Recycling Projects: Pen & Pencil Organizer

The school season is in full swing now, and I know when I was in school I was constantly loosing my pens and pencils. This organizer can help your child keep all their utensils in one place, and they’ll have fun making it! This project comes from the blog Random Thoughts of a Super Mom.  

Picture courtesy of: Random Thoughts of a Super Mom

 

         Supplies Needed:

         -Cereal box, pancake mix box, snack box, etc.

         -Toilet paper rolls

         -Scrap paper/decorative paper/wrapping paper

         -Glue and tape

         -Markers/paint/paintbrush (optional)

         -Scissors

Recycling Projects: Plastic Bottle Butterflies

Plastic Bottle Butterflies

         Parental supervision may be needed for this project as it requires the use of sandpaper, sharp tacks, and cutting plastic with scissors, which can be difficult.

Picture courtesy of: http://seedtofeedme.blogspot.com/2013/02/butterfly-facts.html

         Supplies needed:

         Empty 2-liter plastic bottle

         180-grit sandpaper

         Scissors

         Paints, paintbrushes

         Marker

         Pins or tacks, a surface to pin on

Recycling Projects: Yoga Mat Recycling

Uses for Yoga Mats

         Does Mom have an old yoga mat she’s planning on throwing out? Don’t let her! There are many fun ways to repurpose a yoga mat. My floor RA showed me this awesome page featuring twenty ways to repurpose a yoga mat, and I picked two to display here on Viridorari. Be sure to visit the page to see many more creative projects!

         Decorative Bulletin Board

 Picture courtesy of: http://www.brit.co/20-creative-ways-to-repurpose-old-yoga-mats/  

      

         Supplies Needed:

         Old yoga mat (preferably colorful, especially for a girl’s room)

         Scissors

         Sewing pins (straight pins), duct tape (optional)

         Nails or Command products (to stick the board to a wall. Command products are less damaging than nails and allow easy removal)

Recycling Projects: Business Card Birds

This project is a great way for you to upcycle old business cards, either the ones you’ve accumulated over the years and don’t need, or you outdated set after you have new ones made. The kids will love this creative little project, and they can decorate their rooms with the end result.

Picture courtesy of: http://earth911.com/work/business-card-crafts/

Supplies needed:

-Two unwanted business cards
-Pencil
-String
-Scissors
-Decorative paper and glue (optional)

Recycling Project: Plastic Bottle Watering Can

It is springtime, and I’ve been discussing various things you can do in relation to gardening on Viridorari. So, for this week’s recycling project, I’m going to show you how to make a watering can for your garden out of recycled bottles (a pretty easy, self-explanatory project) that your kids will enjoy using to help you out in the garden. At the same time, as they use a recycled tool, they will be learning the importance and simplicity of incorporating greener habits into their lives.

    This project requires you to puncture holes into a container. Please supervise your children closely during this step or complete it yourself. The kids will most likely enjoy this project more when it is being used in the garden, rather than actually making it.

Supplies needed:

• Bottle: laundry detergent bottle, juice container, milk jug, etc.

• Awl or nail and hammer

Recycling Projects: Easter Egg Fireflies

My family never got into decorating real eggs for Easter. It takes time, and I was usually bored after the second one. We didn’t hide those eggs, we just decorated the kitchen table with them for a little bit and then ate them. I was all about the hunts. I love Easter egg hunts. I still love them, even though I’m eighteen years old.

Plastic Easter eggs are awesome, because you don’t have to spend all that time painting them, and unlike hard boiled eggs, you can stuff them with goodies. Pocket change, candy, hints for a scavenger hunt, and if you’re lucky, maybe a five or ten dollar bill.

But of course… plastic is not biodegradable and not good at all for the environment. I couldn’t find any specific numbers online, but I think it’s safe to say that we go through a LOT of plastic Easter eggs each spring. And, like most “disposable” items, I’m sure more people throw out their plastic eggs than not.

So, what can you do with all of those eggs you now have laying around? Inevitably, some of them broke. You could recycle the busted ones and save the rest for next year (hopefully you’ll remember you have them before you go out and buy more), you could take them to a thrift shop, you could donate them…

Or, you could repurpose them into something new and fun. I found this project and thought it would be perfect for the month after April. I hope I caught you before you threw them out.

 Easter Egg Firefly Toys/Flashlight

Supplies Needed:

Plastic Easter eggs
Flameless LED tealights (3 pack for a dollar at Dollar Tree)
Pipe cleaners
Duct tape
Scissors
Nail and hammer (can be substituted with glue)
Paint and paint brush/ permanent markers

Recycling Projects: Apple Gift Boxes

Plastic Bottle Apple Gift Boxes

Supplies

• Two plastic bottles of the same size
• Scissors
• Green, yellow, or red acrylic paint and paintbrush
• Brown pipe cleaners
• Green tissue paper or paper rope
• Ribbon (optional)
• Glue (to apply ribbon, optional)

    This simple, adorable little project was borrowed from http://krokotak.com/2013/03/plastic-bottle-apples/ and the end result can become a gift, a house decoration, or a usable container. All of the pictures in this post came from the link above.

Recycling Projects: Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder

Plastic Bottle Bird Feeder

Supplies Needed:

• 2 liter plastic bottle with cap
• String or wire
• Scissors, knife, hole punch, wire cutters
• Wood dowel or chopsticks (used or unused)
• Super glue or hot glue gun
• Ruler
• Spray paint and/or acrylic paint and paintbrushes (optional)
• Bird feed

 This project was adapted from a more decorative, intricate project I found online, which you can find here: http://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/Plastic-Bottle-Birdfeeder#
My version is more simplified. Mine is also less aesthetic, but don't let that discourage you from using your plastic bottle bird feeder. You can customize your bird feeder in any way you like to make it look, well, less like a plastic bottle. The bird feeder made from favecrafts.com is beautiful! So, if you're feeling crafty, check out the link above.

 This project involves some cutting, so please supervise your children or do the cutting for them to make sure they don't get hurt. I'm going to make my own plastic bottle bird feeder as I write this post, and add pictures of my progress as I go!

Recycling Projects: Cereal Box Magazine Holders

Cereal Box Magazine Holders

Supplies Needed:

• Cereal box (or cracker box, or wine box, or pancake mix box, etc.) about 10.5 inches tall
• Scissors
• Glue and/or tape
• Ruler
• Markers, crayons, colored pencils, stickers, paint, paintbrush etc.
• Construction paper, scrap paper OR
• Wrapping paper, designed paper

This will be a fun project for the kids that will allow them to draw and color and be creative. Be sure to supervise them with cutting the boxes, or do it for them, so they don’t get hurt and so the measurements are done correctly. If you’re going to let them do the cutting, it might be easier to mark the boxes beforehand so they know where to cut. Also, avoid buying new paper for this project. Use paper that you already have! Reduce, reuse, recycle!