Jan 03 2009
Trash to Treasure
As a crafter recycling has always been a big part of my life. As a child I learned to crochet with the string my mother salvaged from muslin and calico flour and feed sacks. Later in life making various objects with egg cartons was all the rage. I remember trying to make a Christmas Tree out of them one year from a picture I’d seen. I never could get enough of them together to do it.
From crocheting with string, to making artwork out of egg cartons, to sun bonnets and tote bags from bleach bottles, the list goes on and on. These days plastic bags are a big problem in our land fills, and recycling them as become all the rage. Cutting them into strips to make “yarn” is the time consuming part, but crocheting or knitting bags of various sizes can give you a wide variety of shopping bags (cut down on the number of plastic bags you bring home) to hand made gift bags for all those special occasions, to cosmetic bags and coin purses, just about any accessory you can crochet can be made from plastic bags. I’ve even seen house slippers made from them.
A word of caution though. Plastic knitting needles or crochet hooks my stick to the plastic and drag, ultimately tearing the yarn. I use an aluminum hook and have never had that problem, but others have reported problems with the plastic ones.
Another big problem for our land fills is aluminum cans. While many people sell their aluminum cans to the recycle center, there are works of art made with them. Clothing, bags and jewelry and household items made from the pull tabs have become big business in some countries, and high fashion in some circles.
So what about you dear crafter? What have you salvaged to recycle into something incredibly beautiful or useful? Look around your home and neighborhood. Resources are abundant.
