Upcycling, recycling, and repurposing found or used items into craft projects is a great way to keep interesting items on display and out of a landfill. Whether used in home decor designs or gift items, as focal points or as project bases, using rescued items helps save money, and the planet!
Just in time for Earth Day on April 22nd, I’m sharing 2 crafty projects featuring upcycled and found items.
The first project is family home decor piece created from an upcycled shadowbox found at a flea market, and various bits and pieces of material scraps, flea market thread spools, window screen, and many other items. While I made this project in 2009, it remains one of my favorites ever. Who would have thought it used to be this old battered box?
The second project is a gift basket of homemade bath salts. I placed each of the bath salt types in a glass jar that used to hold paper flowers for crafting. The jars were the perfect size, and they didn’t have to be thrown away once the flowers were gone. The fabric was a leftover piece from a previous project. While I used a purchased take-out style container, a spare clean take-out container could be used instead. Find out more about this project here: upcycled bath salt gift basket.
I’d love to know what kind of upcycled or recycled materials you use for crafting. Happy Earth Day, thanks for stopping by! Also check out the link party my friend Jen Goode is hosting today at 100directions.com.
Until next time…
C.
Molly Smith
Your shadowbox is gorgeous, Carla. Perfect place for found items. And the bath salt basket is such a nice gift. Love the design.
-Molly
Laura Bray
I love the shadowbox!
Carmen Flores Tanis
Beautiful! What a fun way to show lots of techniques and mini projects. I love it!
Jen Goode
Carla, I love all the different spaces with individual ideas all worked together. So much fun to look at with all that eye candy! Thanks for joining in on the link sharing.