Recycled Storage Ideas

Im in the mood for storage solutions right now as I try to organize the house before the baby comes. Here are some great ideas Ive found around the net:

Snack Containers from Baby Formula Cans:

http://junkmailgemsblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/diy-make-snack-storage-cans-out-of-old.html

Stylish Jars:

http://junkmailgemsblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/diy-office-storage-solutionsdont-waste.html

Peanut Butter Jar Storage:

http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com/2008/08/peanut-butter-jars-revised-edition.html

Other containers that I already use:

Film Canisters - great for bringing jewellery on travels, storing push pins, pouring melted wax into for chunky crayons

(kind of a thing of the past in the new digital era but I have purchased them from second hand stores)

Margarine , Sour Cream (etc.) Containers - Crayons, craft supplies, homemade playdough, something to hold paint that isn't easily tipped over

Cigar Boxes - store trip memorabilia, a small doll playset, sea shells, crayons, whatever! (i picked up a few boxes while in Cuba)

Peanut Butter Jars - I store the pieces for different playsets (Littlest Pet Shop, Strawberry Shortcake) in them but now seeing PlumPudding's idea, I plan to attach the lids.

Cappucino Tins - I have used these as craft projects where the kids attach stickers, ribbons, etc to create a little special box, Ive also painted them and used as presents filled with candies or cookies.

Play Dough Containers: Great for snacks to keep in your purse, diaper bag, etc. Use for snacks like cheerios, fruit snacks, crackers, candies, etc.

Also great for small craft supplies like googly eyes, tiny beads, etc.

Hot Chocolate / Ice Tea (Cardboard container with Plastic Lid): I have one Ive painted with a rooster and it stores tea bags. Ive also covered them in twine to give them a different look and used to store some thread, scissors, & pin cushion to have on hand for my hand sewing projects. Could be used to store kid's stuff too like little figurines, puzzle pieces, play kitchen items, etc.

~Any of the above containers also work great for keeping your Christmas Decorations from becoming a mess or breaking~

Easy Halloween Costume - No Sew

My daughter is a Ballerina for her indoor Halloween Parties.

* Dressing her in a white onesie & stockings from her closet.
* Putting her hair up in a bun/ponytail
* Tieing ribbons around her ankles like those on ballet slippers.
* Wearing ribbons around her ponytail
* Complete outfit with a homemade tutu
* A Tiara would be a nice addition (my daughter wouldn't let it stay in)
* A wand or wings would transform into a great Fairy Costume!

* There are so many online tutorials on how to make a tutu. I bought tulle (sometimes called nettings) for quite cheap. I cut into strips about 2" wide. The length depends on how long you want it - keep in mind that the strips will be folded. For the waistband, I used one of my stretchy hairbands. Also saw online people that used a piece of purchased elastic or a length of ribbon. Using two strips, double over so they are now half the length. Loop over the elastic and pull through your loop. Continue with as many as you like until it has the desired fullness. *

The tutu would also be great to make as a Birthday or Christmas present for the child's dress up box!

Make Your Own Loot Bag Favours

Check this link out for some amazing ideas on homemade Loot Bag Favours.

*would also be items that would be great as Christmas Stocking Stuffers!*

Everything from felt play food, lollipops, superhero masks, etc.

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/2009/10/homemade-party-favors.html

Salt Dough Recipe

Use this for Halloween Decorations, Christmas Ornaments & Decorations, Gift Tags, Placecards, Necklaces, Lapel Pins, Magnets, etc. Could hot glue small ornaments to Greeting Cards too!

Toddler can help mix up the ingrediants, make some 'creations', and/or paint your creations. A project for any age!

½ cup salt
1 cup flour
½ cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth.
If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.

5. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many shapes as you want.

6. Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want. Or insert a paperclip.

7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.

8. Bake for 2 hours.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

10. Paint.

11. When paint is dry, use glitter glue or glitter paint to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.

12. Spray with varnish

13 When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back.


Tips, Techniques, Ideas:
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/creativeclutter/saltornaments.html

TIPS ON COLOURING DOUGH:
* Food colouring (red, green, blue, or yellow). Two or more food colours can be combined to make different colours and shades or for a marbled dough effect.

* Add spices that act as natural dyes e.g. cinnamon, curry powder, saffron or paprika.

* Add cocoa powder or instant coffee for different hues of brown.

* Wearing protective gloves add a little paint to the mixture then knead the dough until the paint is uniformly distributed through the mix.

Some pictures taken from the internet as ideas & examples:

Homemade Birthday Banner

In planning my daughter's Eco-friendly birthday party, I decided to make a banner that I could re-use for the next few years. I already had piles of felt that had been purchased over the years for various projects that had either not happened or not needed as much as purchased.

Materials:

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Cord

Felt - various colours

Scissors

I went with yellow & white pennants as those were the only colours I had enough of in full sheets of felt. (I would have liked to used multiple colours for the penants but wanted to use up what I already had)

I cut out a triangle from one felt sheet and then used it as a template for all of the other triangles. I got three triangles from each sheet of felt.

I drew out the letters on various coloured felt pieces, cut them out, and hot glued them with the ink side down.

To add some more colour to the banner, I used some more triangles and added colourful circles to them. I used these before "Happy" and between "Happy Birthday" and at the end.

The easiest sewing-free way to hang them I thought would be to make little tabs and thread the cord through. Like a tab-top curtain panel would have.

It turned out great and I can't wait to start using it!

Homemade Chunky Crayons - Recycling!

My Aunt found a big bag of crayons at a second hand store, so I went to work at making the chunky toddler crayons I have heard about.

1. Peel off all paper from crayons (kids might enjoy this task!)

2. Cut into small chunks

3. Prepare Pan.

Muffin Tin: use an old one because it will get wax on it and surprisingly it is very hard to remove it all afterwards. Or purchase one from second hand store.

On my first batch, I put pieces of tin foil in each cup (I have heard you can buy muffin cup liners made of foil but haven't seen them). 7 out of 9 cups had wax leak underneath the foil and make a mess. Plus the crayons turned out very wrinkly due to the creases in the foil. * Not recommended unless you use the aluminum liners but I didn't try that.

Second batch, I sacrificed my muffin tin since it already had wax on it from the first batch. I sprayed it liberally with cooking spray. * This worked the best.

4. After preparing pan, pile your crayons chunks. I liked to stick to 2 - 4 colours per cup and grouped each colour together.

5. Turn oven to 250F (no need to preheat, this isn't a cake we're making!) and put muffin tin in. It took about 10 mins. Even if not all the chunks were melted, I turned the oven off and left it inside for awhile.

6. Remove from oven and let cool on counter. When they started to solidify, I stuck them in the freezer. An hour later they popped out so easily.

Option 2: Film Canisters - Place film canisters in a baking pan lined with a piece of tin foil to catch drips. Using a tin can, melt your crayons in the can by placing it in a saucepan with an inch or two of water on the stove. Stir the chunks (wooden skewer worked great) until melted. Pour carefully into film canisters. Some of them I layered a few different colours for a cute effect.

*Unless you want to use a dozen different cans, start with your lightest colour and then reuse for the next darker colour. This way the leftover wax in the can won't distort your colours too much.

Finished product from Film Canisters

Finished product from aluminum foil lined muffin tin.

Finished product from greased muffin tin & my Favourites!

These crayons will be used in the loot bags for my daughter's birthday party and the less pretty crayons will be used at home & our cabin.

I read somewhere that the washable crayons don't work for this. Whatever makes the washable will rise to the top and the kids won't be able to colour with them. Since my crayons were a mixed assortment of unknown brands, I made sure to use some of each type in a muffin cup.

I really enjoyed the project and couldn't stop once I started creating my little masterpieces!

Loot Bags

I made these mini drawstring bags this weekend for the loot bags at my daughter's upcoming birthday party. Im doing a 'green' theme so these are more environmentally friendly than the tradional plastic dollar store variety.

I used scraps of fabric that I have saved over the years and found instructions on the internet.

It was so super easy (I am not an advanced sewer). The instructions were for a certain sized bag but I just 'winged it' with my own sizes depending on the size of scraps I had.

Im hoping the kids (& Moms) will enjoy these and use them for storing little cars, snacks, doll accessories, whatever!

I enjoyed making them (since they were so quick & easy) and made extras of various sizes for myself. Im thinking that perhaps future gifts will be encased in a homemade drawstring bag as well!

Simple Matching Game

I made some matching games for my toddler although at this point she just likes to look at them and I ask "where's the kitty?" etc.


Using Word, I found various clip art and pasted them on the sheet. Two of each shape/animal. I then printed it off and cut them into squares. Simple!

One I made using shapes of different colours and then another with pictures of items she can say the words of (kitty, doggie, milk, cookies, etc.) I also used the laminator at work (ssh! don't tell) and laminated all my little squares to get a bit of use out them.

Easy to bring with you on travels in a small ziploc bag.