All sorts of recycled crafts and Crafty Blogger Links

 

I had the pleasure of volunteering at a cool Swap-o-rama event at Inglewood High School this past weekend. To my left is the wonderful organizer Gail Atley and to my right are two of the other volunteers that helped the crafters sew up their fun projects. The event's proceeds went to benefit the
Earth Club school garden and the Golf Club.

 

This young designer made a grocery-style bag out of a t-shirt. It is so simple.

All you need to do is cut a t-shirt out in the shape of a plastic style grocery bag (the top of the handles are the shoulder seams that you leave intact. Then sew up the bottom and sides.

 

This designer made the plushie from the book:

Sweater Surgery
How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters(as seen on the cover in the top righthand corner)

 

These crafters really got into making letters with the Sizzix Hello Kitty Die cutter and had a great time personalizing their projects!

 

This girl had a great sense of style and made a bag from a pleated polka dot skirt and a black lace slip. Madonna would be proud!

On to Crafty Blogger Links to keep you up-to-date on the latest crafts:

Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style
Linda built a house--a gingerbread house, that is! Check out photos and learn more about this party concept that's taking Chicago by storm!

Mixed Media Artist
One of Cyndi's readers shared a fabulous craft idea using her own custom-printed fabric...and you can do it too!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to make a Max from the Grinch antler headband from recycled sweaters.

The Artful Crafter
A bead spinner is not required, but certainly recommended, to make a beautiful seed bead Christmas tree like this one created by Sharon.

The Impatient Crafter
Madge is feeling Retrofabulous this holiday season! Check out this vintage inspired mixed media jewelry project idea!

About Family Crafts
Check out these creative gift wrapping ideas. You simply cannot give someone a fabulous homemade gift using ordinary, store-bought wrapping paper. You can easily and quickly personalize the wrap as well as the gift.

Aileen's Musings
Looking for Christmas card ideas? Aileen shares her idea using a Starbucks coffee sleeve and challenges you... 

Crafty Princess Diaries
A light tent can make all the difference when photographing your crafts.

It's Monday so that means:

 Holiday Goodness Giveaway Time!

Here's how it works:

• We ask a question each weekday.
• You leave your answer in the comments section each day to the question (and you can enter each day!).
• We will randomly pick a winner each day to send a free book to!

Today is DAY 6 of 19!

Question:

What kinds of things do you do to give back, or what events have you heard of in your community? I bet there are some great crafts or special events that we would all like to know about and bring to our own communities.

My answer:

Is what I did this past weekend. I shared my time and skills with people to help them express their creativity in a whole new way. I really think the greatest gift is of our time.

I look forward to hearing about how all you crafty peeps share a bit of you, whether it be what you make or what kinds of events you are a part of.

Comments

[wendy m.]

I haven't done anything recently, but I did make a few handbound books for a silent auction to benefit a charity once. Just haven't had too many opportunities to do that since then (the stamp store that hosted the auction closed about a year later).

[whitney]

I held a make& take last week where I had 3 teachers teaching different techniques to make a wine charm (shrink art, beaded, & chip art collage) we had wine & snacks and had people donate whatever they could to this 11 month old who needed heart surgery. I was happy with our contribution. You can see pics on my blog shopthemuse.blogspot.com

[Shari in Colorado]

I teach needlework classes to seniors at our local senior center. I own a yahoo group that offers free classes in many needle arts and operates a Stash Angel program to help ladies who have very little stash get small gifts from the heart from those who have too much stash, thus being able to learn the techniques without worry over expenses. I also volunteer many hours each year as chairwoman of the programs committee for our local EGA chapter and stitch many items for their annual fund raising auction. I am all about sharing needlearts and keeping them alive and well.

[Ellen Lai]

We had a recent bazaar and I gave a percentage of my sale of tatted laces to a earthquake relief effort.

[Suella]

I teach a bit of sewing and jewelry making to 5-12 year olds in a holiday club in our village here in England. It is fun, gets kids comfortable with a needle and thread, and even teaches some to tie knots!