1. Donate – many schools, community centers, homeless shelters, and other organizations would be happy to take your magazines. Don’t forget about your pals and family members too.
2. Make a nice full color cookbook on the cheap.
3. Help your kiddos to make a super cool DIY dollhouse.
4. Make some amazing coasters or bowls for your own home or to give as holiday gifts.
5. Grab a piece of recycled plywood, the pile of mags and make a chair or make a cool table.
6. Save them up and during the holidays choose festive pages to wrap gifts with.
7. Make homemade stickers for the kids.
8. Make beautiful homemade jewelry – it looks great I promise.
9. Save them, shred them, and use as packing material for a move or holiday gift sending – the benefit over newspaper is no stains on items. You can also simply crumple the pages for packing material.
10. Make the coolest garbage can you’ve ever seen – ironic because you’re keeping mags out of the trash by making it!

What other ideas do you have for old magazines? Really the possibilities are endless. I’ve got a lot of other ideas in my head right now – tell me yours…

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

{via CraftBits}

We’ve been snowed in officially for about a week now, and it’s getting pretty restless around here. You can’t even go for a walk because we have layers of frozen rain and snow, so walking around is iffy. Sigh. If you’re in this fix, or if maybe the kids are home on Christmas break, here are some cool eco-minded last minute Christmas crafts to try…

Above is the really neat paper star wreath. You can use recycled paper and gift wrap to make it. There’s also a really nice paper star napkin holder to make.

Grab a recycled glass jar and make a snow globe.

Recycle an old magazine or paperback book to make your own Santa.

{via Ziggity Zoom}

Make this cute recycled reindeer above with an old plastic bottle and other bits and pieces.

If you have an old paper holiday napkins and tin cans laying around you can make some cool decoupaged holiday cans.

Bought too much packing popcorn this year? Use it to make a recycled popcorn wreath.

{via AllFreeCrafts}

Above is a slightly bizarre, but good way to recycle light bulbs into holiday decor. Many types and examples available, and plenty of tips about how to work with delicate bulbs.

Have fun – hope your weather is better than mine is.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

For example:

Egg Carton Bat…

Plus other Halloween crafts like:

• Recycled Lightbulb Witch
• Recycled Frankenstein Can
• Recycled Pumpkin CD
• Egg Carton Pumpkins

Visit to see all the fun recycled crafts. Also, don’t forget, even if a Halloween craft is not noted as being recycled or earth friendly, you can always take an idea, run with it, and see how you can make it more green.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes and everything else going on at Tree Hugging Family in October 2008

[image via All Free Crafts]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Still, even if you can get them on the cheap, why not make them yourself? This is a great way to recycle cans, and a fun project for kids to help with.

Make your own luminaries:

You’ll need:

• Empty tin cans of any size
• Nails of various sizes – depending on the amount of light you want to shine through, and how delicate you want your design to appear.
• A hammer
• Candles
• Optional items include – paint, vellum paper, glue, and glitter

To make:

1. Make sure your cans are label free and perfectly clean. If the top edge is sharp or jagged, file it down with a metal file stick.
2. Fill your cans with water and pop them in the freezer.
3. While your water freezes decide on a design. Kids can draw a simple design on paper, or you can look for some templates. One thing that works great for luminary templates are those old craft and crochet books you see at thrift stores. There are usually some nice flower, snowflakes, and vintage looking patterns in these books.
4. Once your water is frozen pull out one can and tape your design onto the can.
5. Take your nails and hammer dots along your pattern design. The ice keeps the can from bending.
6. After your design is hammered into your can, allow the ice to melt, and dry your luminary.

Options:

Homemade luminaries look good plain, but you can also decorate them. You can paint on a light coat of glue and sprinkle your luminary with glitter. You can paint your luminary or cover it with vellum paper. If you paint or cover your can, you’ll need to go back over your design and re-punch out some holes (with just a nail).

Design ideas: 

Luminaries are perfect for all the cool weather holidays. You can hammer pumpkins or graveyards for Halloween, leaves for Thanksgiving, and snowflakes for the winter holidays. If you’re having a dinner party you can aim for an elegant design like vines of flowers or tiny stars. If you get good at making luminaries you could even give a set as a gift.

Give this recycled project a try with your kids and have fun.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in September 2008

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Recycled Blooms: Ok, this may seem like a spring-based craft, but consider making some autumn toned blooms for the Thanksgiving table this year – cheaper than real organic flowers for sure, and your kids will be proud to have their blooms displayed.

[Craft image via Parents Magazine]

Eco-Friendly Halloween Crafts: Instructions are included for Egg Carton Bats, Egg Carton Spider, Milk Jug Pumpkin, Pumpkin Masks, Ghost Windsock, and a Toilet Tissue Roll Bat.

[Craft image via Kiwi Magazine]

It’s a little early to plan for winter holidays but I can’t resist these cute recycled pumpkin pie tin crafts. The point – save your pie tins and recycle them into fancy tree trimmings.

[Craft image via Family Fun Magazine]

Have fun!

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in September 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Voting ends tomorrow. So right now you can go vote or even still submit, if you’re quick. There are all kinds of things to see at the event page. I picked out a variety of interesting entries… 

• Easy Recycled Compost Barrel
• Solar Powered Trike
• How to Turn Junk Mail and Paper into Very Nice Bowls
• Film Canister LED Flashlight
• A sort of odd butter pen
• Make Your Own Biodiesel Processor
• And more.

There are some very cool items entered, and also some that might make you go hmmm? But it’s fun to see everyone being creative.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

Colorful envelopes made out of old magazine or calender pages.

Bird feeder from a milk carton

One of their links will take you to the KinderArt Art From Recycled Materials page, which is great. You’ll find stuff like…

• Egg cup flowers
• Keychain
• Art Savers
• A Bug Village
• And lots more

Another of their links will shoot you over to the Goddess of Garbage a dumpster diving, creative sort, who makes things like candle holders from found objects.

Plenty of reuse projects for the whole summer. Plus at the bottom of the creative reuse project you’ll find some cool reuse links, that will take you to even more reuse ideas.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

Post from: Tree Hugging Family