In my house, we (and by “we,” I mean me and my uninterested husband and kids that I am forcing this on) are doing our best to be better stewards of our environment.  So when Dot asked me to be a guest poster on Dabbled while she sunbathes on an exotic beach being served fruity cocktails by 22-year-old buff cabana boys (I am now thinking I got the raw end of this deal), I immediately racked my brain to come up with a crafty “green” project.

And thus, the reusable sandwich bag project was born. Here in the South, school starts…

My friend Holly and I had craft night the other night, and this time the assignment was puppets! I brought a stash of sweaters and other goodies I had over, and we set to creating. No pattern, no plans, these are a great way to have fun and get creative. And when we were done, the boys had some fun monster puppets to play with.

This would be a great project to do with friends for your own craft night, or to make with kids.

This tutorial is less ’step by step’ than…

This is a fun and easy project, costs less than $1 to make, has tons of possibilities for customization, requires no jewelry making skill or real tools, and is a way to recycle stuff that would be thrown away! What could be better??

This was inspired by something I used to do when I was a kid back in the eighties, make friendship bracelets out of fishing tackle (specifically a barrel swivel). You can buy these anywhere they sell fishing gear – I paid 99cents for a pack of 12 and didn’t even use them all.

I combined that with my love…

Be sure to check out the latest contest at Tissuepapers, to win a mini camera! (Tell ‘em you came from Dabbled!) She asks how you are going green for the holidays…

On that note, here’s some ideas for you to go green and handmade for this season! Tutorials — Try Something NEW..
- Lots of different Crafty “Can”dleholders, made from aluminum cans – Tutorial at esprit cabane.
- At Whip up – How to make an adorable toddler skirt out of an old cotton ribbed sweater. I love the ruffled edges!
- Via Craftershock - Make garlands of nifty star decorations out of plastic…

Dot had a great time at a mystery party last night, so today you are treated to a re-run of one of Dabbled’s popular projects!

How to make a cute little elephant purse by recycling old sweaters.. I did this as a Christmas gift last year. It’s simple to make, cheap, and was much loved by the recipients. This is my own design, and I encourage you to try it yourself and add your own spin!

Related posts:
Another version of the Ele-purse. (This one is sturdier and more colorful).
See all recycled sweater projects here.
A reader does her own take on the elepurse…

You remember the Ele-purses, right?

Well, this is a Baby Ele-purse, and her name is Ginny. Please welcome her into the world.
I envisioned the pattern for this one the other day, and couldn’t stop myself from attempting immediately. Except for the strap, she’s made entirely from one felted sweater sleeve. If you guys are interested, I’ll do a tutorial..

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Stay tuned… a 4 part series on making shrinky things by recycling plastic stuff that would go in the trash… starts tomorrow! Armed with a bunch of old #6 plastic to-go containers, the Dabbled Lab performs a series of experiments on techniques, and you’ll see the successes, the failures, and the “hmmm, what if I tried this instead”s.
Just like the shrinky dinks you played with as a kid, but cheap and good for the earth!

Check it out!
Shrinky Dinks by Recycling Trash Series

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In honor of earth day, i was going to ‘recycle’ some of my posts on using recycled materials for cool stuff. then i got busy and missed earth day. so even though it’s late, i hope you enjoy it!

Sweater recycling:
Old sweaters (and you know we all have them) are a fun and easy thing to recycle. They are forgiving of mediocre sewing skills as well..
here are some ideas…

The Ele-purse – great for little girls!

The easy peasy hostess gifty – the wine cozy!

The always adorable Octopuppet

Another cute toy, the sweater snake!

non-sweater related…
Recycling furniture into toys!
The uber-cool play stove-includes tutorial

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