Simplify the Holidays 2009: Make your own upcycled decorations
Thanks to all those who participated in the Upcycled Decorating Contest!
We ended up with SIX winning entries. Cast your vote to help us choose the grand prize winner.
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1. Recycled Wire Reindeer
Submitted by Dacelle Peckler, D.V.M
I have recycled wire from various sources, salvaging it from land fills in most cases. I get the wire from hay and straw bales on the area horse farms here in KY and have helped fund my undergraduate, graduate and veterinary medical educational career with these items. I still use them to fund the horses, dogs, cats, and various exotic pets and wildlife that are dumped upon me by people too ashamed to leave a name or any financial donation for the care of an unwanted animal. Thankfully, I am helping the animals on a local level, protecting the earth by using no power tools to make these, saving space in the land fills for other refuse that our fellow Americans make so prolifically on a daily basis and representing Kentucky's equine heritage with hand made ornaments, sculptures, wreaths and other items made of recycled bailing wire, copper wire and other sources. The picture attached is a white tail buck, but I can call it a reindeer. He is made from recycled copper wire from a barn that was torn down a few years ago.
Instructions:
- Go to trash bin, dumpster or other receptacle... or search your house, garage, barn, yard for wire that is NOT asbestos coated!
- Rummage for wire, wipe it clean while wearing a mask to prevent inhalation of micro-particles and contaminants.
- Strip off plastic coating, wipe with a dry lint free cloth, wear gloves and protective eyewear, mask and thick shirt/pants. (Do not do this on your best carpet/flooring!)
- Use your imagination and create anything form the wire that you desire - I have made spooky trees, fish, lions and tigers, horses, giraffes, marlin, eagles, raven, santa claus, rainbows, carousel animals, etc.. I have made hundreds of different items, and so can you, by wrapping and weaving and interlocking the pieces together. Let your imagination run wild, no two will ever come out alike...
- Display with pride your original eco-friendly wire sculpture. If you go buy wire that is not recycled, salvaged, or PCW, then I am not certain you can say the eco-friendly part - but you can certainly be proud of it!
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2. Repurposed Owl Boat
Submitted by Ruth Adams Murray
I transformed this old leaky boat (free), a discarded eyesore with plenty of mildew, into a garden relief sculpture with a little elbow grease and acrylic paint. Then I tied it, temporarily, to a tree for Halloween.
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3. Soap Gift Boxes
Submitted by Wenona Napolitano
Soap boxes (from bath size bars of soap) can easily be transformed into fun little gift boxes. They are the perfect size to use for gift cards or other small little trinkets. They can easily be decorated with paint and any extra items in your craft supply box.
In the photo, one box is painted with red and gold paint and embellished a scrap of old wrapping paper, another box -after painting it with green acrylic paint- three pre-painted wood shapes (purchased at Michael's for less than .25 a piece) were attached with glue.
For the cute snowman box- it was painted blue then scrapbook stickers were added. Another received gold paint and a ribbon to make it simple and elegant. The final box has a more rustic look, painted green and tied up with jute rope and embellished with rusty tin stars. Perfect for a man’s gift.
These soap boxes are small and cute and can easily be made by anyone even the youngest children. Kids can easily decorate them with stickers, scraps of old wrapping paper, cutouts from old Christmas cards, foam shapes or anything on hand in the craft box.
The boxes can be decorated in so many ways and are the perfect size for gift cards. Stuff the box full of tissue and slide the gift card in, that way the receiver still gets to open a gift not just a card. Plus the hand decorated box makes it so much more personal.
To create the elegant gold box in the photo follow the directions below:
Supplies Needed:
- Empty soap box from a bath size bar of soap
- Gold acrylic paint
- Paint brush
- Sheer burgundy ½ to ¾ inch ribbon
Directions:
- Paint the empty box gold, it may take a couple coats to completely conceal anything printed on the box.
- Once the paint is dry cut a piece of ribbon long enough to wrap around the box and create a bow (length will vary since box sizes may vary), cut no shorter than 12 inches
- Place the ribbon flat across the front of the box- make ends equal on each side coming out from the middle of box
- Flip over the box and ribbon, cross the ribbon to go in opposite directions across the back then flip over the box with the ribbon. You should have made a criss cross design with the ribbon.
- Now tie the ribbon in a bow.
- Cut off excess ribbon.
- Fluff bow.
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4. Recycled Gift Bags
Submitted by Sarah Grimm
- Use the front side of a greeting card (or practice first with the back side of the greeting card) Other card stock paper would work as well.
- Fold front side over, leaving approx. ½” gap. Crease tightly with a fingernail.
- Fold gap toward center to be a flap and crease tightly.
- Glue flap piece to inside of side, so it forms a sleeve.
- Use an old CD or other rigid circle (jar lid) as an arc ruler to mark a rounded top, trim off the edges outside the mark.
- Position the ruler to form a reverse arc (making a sort of football shape) & score with a blunt tip (closed scissors or inkless ball point pen) on both sides of that end just rounded.
- Repeat steps E & F on the opposite end.
- Gently encourage the scored lines to fold toward each other and become the flaps that open and close the pillow box.
- Cut a finger pullout notch on the inside flap, and Fold in the scored arc.
- Fold in the top front arc to close the sleeve.
- Attach a ribbon for hanging on a tree, if desired (Use a hole punch in one top
corner below scored arcs).
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5. Bean Seed Garland
Submitted by Charlene Brown
This garland made of seeds can be as long as desired. Instructions are for a 20” completed strand (approximately).
Materials needed:
- 24” piece of Dental floss (Do not use the stretchy kind.)
- Sunflower seeds (approximately 2 tablespoon)
- Red beans (small size – approximately 2 tablespoons)
- Lentils (brown – approximately 1 tablespoon)
- Sewing needle (that will allow dental floss to thread through)
- Glue gun and glue AND/OR craft glue
- Dremel or drill with very small bit, approximately 1/16" drill bit
Instructions:
- Create 12 sunflower stars using four sunflowers seeds. Glue large ends of sunflower seeds together, leaving a small opening in the middle. Glue one lentil onto this side of each sunflower star. Make sure stars are completely dry before handling.
- Drill 35 red beans through the middle (shortest width) with dremel or drill.
- Drill sunflowers stars as close to end as possible on every other arm. (This is where the sunflower stars will be threaded later.) Each sunflower star will have two holes
- Thread needle with dental floss.
- Thread one red bean. Tie any type of knot around this bean to keep floss from pulling through.
- Thread a sunflower star through the two holes by threading down through one hole and carry floss across back (the side WITHOUT the lentil seed). Then thread floss up through other hole.
- Thread the pattern: three red beans and a sunflower star. End with one red bean and tie a knot with floss around bean.
- Lay-out the garland with the back side of each sunflower star facing up (the side WITHOUT the lentil). A long piece of floss should be showing across the sunflower star.
- Glue one lentil securing the floss to the sunflower star and let set/dry completely.
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6. Recycled Magazine Wreath
Submitted by Margaret Fisher, MD
Last Christmas, we decorated a dozen doors at work with wreaths (and other shapes) made from squares of colored paper cut out from Christmas catalogs. Lay out the basic shape with two sided tape then cover with the paper squares, overlapping rows. The wreaths can be made with different themes: this one used a birdseed catalog and had a lot of little bird pictures.