Craftzine.com blog: Recycle Archives

Archive: Recycle

February 9, 2010

Walnut Rattle

Ranjit Bhatnagar is making an instrument every day in February. Some are electronic, some are mechanical, and some are both. This walnut shell rattle seems easy to make with a drill and some string, and makes a pretty satisfying jangle, suitable for weekend sock-clad marching band parades around the house.

February 8, 2010

Beautiful Hyperboloid Made of Skewers

George Hart continues to rock Math Mondays on MAKE, up this week is the skewer hyperboloid!

Thirty two shish kabob skewers and 176 small rubber bands are all it takes to make a beautiful hyperbolid of revolution. This is an example of what is called a "ruled surface," meaning even though it is curved, it is made of straight lines.

How-To: Tiger Hand Puppet

The Chinese New Year is almost upon us, and you can celebrate the Year of the Tiger by whipping up some of these cool hand puppets made from cereal boxes. Tali of Growing Up Creative shows you how!

February 6, 2010

How-To: Egg Ocarina

Matt Mets @ MAKE writes:

There has been no shortage of food-based instruments around here, however I particularly like this one that Youtube user heita3 made from an egg shell. It's a good reminder that pretty much any old thing can be made into a fun project!

Egg ocarina Read full story »

February 5, 2010

Intern's Corner: How to Make "Silverwear" Earrings

CRAFT: Intern's Corner
Every other week, CRAFT's awesome interns tell about the projects they're building in the Craft: Labs, the trouble they've gotten into, and what they'll make next.

By Lindsey North, projects intern

The trend now -- and I love it -- is recycled accessories: earrings made of bottle caps full of resin, belts made from candy wrappers, purses from pull tabs, and a plethora of other cool things. In CRAFT Volume 02, Kathy Cano Murillo showed how to fashion earrings from recycled tin, and in CRAFT Volume 03, Casey Dougherty showed how to make Fishing Lure Earrings. And then I saw some really cool jewelry at Maker Faire made from funky old utensils, watch gears, and tons of other random things that you'd never think of.

Ever since Maker Faire, I'd been looking for the perfect something to make into a fun pendant or pair of earrings (I'm an earring junkie, a constant collector). While visiting my grandparents recently, I found my inspiration: a silverware set that had once belonged to my great-grandmother, the most beautiful utensils I have ever seen. They were aged to perfection, slightly tarnished, but that only served to enhance the delicate flower pattern that decorated the handles. And so I was inspired to create earrings out of spoon handles.

Of course I wasn't allowed, nor did I want, to make the earrings out of my great-grandmother's spoons -- they're a family heirloom. Instead I went to the local thrift store and purchased some mismatched utensils. You can find some very fun and inexpensive flatware at thrift stores. I also found some cool inexpensive silverware at the local Safeway grocery store.

Once you've found your pieces of silver, cut the utensils to the desired length. I used a band saw at the Craft: Labs but you can also use a hacksaw. I like to vary the earring length, it just makes them more interesting.

After you cut the flatware, drill a hole near the top with a small drill bit. It's a good idea to oil the bit as you're drilling, to save your bit, especially if you're drilling stainless steel. Use sandpaper to sand down the rough edges of the metal to prevent future cuts and scratches.

Then just put in your jump ring and your earring hook! Now I wear my silverwear all the time.

Your CRAFT intern,
Lindsey

How-To: Pillowcase Nightie

Here's a viewer-submitted project from Threadbanger, in which Anne shows us how to make a Valentine's Day nightie out of a pillowcase. Nice!

Read full story »

January 27, 2010

How-To: Cherry Blossom Garlands from Disposable Tablecloths

The Creative Jewish Mom blog has a super simple post on how to make cherry blossom garlands from disposable tablecloths. I love that "randomness" is a key in their making.

How-To: Table Cloth to Treat Bags

Heidi Kenney of My Paper Crane shares how she turned a vinyl tablecloth into cute, reusable treat bags for her son's class Valentine party. Brilliant!

January 21, 2010

Gown Made of Discarded Auto Radiator Copper

New Zealand's Victoria University recent graduate Emma Whiteside made this incredible 18th century-style gown from discarded automotive radiator copper for the 2009 World of WearableArt show. The dress weighs 22 pounds and took 200 hours to sew. Check out this closeup:

January 19, 2010

Flashback: Flo McGarrell's I <3 Roswell Project

Back in CRAFT Volume 09, columnist Wendy Tremayne introduced us to the creative mind of sustainability and reuse artist Flo McGarrell. The genius of McGarrell spanned from crafting greenhouses from 5-gallon water bottles (pictured above) to making inflatable rooms to creating his signature "agrisculpture" living art to writing how-tos on growing organic food. McGarrell also had a lifelong love of Haiti and directed a nonprofit arts center in Jacmel called FOSAJ. On January 12, 2010, he was killed instantly when the hotel he was in collapsed as a result of the devastating earthquake. Flo McGarrell's absence is deeply felt, but his artistic contributions will live on. Here is a picture of McGarrell in his Vermont studio:

And here is Wendy Tremayne's column on McGarrell as well as his Roswell Scrubbie project.

Life Cycle
The I ♥ Roswell project: It's free, adapted, and homegrown.
By Wendy Tremayne

A while back, I received an email with a curious subject line: "Would you like a greenhouse?" Links in the email led me to a Flickr page of photos. The greenhouse in question is a tall, translucent igloo made of 5-gallon water bottles. This wondrous object of utilitarian garbage-art was part of an exhibition that took place in Roswell, N.M., created by Flo McGarrell during a residency at the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program.

McGarrell's creative task was to live on the land. His challenge as a gardener was to use tools made from waste materials found lying about the urban landscape. Locals who heard about his I ♥ Roswell project recalled the numerous Roswell artist-resident gardens that didn't work.

Observing that the town's cultural hub seemed to be the local Wal-Mart -- a place where teenagers go on dates -- and noticing that shops selling UFO trinkets saw more traffic than the town's two impressive art museums, McGarrell, 34, turned his attention toward research rather than to local lore. He read books about permaculture, gardening, and soil building at the local library, with little regard for the stories of previously wilted leaves.

McGarrell observed life cycles and decided that he would create agrisculpture: "compost, plant in compost, water, harvest, preserve, save seed, and repeat." There were mini cycles too: "Eat, wash dishes, feed plants dishwater, poop, flush with graywater, repeat."

A conversation with the dumpster also helped. "It called out, 'Flo, you come from a line of thrifty cheapskates (hunters and gatherers)'," McGarrell recalls. "'You cannot resist. C'mon, see what's inside. It could be treasure!'" The final work featured worm bins made from supermarket racks, bucket planters, and that stunning greenhouse.

McGarrell compares the process to "blowing on a dandelion puff ... seeds, spores, and memes infect, inoculate, and ferment in the world." He categorizes his work as open source and has published the Roswell project's "code" on recipe cards displayed beside the exhibit.

While not a gardener at the onset of the project, McGarrell now sports a cigar box of seeds (saved, stolen, and swapped). He plants them regularly by means of "graffiti gardening" as he travels, though he recounts that our society does not always welcome thrifty-minded sorts. "I was reprimanded by the police for 'stealing from the city' while diving the recycling bin in the Roswell Wal-Mart parking lot," he says. "There ought to be 'Free' boxes in every neighborhood."

McGarrell reminds us that when using junk as a creative material, "You don't have to settle for what you find. You can modify to your specifications and all the while learn about tools, methods, your environment, and life! That's the low-price-high-value deal that Wal-Mart can never beat."

To see more of McGarrell's work, go to gowithflo.net.

Roswell Scrubbie
Project by Flo McGarrell

Materials

Net bags (3-6) used for produce
Pieces of poly rope
Zip ties or rubber bands
Old detergent bottle

Read full story »

January 16, 2010

Toilet Tube Still Life

Gareth @ MAKE points us to these cardboard toilet paper tube dioramas by Anastassia Elias.

January 15, 2010

Eyeglass Lens Chandelier

Sean @ MAKE points us to this recycled eyeglass lens chandelier by Stuart Haygarth. Great salvage idea, keeping unwanted things out of the landfill!

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