Craft Project: Silver Spoon Windchimes

You can use old silver spoons from yard sales and thrift shops to make a windchimes with a beautiful sound.
Approximate Time: 2-3 hours

Supplies:

• 5 silver (not stainless) spoons
• 1 wire whisk (Dollar Tree)
• 18 gauge (or whatever you have around) wire
• String, cotton yarn or twine
• Hammer
• Wire cutter
• Needlenose pliers
• Large beads or decorative stone (optional)

Instructions:

Flatten the spoons by hammering them against something sturdy like a stone walkway or concrete drive.

Cut the loops of the whisk and use the pliers to curve the outwards and up, with a little loop on the end.

Cut 5 pieces of wire into about 9” to 12” long.

For each spoon, wrap wire tightly around the bottom of the handle and twist to secure.

Wrap the wire loosely around the handle and finish with a loop at the top.

Cut the string into two 8” lengths and 3 9 1/2” lengths.

Attach the string to the whisk "arms,” leaving an empty arm in between spoons.

You can add beads or decorative stones wrapped in wire on the empty arms.

Another way: Cut jut 2 loops on the whisk to hold the spoons, with the fifth spoon tied into the center.


I saw this project years ago in a magazine in a crowded doctor's office and didn't feel comfortable ripping the page out. (Might have been different had I been the only one in the waiting room.) I kept an image of those chimes in mind, although who knows how much that image and the magazine picture have in common by now? I got the idea for using the whisk from Mark Montano, a designer on TLC's "While You Were Out."
By the way, the spoons make a lovely bell-like sound when they hit each other.
By Pugi from Ingram, TX courtesy of thriftyfun.com

Here's a cute for kids recycle craft I found while surfing about

A useless sock becomes a cute little puppet!

Here is a cute project you can do with those mis matched socks that we all seem to have a pile of.  Where the heck do the mates go anyway.

Over at Team Etsy Baby  they will show you how you can turn those "extra" socks into a fun puppet toy for your little girls and boys.  Even let the kids help make them and turn it into a art lesson with a recycling message.

Recycle those too small fingertip towels into fancy mitt potholders!

I just posted a short tutorial on my blog, The4Rs Ramblings but I'll sum up here. 

Take your fancy fingertip towels, and using an existing mitt style potholder for a pattern, cut out your pieces, 3 in all.  If the towel is really small, you can use some towel scraps or sturdy fabric.  I lined my mitts with Insulbrite, so you need to cut matching pieces out of it too. I sewed the two pieces as a unit, right sides together for the main construction, keeping the embellished and fringed edge as the outside. Turn right side out.  I stitched all the way around at the bottom end keeping it open, but keeping the liner in sync with the outside piece.  A better description and steps can be found here.

There you have it, warm mitts for cold weather cooking! Recycle a pair of towels today, to keep them from languishing in your guest towel drawers!  Post your links to recycling ideas, I love to sew more ways to be green, don't you?

Embossing Aluminum Cans

Here's another great idea for recycling those used aluminum soda cans. Emboss them using an embossing folder and run them through the Big Shot die cutting machine! It makes for a very unique, yet simple background.

For more details and a video tutorial, please visit my blog site:

Stamping With Blue Moon Creations

Thanks for looking! Anne

Recyclers Like Wine Too

Jennifer contacted me about a new site she is opening that will have recycled products for sale.  She will let us know when she has it up and running.  In the meantime I took a look at her other site she has and it's awesome!  It's called Sterling Wine and it has a variety of recycled and upcycled wine gifts.  

Here's some examples that I pulled from her site, when you have a minute hop on over and see all the great recycled wine gifts she has!

 Merlot Wine Bottle Serving Dish

 

Engraved Wedding Invitation Wine Bottle

 

Recycled Wine Bottle Christmas Ornaments

The list goes on and on, go have a look, it's fabulous!

I made recycled tags for my recycled bags

 

Here's a post from my blog Living Green In A Colorful World from this week where I explore making recycled tags for my recycled FatBottomBags from #6 plastic.

I used this shrink plastic method to create sew on tags to label my handmade bags, but you could use this recycle craft to make beads or charms, ornaments, even extraordinary business cards for your recycling business.  

Try it with the kids to make a fun craft and teach them about the importance of recycling.  

It was a quick project that was a lot of fun!

Great way to recycle an old keyboard

I found these pictures on the web and thought it was amazing.  How people think of such things is beyond me, but what a wonderful way to recycle!