Sustainable Design, Sustainable Living, Sustainable Everything
Some people DIY because they love the process. Some people DIY to save money. Some people DIY because it’s eco-friendly. And some people, like me, DIY because of a three reasons! Here are ten simple eco-friendly DIY projects I’ve tackled over the last five years. I hope they inspire you to do all kinds of cool things yourself. To create, to save money and to save the planet.
I’m currently redecorating my living room after deciding to keep out some of the nature-inspired decor items I had used at Christmas. You may recall (depending how closely you pay attention… don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz) that I also incorporated books into my holiday decor since I have oh-so-many of them. In fact, I have so many books that one of them dropped off a shelf the other day and smoked me in the face. Ouch.
After I had set my birch logs and twigs out, I realized I needed something else to help fill up the space and add a touch of paper to all that wood. Enter this DIY paper orb made from old book pages. There are a lot of DIY paper craft projects out there – and a lot of paper orbs in varying degrees of complexity. I wanted to do something super simple, which in truth is so unlike me. But it’s spring and spring is a time for new beginnings.
Ever since my eldest daughter could hold a crayon (without eating it), she’s been a crafter. Colouring, stickering, cutting, glueing – she does it all and loves it all. So, of course I’m always on the hunt for the most eco-friendly craft supplies I can find. You’d think it would be easy – after all, most kid’s craft supplies are non-toxic. But just because something is non-toxic to humans doesn’t mean it’s environmentally friendly. I’ve rounded up a few of the greenest craft supplies I could find. All of these products are made from natural materials or recycled content or both!
Let the crafting begin!
Leg warmers – they’re not just for dancers. True, I do wear them when I dance, because I’ve recently discovered the way to bypass my achey post-baby knees is to keep them super toasty.
But I also wear leg warmers when I’m not dancing because, dudes, winter be cold. And even though winter isn’t here yet, I’ve already been sporting my leg warmer collection not just to keep my legs warm as the fall chill settles in, but also – they’re kinda cute, no?
Although I do own a few pairs of store-bought legwarmers, I also have several pairs of DIY leg warmers I made out of old socks. There are two different ways to do this. The first is the super easy no-sew way. The second you can either sew by hand or with a sewing machine if you own or have access to one.
Check out my how-to video, where I demonstrate both ways to make DIY leg warmers out of old socks, or scroll down below for step by step instructions!
If you love literature as much as you love making creative things for you home then this poetry art project will tickle you pink green. (This is a blog about green living after all!) When I was in university I took a few poetry courses as part of my combined English and creative writing honours degree. One of the assignments – called erasure poetry – really stuck with me and I thought it would be a cool way to create some simple DIY artwork for my newly arranged shelf library.
This project actually combines two different poetry techniques – erasure and cut-up, which may seem similar but have an important distinction.
Devin and I are nerds. If you know us, then you know this. We adore fantasy and sci-fi movies and have been known on occasion to pretend we are ninjas. We geek out over superheroes, routinely discussing them. Mostly it’s me asking
All you need is love – or so the song goes. But in the case of this handpainted sign all I needed was 23 hours of slow labour and nothing to do with my time other than distract myself with online yoga and crafts.
I had started this DIY a couple of weeks before I had my second daughter (who is three weeks old today). I first had to paint the 1×4 with several coats of white paint before I could stencil on the letters. Once that task was completed all that was left was the actual painting of the letters, which I did by hand with an artist’s brush whilst listening to my iTunes playlist “Relax” and trying to dance off contractions. There’s nothing like the imminent arrival of an infant to get the creative – and motivational – juices flowing.
I love when random items come into your life and inspire you to make something crafty. This white porcelain key was attached to a Christmas card my lovely sister-in-law made for my family. It had a piece of sisal twine on
Here’s an easy, cheap and fun way to make a DIY hanging laundry bag. (Well, it’s fun if you’re a DIY nerdwad like me). All you need is a pillowcase, a burlap sack, some sisal twine and a few safety pins. (Bonus if they’re old and rusty like the ones I found in my stash. Yes, I have a safety pin stash – don’t you?)
Keep reading for directions on how to make a laundry bag out of a pillowcase and a burlap sack!
