creative reuse book: enter submissions now!

Garth Johnson of Craft Family, LLC has just reminded me about a contest I already posted about below. Deadline is this Monday, so get your JPG files ASAP of your repurposed or recycled designs for possible submission into book. HURRY!


Extreme Craft will soon write a new book in their "1000" series. Titled 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, it will be a book filled with 1000 examples of craft, art and design made out of repurposed, reused and recycled materials. The book will be bristling with amazing contributions from artists and crafters around the world.

Some categories to submit for will be:

Paper Craft– Consigning paper to the recycling bin is a shame. Do you make interesting things out of paper?

Art– Does your art involve clever reuse of materials in installation, sculpture, collage, painting or other media?

Jewelry and accessories– all kinds of personal adornment, handbags, belts, hats, etc.

Clothing– seeking all kinds of clothing mash-ups, stitch-ups, and makeovers.

Fiber and fabric- renovated soft goods made from recycled or vintage linens, quilts, fabrics, fibers, sweaters, yarns, rugs?

Housewares and furnishings– repurposed furniture, ceramics, serving dishes, utensils and miscellaneous home goods.

Houses, interiors, and environments– Is your living space made of reused materials? Have you made a visionary environment out of recycled materials?

GeekCraft and ManCraft– Do you make repurposed items with geek appeal? What about traditionally “manly” items such such as grills, antler furniture and armchair go-karts?

UnClassifiable– also encouraging the submission of work that doesn’t fit into any of the above boxes.

The Call for Entries:
The deadline is January 5, 2009, but early submissions are HIGHLY encouraged.
PDF Link
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scrabble furniture

These Scrabble benches were custom made by Stephen Reed for employees in the London offices of Bloomberg financial services.
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design within reach: annual champagne chair contest

It's time again for the annual DWR Champagne Chair contest. Make a small chair out to no more than two champagne corks and foils. Good luck! Deadline is January 9th.
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gingerbread chitchen itza: takes the cake

Yeah, I know I like to post about exceptional gingerbread houses for the holidays. But this one, I witnessed being put together at a holiday party hosted by the fabulous Phillipa and her husband Andy is beyond categorization. Built to scale based on their oven size, Swedes Johannes and Paloma got their inspiration for their magnificent Chitchen Itza Gingerbread sculpture while traveling there. Inspired by the trip they decided it would be the perfect entry in to this years holiday party gingerbread house off. Mind you, last year they built the Empire State Building complete with interior lighting and Godzilla. Both scientists by trade, you could see their love of experimentation when they electrically wired a pickle so it would glow as the Chitchen Itza finale. Bravo to a job well done!
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d.i.y.: recycled magazine wreath

Great modern wreath idea at Happy Mundane.
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d.i.y.: herbal fire starters

For holiday fire starters:
wrap pinecones, sage, rosemary, cinnamon sticks, in newsprint and twist into aromatic igniters.

or:

Fill the small compartments of a fibrous egg carton half way with fragrant dried herbs (rosemary, lavender, mint). Make sure that the herbs are completely dry, and never use Styrofoam egg cartons. Once filled with herbs, push a pine cone firmly into in each compartment.

Then Melt paraffin wax using a double boiler. Pour the melted wax evenly over your pine cones, making sure to keep the wax inside of the egg carton compartments, gluing the herbs and pine cones in place. If the wax cools, simple heat it again slightly until it easy to pour.

Allow the wax to cool completely and then carefully cut the egg carton into individual fire starters. If you like, you can tie a raffia ribbon onto the top of each pine cone for added decoration.
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d.i.y. project: quilled snowflakes

It hasn't yet snowed here in Boulder Colorado, but perhaps if enough people create some quilled versions of the tiny cold beauties-the snow fairies will be summoned.

Quilling is very simple and only consists of wrapping and gluing strips of paper together. These images are from this flickr collection. A very detailed tutorial on how to quill can be found at the DIY network.

....or there is always another different type of cut and twisted lacy snowflake here.
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d.i.y.: sweater wine cozy

Great idea for wine cozy from Renest. Wool insulates, so it will help to keep the bottle warm or cold. Read More..

felted pumpkin: elemental handcrafts

October felted pumpkin.
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kermit the frog costume: simple fix

I love the simplicity of this outfit, all you'd need: a green sweatsuit, minimal light green and white fabric, black fabric paint or black felt, glue and some velcro.
via Craftzine.
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haute halloween ideas: favors and costumes

Here are some of my favorite halloween costumes from around the web. Car air freshener, DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba, Max and Monster from Where the WIld Things Are, Chickens, Dragon & Knight and Medusa.

Also some alternatives for giving out candy are sidewalk chalk, fifty-cent pieces, feathers and shells.

If you must do candy, then do natural or organic lollipops or organic chocolates.

Clif bars are also a great idea--the company now offers mini sizes that are perfect for Halloween. They come in "Spooky S'Mores" flavor with a Halloween-style wrapper with ghosts and goblins.


costumes via sf gate, martha stewart, etc. fairy tale pumpkins via me. Read More..

michelle kaufmann: ecologue videos

Great DIY projects from green architect Michelle Kaufmann. See more at Ecologue or click to links below.

Green Garden Chandelier

Water Catchment System



via Design Sponge Read More..

play dough

non toxic playdough Read More..

haute d.i.y.projects: garden mosaic balls

I picked up a great little book at the thrift store the other day about decorating your garden. Amongst the many ideas inside the book was an idea for creating mosaic balls from old bowling balls! I love the reuse for old bowling balls although other sites like DIY Network and HGTV call for rubber balls. Basically you need grout, gloves, broken china, a ceramics cutter & a bowling ball. The sites above have detailed instructions. Aside from mosaic balls, I love bird baths, statuaries, fountains, mirrors, arches etc. for garden decoration. A nicely decorated garden makes the outside feel like another room to hang out in. Get to work mosaicing!

Mosaik


Domosaics Read More..

d.i.y. project: recycled crayon shapes

Crayons, made from paraffin (a waxy substance derived from wood, coal, or petroleum) were already produced commercially by 1867. The paraffin is mixed with various chemical pigments.

Inevitably, children's crayons get broken or are used down to the nub. A wonderful DIY project to make for children or with them is a re-melted crayon with a whole new shape. Ingredients like glitter and scents can also be added when they are re-melted, giving the sad nubs a new lease on life. I have seen alot of re-melted crayons, but this Crayon Fawn is absolutely lovely.


To make your own-You will need:
A bunch of old crayons, wrappers removed, cut into pea size chunks
Candy molds, muffin tins, silcon molds or tin foil baking cups
Aluminum foil wrapped under tin, to prevent accidental spilling in oven

Optional: glitter, scent

1. Have an adult to preheat the oven to 150°.
2. Place your crayon pieces in the tins in interesting color combinations. Try different mixtures, but remember all colors together=brown. Similair colors together look best.
3. Sprinkle glitter sparkles and/or scent into tins.
4. Put them in the oven and watch closely during melting process. 15-20 minutes should be sufficient. If you turn the temperature up too high the wax may overheat and smoke.
5. Remove molds from oven to cool- and if you like place them in the freezer to speed up the process.
6. After crayons have cooled remove them from molds

Crayons may also me melted by constructing an ad-hock double boiler consisting of a frying pan filled with water and many small jars in the water. (Heat should be on low and water 1/2 way up the jars. Place combinations or single colors of crayons chunks in each jar and stir with a skewer or pencil. Once melted, pour into molds. With this method you can create color layers by pouring in a small amount allowing it to cool and adding the next color, repeating until full. Read More..

studiomama: pallet chair

Nina Tolstrup of Studio Mama is a London designer who created the Pallet Chair. Based on budget constrictions and found materials, her design fashions a used pallet into a lovely and more modern version of the comfy adirondack chair.



via Apartment Therapy Read More..

summertime popsicle recipes

These delicious popsicles are perfect for the hot sun today. Summer is upon us and I am in need of an iced treat....I love plain grape juice pops too, or white grape juice with halved grapes in them! Molds here, here & here.

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cardboard food art: art on the menu

Art on the Menu stole my heart with their minimal cardboard food sculpture. I always feel that children can foster greater creativity when given more room to improvise-sort of a Waldorf school concept. What is lovely about these objects is that they delicious looking enough to fool my hungry tummy-certainly divine enough to sit in the play kitchen too.
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creative food contest for children

Fun contest! This one is for the kids, but parents can help too. Up to three entries for the most creative fun food you can muster up in the kitchen. All you need is a child, a blog, and a flickr account-that should be a snap now-a-days.
Categories are:
#1 - all fruit
#2 - all vegetables
#3 - breakfast
#4 - lunch/dinner
#5 - sweets
Winners receive gift bags full of goodies--deadline is June 22nd and the winner announced June 27th.
Go to The Crafty Crow for all details.

Look here for inspiration.
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d.i.y. bird mobile

Spool Sewing has the cutest DIY project for creating a bird mobile.

via Whip Up Read More..