cut a magazine page into long, thin strips, and then roll each strip into a tight coil to create the individual coils. If you want your coil to be larger, you can fold the strips into many layers before rolling them together. Put them together with glue or tape after rolling the coil.
Also available here are more comprehensive instructions.
11. Magazine Beads
You may also make paper beads for a bracelet or necklace out of magazines as an alternative. For additional information, view the YouTube video down below:
12. Button Jewelry
What are you going to do with all those extra buttons in your sewing supplies? Of course you produce jewellery! Although there are countless items you can create with buttons, bracelets could be the most straightforward and family-friendly choice.
For fast jewellery that is both stylish and environmentally sustainable, simply thread them together and tie or clip them around your wrist. Simply tear the bracelet off when you become tired of wearing it and reuse the buttons for anything else.
13. Wallpaper and Calendar Cards
Use extra wallpaper you have after remodelling your home to create one-of-a-kind stationery. Utilising your scrapbooking abilities, fold the paper into cards and further personalise them.
Adding stamps, bows, ribbons, and stickers to your wallpaper stationery is a great idea. If you have any old calendars, you can also cut out scenery and photographs and use them to embellish presents. Just be sure you use hemp-based tape, which is both natural and biodegradable.
14. Patchwork Blankets
Using leftover fabric and used t-shirts, create a vibrant patchwork blanket. This simple craft is excellent for newcomers. It’s also very configurable.
You are free to use whatever materials you have on hand to create your quilt in any size you desire. With this project, you may avoid purchasing additional blankets and prevent the environment from needlessly absorbing your leftover fabric scraps. Additionally, these quilts make wonderful presents for loved ones and acquaintances.
15. Jar Photo Snow Globes
These picture snow globes (made from any clear jar or container) are a beautiful way to display pictures and memories. Decorate the outside of the jar with paint, glitter, or ribbon, and add some cotton swabs inside to give the impression of snow. Then, add your picture inside and you’re done!
You can find more detailed instructions over at Parenting.com, where I found this DIY craft project.
16. Mason Jar Sewing Kit
Mason jars are sometimes used for items like store-bought jams and nut butters. Give your empty ones a second life as a sewing kit rather than throwing them away. All of the smaller things will comfortably fit within the jar, and the pincushion will sit on top of the lid. By doing this, you can carry your whole kit wherever you go in case you need to do an emergency repair. Make a couple extra and give them to your friends if you want to.
17. Eco-Dough
Your children will like this eco-friendly playdough from Eco-Kids if you have kids or are a teacher. This dough is safe for moulding, kneading, and shaping because it is created from only natural components.
Essential oils give the dough a subtle scent and keep it flexible for extended play sessions. If you want to do even more DIY, you can create your own version of this name-brand dough with only four ingredients and at a far lower cost.