In my crafting, I am always pleased to be able to use second-hand, recycled or upcycled supplies and found items, and try very hard to be cognizant of waste. Not only is it ethically satisfying to think that I’ve diverted waste from landfills or made pretty things from someone’s trash, it’s also fantastic for the pocket book to not be paying for over-priced inputs at the local big box craft stores.
These mobiles are a fun example. The corks were a donation from my local buy-nothing group – my neighbours clearly drink a LOT of wine! My bead collection is a growing stew of ingredients from second-hand shops and craft destash sales and upcycled costume jewelry. I collected the driftwood while searching for sea glass on endless beachcombing ambles, mostly on PEI. And even the wire was purchased through the liquidation of a local bead store. Only the tiny hooks were purchased from a store. Total cost of inputs for this was well under a total in total, not including the tools I used. (Reminder to me – write a post another day about using everyday items around the house for crafting!)
Another fun upcycle is weaving on rocks. Rocks are a treasure that I’ve been overlooking for far too many years and I now hoard them for future projects, but the only cost is the storage space on every random flat surface in my house. The one on the left was wrapped and woven with weaver’s waste from a local fibre sale and the plaid one on the right is woven with embroidery floss from another buy-nothing group transaction.
Aside from rocks, nature offers a plethora of found items just waiting to be collected by a curious crone. I’ll often come home from walks around my neighbourhood, especially this time of year, with my pockets overflowing with acorn caps and pine cones, or clutching handsful of interesting branches and trailing tendrils of grapevine.
But this one might be one of my favourites. This weekend, I went to a crafter’s destash second hand sale and picked up as much costume jewelry as I could fit into a bag for $5. What a score! I significantly augmented my bead collection, but the deal of the day was this chunky metal necklace that I carefully deconstructed by opening each metal jump ring to liberate the washers and widgets and shiny bits. The moment I saw them, I knew they were rock-wrapping treasure!
Here’s another rock-wrapping design I made up on the weekend, using another piece of the upcycled costume jewelry.
Sometimes, you need to invest big bucks in your craft supplies; I once spent $200 on yarn and two months on knitting a cardigan, only to hate the final product. That might be why I so love to find free or inexpensive supplies and use them in unexpected ways. There is also something delightful about repurposing something like a wine cork into whimsical art.
What’s the most interesting way you’ve recycled or upcycled items into art or crafts?