I thought I would start the day off by giving you a list of goodies that you might come in contact with in your every day life that you could use in your crafting. Mind you this is only a partial list...I'm sure if I sat and thought about this long enough I could come up with a list triple the size but this is good to get you going!
Acetate Packaging
Bags
Baseball Cards
(or other sports)
Beaded Lace or Appliques
(from gowns, prom dresses, handbags, etc)
Beaded Curtains
(like the hippie love bead things you hand in door ways.)
Belts
Berry Baskets
Books
(discarded, damaged, out of date, etc)
Bottle Caps
Bottles
(glass or plastic)
Bread Bag Closers
(the plastic things)
Bubble Wrap
Buttons
CD’s
Candy Wrappers
Cans
(food)
Cardboard
(packing, tubes, etc)
Calendars
(large & small - the photos and date pages are great!)
Chain
(from anything…jewelry, toys, mechanical things)
Chop Sticks
Christmas Cards
Coins or Paper Money (Chok Keun)
Cloths Pins
Coasters
(the type from bars/restaurants)
Coffee Filters
Corks (Nancy)
Cracker Jack's Toys (Nancy)
DVD’s
Dictionaries
(I know this is a book but I LOVE dictionaries – so much fun and so useful!!!)
Egg Cartons or Trays (Chok Kuen)
Encyclopedias
(ditto on what I said about dictionaries)
Envie's with Neat Linings (Nancy)
File Binders
(those metal bendy things that hold paper in a file folder)
File Folders
(some places toss them when they become worn)
Film Canisters
Flash Cards
Foil
(tin foil, candy foil, gum foil)
Games & Game Pieces
(paper, cardboard, dimensional pieces – it’s all good!!)
Garland
(from Christmas trees)
Gift Wrap
Greeting Cards
Hair Accessories (Chok Kuen)
(hair pins, clips, bands, etc)
Handwritten anything
(in this day and age it’s hard to find anything handwritten)
Jars
(large, small, and everything in between)
Jeans
(tags, zippers, pockets, etc)
Jewel Cases
Jewelry
(junk, broken, etc)
Juice Lids
(the metal pieces on each end)
Keys
Key Chains (Chok Kuen)
Labels
(from clothing, packaging, food, etc.)
Lace or Trim
Leather Scraps (Chok Kuen)
Leaves (Nancy)
Lids
Magazines
Magnets (Chok Kuen)
Maps
Match Boxes (Chok Kuen)
Medicine Cases or Bottles (Chok Kuen)
Medicine Cups
(like from cold meds – great for mixing small amounts of paint, inks, UTEE, etc)
Mesh Bags
(like what onions, potatoes, fruits come in)
Metal Parts
(from various gadgets…I always find something cool on dh’s workbench!)
Nails
(I have some AWESOME copper nails I found in a box of junk)
Newspaper
Paper Clips
Placemats
Playing Cards
Pop Cans
(tabs, can-for metal)
Post Cards
Puzzles
(with missing pieces)
Rubber Stamp Scraps
(like from unmounted stamps you have to cut out)
Silverware
(trust me on this one…I’ve got some fun projects planned for this!)
Sizzix Containers
(you know the clear plastic ones the dies come in – LOVE them!!)
Skewers
Stamps
(from letters or packages)
Straws
Tags
(from new items)
Thread Spools
(wood or plastic)
Thumb Tacks (Chok Keun)
Ticket Stubs
Tins
(from cookies, candy, etc.)
Tissue Paper (Chok Keun)
Tokens
(bus, subway, game rooms, etc)
Toothbrushes
(to use with inks, paints, etc.)
Trading Stamps
Tree Branches (Chok Keun)
Twist Ties (Smullis)
Tyvek Envies (Nancy)
Wallpaper
Washers
(like you’d use with nuts & bolts)
Watches
(broken, parts, etc)
Wire from Spiral Bound Notebooks
Wood Boxes, Containers
Wooden Nickels
(some places still give these away)
Zippers
(from clothing)
Till then, have a wonderfully GREEN Earth Day!!!
Thanks for the reminder to recycle materials in crafting. I have been collecting stuff, but keep forgeting to use it...
ReplyDeleteI too recycle in my cards and canvases. What a great list. It's a keeper. Would love to see some of your projects using some of the items.
ReplyDeleteVal
bigsister_val at hotmail dot com
OMG! I just went thru your list line by line and discovered that I have in my basement everything on the list except for baseball cards and an encyclopedia...In addition, I'd add corks from wine bottles (you can carve them to make small stamps), trinkets from cracker jack boxes and other sources, tyvek envelopes (for painting and melting), envelopes with interesting linings, dried leaves from the neighbor's yard....can you picture what my basement looks like? lol
ReplyDeleteGreat Earth Day recycle list!! Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteSome great things on this list - I am curious to know what you can use rubber stamp scraps for?
ReplyDeleteOooh, oooh, oooh - I can answer that, xxsimplethingxx, and Roni will be along too with her input, too, I am sure!
ReplyDeleteYou can use the scraps from rubber stamps to make new and different stamps. For example, take a bunch of the little pieces of cut off rubber and stick onto a block for a cool mosaic design you can stamp.
Great list. I don't have anything to add yet, but wait until I've had more caffeine. *grin*
On a different topic entirely... Roni - did I miss that you have an Etsy store or is this new? Wow - love the jewelry and the altered art goodies. So fun! I hope you do really well there.
ReplyDeleteIve got to copy your list. I can't think of anything you missed so I will study it LOL. With my DH losing his job last week recyling is about all I can afford.
ReplyDeleteDiane
OK - now that we have all these things we can recycle -- where do we keep them and how do we find them after??? :))
ReplyDeleteSherylH
sjhengen at gmail dot com
Oh Roni, love this list! Help to remind me what stuff lying around the house that can be recycled. Thinking on what to add on the list makes me realised that there are so much more stuff around that can be recycled.
ReplyDeleteTree branches, bird cage and those tissue type of packaging wrap for apparels,beads and sequins from some old apparel /bags , binder clips, old key chains, postcards, brochures or pamphlet, seashells, sand, scrabble tiles, medicine case (can altered and store small embellishments), old coins, old hair clips, hairpins, old table cloth / curtains, egg tray, border /scraps from sticker sheets, ribbons from giftwrap, banners, magnets, thumb pins, thumb tacks, note pad, torn leather piece from old sofa / bags...
The list can just go on and on...
What a great list. There is a lot more to recycle than I ever thought of. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMargriet
Thanks for the quick answer Phinny.. you're a real riot :)
ReplyDeleteAnnie
Just today I picked up a whole bunch of printed music sheets from a charity shop,& as a plus they are already aged!!! Happy Earth Day Roni :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust to add on the list - matchboxes! I participated in swapping of altered matchboxes filled with buttons which is fun and challenging! And also wooden clothes pegs!
ReplyDeleteChok - what a great list you have, too! Thanks for the extra ideas!!
ReplyDeletexxsimplethingsxx / Annie -
ReplyDelete*grin*
i am a fan of recycling! thanks for the list! some to add: soap dispenser, coffee stirrer.
ReplyDeleteOh no, more reasons to hoard stuff!! I am so terrible about tossing anything. My dh is usually perturbed about it because there are times we are knee deep in potential project supplies. But today he handed me a small calender that his dentist gave him and suggested that I use it in my crafts! LOL!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that you were instrumental in my starting to recycle cereal boxes as chipboard in my projects. Here I was, looking at perfectly good chipboard every day and not seeing it!Now I reuse packaging all the time...chipboard, plastic, you name it!
ReplyDelete