Have you been looking at your wardrobe and thinking, “I have nothing to wear for summer!” After reading Julie’s post about how to upcycle a t-shirt into a tank-top, I was inspired to find more refashioning ideas. Instead of buying new clothes and shoes, upcycle some of your old ones! Here are 5 amazing tutorials to get you started:

1. Ruffled T-Strap Flip-Flop Refashion by Make It and Love It

Do you have some old flip-flops that need a boost? I love this tutorial from Ashley at Make It and Love It! She transformed cheap flip-flops into really adorable and ruffled t-strap flip-flops. What I love most: they look so easy to make! Check out her  tutorial to see how to make your flip-flops go from blah to beautiful!

Next>> Men’s Shirt into Romper by Trash to Couture

[Photo via Make It and Love It, used with permission.]

Ed Note: We’re thrilled to have this guest post from Amanda Brandenberg of Ninth Street Notions! Amanda shows you how to turn a vintage bed sheet from the thrift store into a super sweet, retro circle skirt.

I’m Amanda, from Ninth Street Notions. One of the main reasons I learned to sew was to be able to create great vintage fashions that fit. I also wanted it to be inexpensive for me to dress like some hip 1950s housewife. I discovered that thrifting materials and re-creating them into something entirely different is a great way to cut costs and conserve resources.

Here’s how I’ve managed to combine my love of vintage clothes, vintage fabrics, and thrift stores: A circle skirt created from a thrifted vintage sheet.

What You Need:

• Vintage flat sheet
• Vintage bias tape
• 1/4″ non-roll elastic
• String or twine
• Safety pin
• Marking pen or tailor’s chalk
• Thread
• Sewing machine

When thrifting sheets, check to make sure there aren’t tears or stains. It’s possible to work around them, but it’s easiest not to. You can find vintage bias tape at estate and yard sales. I found this pack in my mom’s stash. If you can’t find it, use new 1/2″ double-fold bias tape.

1. Take your measurements. You need your hip measurement as well as how long you want the skirt. Then, take your hip measurement and divide by 6. Feel free to round up 1/2″. This is measurement H. Next, add 1 1/2″ to your length. This we will call measurement L.

2. Cut a length of string that is measurement L plus about 10″. Tie the marking pen to one end of the string. Tie a knot at a distance equal to the H measurement. From that knot, measure the L measurement and tie a second knot.

3. Fold your sheet in half width-wise. Fold it in half width-wise again. You should have a square. At a corner that does not have the large finished edge (the part you usually put at the head of your bed), pin the string with the W knot. One side of your corner should have what appears to be a single fold, and the other side should have two folds.

4. Draw an arc from one side of the square to the other. Move the pin to the L knot and pin to the corner once again. Draw a second arc.

5. Carefully cut through along the two drawn lines. You should have a great big circle with a cut-out circle in the middle when unfolded.

6. Make a few marks 1/2″ down around the waistline. Pin the bias tape to the waistline, sandwiching the sheet between the bias tape, and lining up the edge to these marks. Keep the narrower side of the bias tape to the outside of the skirt. Very close to the edge of the tape, stitch around the bias tape, but stop before reaching the other end.

7. Cut a piece of elastic to fit your waist, plus about 1″. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and use it to thread the elastic through the bias tape waistband. Overlap the ends of the elastic, pin, and try on the skirt. Make any adjustments to the tightness of the elastic to make it fit. When you’re pleased, use a zig-zag stitch to attach the two ends together.

8. Cut the unsewn bias tape end so that it overlaps the other end by about an 1″. Fold the end under 1/2″, pin to the skirt, and carefully edgestitch it to attach.

9. Finish the skirt by making a 1/4″ double-fold hem. The entire project takes only about 2 hours and $2 to complete.

I swear I’m not a germaphobe, but watching a dozen children reach their grimy hands into one big popcorn bowl at a recent children’s birthday party simply skeezed me out. I’d prefer not to get a tummy bug today, thank you very much.

Dishing popcorn into individual containers keeps kids’ hands out of the serving bowl, but then is your choice more time washing re-usable popcorn bowls, or more disposable bowls in the landfill?

Neither! A couple days’ worth of newspapers (stored somewhere sanitary) is plenty to make enough paper popcorn cones for everybody at your party, and if you’re feeling especially mitchy-matchy, the finished cones are easy to dye in your preferred colors. Here’s how:

To begin, choose a size for your template; 12″x12″ is the size that I used to make the cones in this tutorial, allowing me to use a piece of scrapbook paper as a template. Any square size is suitable, of course, depending on how large you’d like your cone, and thus your serving size, to be.

Unfold a double-wide piece of newspaper, then use your template to fold the newspaper down to size. Turn the square so that the folds meet up at the corner where the cone’s point will be, and the uneven edges are at the opposite corner.

Using a small piece of tape or a glue stick to adhere the cone’s tip, roll the newspaper into a cone. Use a little more tape or glue at the top edge to secure it. Press the cone flat without creasing it, and cut it straight across to trim the uneven edges (or leave them, if you’d rather).

To make a non-toxic spray paint, you can pour liquid watercolors into travel-sized spray bottles. You can then use your liquid watercolor spray paint to color a wide variety of materials, from unfinished wood to the popcorn garlands on your Christmas tree. Use the liquid watercolor spray paint, or stickers, or any other non-toxic art materials to decorate the individual popcorn cones.

I re-taped a used mailing box from the post office, asked my children to paint it in their party colors, then used a box knife to cut holes approximately 1″ in diameter all across one side of the box. My girls and I put the popcorn cones into their homemade serving tray, popped a giant batch of popcorn, and filled all paper cones full just before the guests were due to arrive. The popcorn cones were the second most popular party food (just behind the fresh blueberries, and WAY ahead of the blue tortilla chips), likely because they were easy to carry around between party activities, AND because popcorn is delicious!

And nobody had to stick their grubby hands into the serving bowl.

Want an easy wardrobe make-over project, one that’s also quick to make, looks good, and is suitable even for the novice sewer?

An upcycled tank top is a quick and easy sewing project to make from any old T-shirt. Because you’ll be cutting into the T-shirt and re-sewing the side seams, it’s suitable for any T-shirt that’s a little (or a lot) large on you; you can even cut down an adult’s T-shirt into a child’s tank top. It’s a good project for shirts that have stains or tears on the sleeves or near the bottom hem, or for making over long-sleeved shirts into summer wear. Here’s how:

1. Iron the clean, dry T-shirt that you want to make over into a tank top, using the hot iron to help you futz any misaligned seams back into alignment (twisted side seams can be a big issue with some T-shirts that have been cut on the bias to drape better, but ironing will fix them right up). Choose from your own wardrobe a slim-fitting T-shirt or tank top to use as a pattern, and also iron it well.

2. Fold each shirt exactly in half, taking care that the neckline is perfectly symmetrical on each shirt. Line your well-fitting shirt up on top of the old T-shirt, taking care that the center and top are perfectly aligned. Fold the sleeves up on your well-fitting shirt, to extend the line made from the bottom hem of that shirt up to the shoulder. Use chalk to outline a cutting line that’s approximately 1/2″ away from the shirt to include a seam allowance.

Next >>

One of my personal missions as a crafts writer is to make vegan crafting and green crafting accessible to everyone. A big part of doing that is helping folks find cruelty-free, eco-conscious alternatives to animal products. Sometimes, though, I get a question that totally stumps me, and when that happens I feel very lucky to have an awesome community of eco-crafters to turn to!

Amanda Saunders is a pyrographer–meaning she creates art by decoratively burning wood and then sealing it. The burning part is no problem, but wax is the preferred material for the sealing part. We’ve talked here before about candelila wax as a vegan alternative to beeswax for sealing wood, but I’m not totally sure if this will work for Amanda’s purposes. Here’s what she’s after:

Do you know which of the vegan waxes would be the palest in colour – does anyone have experience of using these as wood waxes? I don’t mind paying for stuff that will do the job and look good (as in, be clear in colour so as not to darken the wood) but I don’t want to buy stuff that isn’t going to work for me.

I don’t do a lot of woodworking, and I’d hate to steer a crafter wrong, so I am turning to you guys! Can you suggest a vegan wood wax that Amanda can use? She lives in Ireland, so something either available there or online is ideal.

{Image Credit: Pyrography photo via Shutterstock}

Let’s face it, Mother’s Day is two days away and even though I’ve warned you, you still haven’t made anything for your mom. Well, no fear my friends, I’ve put together a list of fabulous eco-friendly and last minute gifts for Mother’s Day!

1. For the sewing mom, create a simple tea cup pincushion by The Spotted Fox! I’ve seen several versions of a tea cup pincushion, but I loved this one because it requires no sewing.

2. Make a handmade card out of recycled paper. Be creative! You can use sheet music, book pages, magazines, newspaper, etc.

Next>> More Last Minute Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day

[Photo credit: Tea Cup Pincushion by The Spotted Fox via Punk Projects, used with permission]

First and foremost, it is important to avoid using plastic water bottles if at all possible. You can recycle them, but as Becky wrote in the Ten Projects for Plastic Bottles post, all of that recycling requires energy and not all bottles can be recycled. In that same post, Becky shared the idea of using a plastic bottle as a votive holder. I had a plastic bottle after hiking this week and decided to make my own version of a water bottle candle holder!

What You Will Need:

1. A water bottle or other plastic bottle

2. Scissors

3. Sand

4. Small rocks

5. A candle. I used a flameless LED candle because I didn’t have any tealights on hand. You could even make your own candle using our How To: Rolled Beeswax Tealight Candles tutorial.

How To Do It:

1. Cut off the top of your bottle. I cut off a little bit more than half way.

2. Fill your bottle with sand. I used sandbox sand because my friend had some, but you can use whatever you have.

3. Put your candle into the sand. If you’re using a real candle (one with a flame), put more sand in your bottle so that it pushes the candle above the plastic. (Warning: PLEASE watch your candle and make sure it does not melt the plastic/start a fire. I did not get to try the candle holder with a real candle so please be careful!)

4. Add your rocks.

You’re done! Isn’t it perfect for summer? I can definitely see this on a patio table by a pool or even at a beach wedding! Since I have neither of those, I’m putting mine by this cute aqua lantern!

Are you guys starting to work on an summer crafts yet? Don’t forget to share them with us at The Green Crafts Showcase!

Conventional fabric dyes are bad news. The runoff from fabric dye pollutes waterways, and the dyes themselves are not so healthy for workers who are around them day in and day out, either. Luckily, you don’t need harsh, chemical dyes to tint fabric in lovely colors! You can use natural, food-based ingredients like fruits, veggies, and herbs to create your own non-toxic fabric dye.

If you’ve every cooked with turmeric, you know that it stains fabric like gangbusters. Heck, it even stains your hands, if you handle it too much. The property that calls for caution in the kitchen is your ally if you’re looking to dye fabric a cheery shade of yellow! Here’s how to make a batch of fabric dye from turmeric, water, and just one other ingredient that’s most likely already in your kitchen!

Materials

• 4 cups of water + 1/4 cup table salt
• undyed or light colored fabric of your choice. I used a vintage hankie that I picked up at Salvage:

Before Dyeing: I'm not 100% sure what this vintage hankie is made of, but it feels like cotton.

• 2 cups water + 2 tablespoons of ground turmeric
• non-reactive sauce pan (stainless steel or ceramic will work best)
• wooden spoon

Directions

1. Combine the water and salt in your pan and bring it to a boil, then add your fabric and let it simmer for one hour. The salt is your “fixative,” which helps your fabric take the dye.

2. Drain your fabric, wring it out when it’s cool enough to handle, and rinse your pot.

3. Combine the water and turmeric in the same pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat, add your fabric to the pot, and use your wooden spoon to make sure that the fabric gets a nice coating in the dye. Let your fabric soak. The longer it soaks, the more vibrant your color will be check it after the first 5-10 minutes, then just keep checking on the fabric every few minutes until you get the vibrancy you’re looking for. Make sure that each time you pull the fabric out of the dye that you use your wooden spoon to fully submerge it again – you don’t want the dye job to turn out uneven! I let mine soak for about 15 minutes, and you can see the result in the photo at the top of this page.

5. Rinse your fabric in the sink until the water runs clear, hang it to dry, and you’re ready to craft with your turmeric dyed fabric!

This made more than enough dye for my little handkerchief, so I poured the leftover dye into a glass jar and am storing it into the fridge for another project. I’m not sure how long it will keep, but a week or two sounds reasonable. Refrigerator pickles keep for about that long, and this is just turmeric and water. If anyone knows the shelf life for natural fabric dyes, I’d love to know!

You don’t have to be satisfied with art supplies that are simply “non-toxic.” Art supplies that come directly from nature, with minimal processing, are healthier, more environmentally friendly, and can still be of excellent quality, often allowing you to create effects that it’s difficult to obtain with their artificial counterparts.

1. Textured paint: Although it’s not archival, this nature paint from Teach Preschool gives children a hands-on way to add a natural sensory component to their art. The children collected objects from nature, such as grass blades, flower petals, and scoops of dirt, and mixed it into tempera paint of the same color. Then their green-as-grass paint really had grass blades in it, and their brown-as-mud paint was really made of mud!

2. Paintbrushes from nature: Using a process that’s much sturdier and professional than just sweeping a pine branch across paper, Instructables user missannie shows you how to create excellent-quality paintbrushes from natural materials. Try pine needles, animal fur, or the clippings from your last haircut.

3. Rainwater: When it rains outside, my daughters and I like to create rainwater watercolor paintings.

4. Modeling materials: Homemade modeling materials made from natural ingredients, such as my homemade modeling beeswax, can be archival. In addition, homemade modeling materials can be made in greater variety, to achieve effects that can be harder to obtain from store-bought supplies. For instance, the sculptures that you create using modeling beeswax are shiny without being varnished, and waterproof without being sealed.

5. Mineral paint: Like Earth Paint, mineral paints are made from dried and powdered clay soils. You may not be able to get an entire spectrum of color from the soils where you live, but if you search, it’s likely that you’ll find at least a couple of colors. I’ve never found a place to harvest yellow or green clay, for instance, but I can get quite a few varieties of red just by hiking in the various little wooded areas around my town.

6. Flower pigment: Whether you’d like to try flower pounding or fabric dyeing, you can use the colors found in flowers to give natural pigment to your artwork.

7. Stick scupltures: With hot glue and the fallen sticks from your yard, you can create a variety of crafts, such as this twig trivet, or sculptural artworks. Add in a good handsaw, and you’ve got everything from building blocks to Christmas tree ornaments to a super surface for spin art.

wooden colored pencils image via Shutterstock

Natural materials make fabulous art supplies. Even when it’s raining outside, you can make good use of the weather by creating a watercolor painting project in which the rain is the most important ingredient. Here’s how:

For this project, you need watercolor pencils (we use Prismacolor) and watercolor paper, or any other paper with a rough texture. Watercolor pencils are a professional-quality supply (with a professional-quality price tag), but you can purchase them in small sets, and for adults or kiddos who love making art, they’re lots of fun.

Normally, you draw with watercolor pencils, then brush the page with a wet paintbrush to bring out the watercolor effect. You, however, are going to save yourself the trouble of finding the paintbrush and fetching a cup of water. Instead, you’re going to draw with watercolor pencils on an overcast day. Then, when the clouds break and it finally starts to rain, you’re going to dash outside and set your picture down, face-up, on a chair or picnic table or cooling rack or step stool.  You probably won’t want to put your picture directly on the ground because you want it to stay nice and flat while it’s wet; you don’t want rainwater to pool in any one spot on the painting.

Depending on the severity of the shower, you can leave your picture out anywhere from several minutes to the entire rain shower. In the picture on this page, it was raining buckets, so my daughter dashed out to fetch her picture after just about five minutes, and it was perfect.

If you’ve given the picture enough time to be saturated by rainwater, you’ll bring it back inside to find a perfectly even watercolor effect over the entire page–it will look as if you’ve painted with watercolors, and done a really excellent job about not muddying your colors. You can also get interesting effects, however, by purposefully bringing your picture in before it’s saturated; the rain drops make a random pattern of watercolor effect in the midst of what looks like a work done in colored pencils, and people who see it will wonder how you managed to get that look.