Turn a worn or outdated hardcover into an awesome portable art studio with this recycled book art kit tutorial that Shaunte shared on Crafts Unleashed.
Okay, we’ve pointed out more than our share of pallet stories. But this is cool, because it’s totally DIY, and would totally involve putting to use found/discarded pallets.
We recently recycled a shipping pallet we’ve had in storage into a versatile indoor/outdoor storage system, and we can’t wait to share how easy it to make one of your own.
You Will Need:
A shipping pallet
Crowbar
Hammer
Spray primer
Indoor/outdoor spray paint
Sandpaper or grinder
Wood filler and finishing nails (optional)
Hanging hardware
Face mask & protective gloves
The rest is here: How-Tuesday: Upcycled Pallet Shelf | The Etsy Blog
(To fold your own napkins — ideally reusable cloth napkins — into “rabbits,” see this tutorial from Martha Stewart.)
The Internet is full of ideas for ways to reuse pallet wood. We here at Unconsumption certainly have shared a good number of them. (Browse our Pinterest board here, Tumblr archive here, and/or Facebook album here for various examples, including several ideas for DIY projects.)
If pallet repurposing interests you, and you’ve been wondering how to go about disassembling pallets, here’s a brief tutorial from Old World Garden Farms that looks like it could be helpful.
I’m guessing that most of us don’t own the tool the tutorial recommends using: a reciprocating saw (a.k.a. “sawzall”) that can cut through nails. If, like me, you don’t own one, perhaps you live someplace where there’s a tool bank where you could rent such a tool, or a tool library where you could borrow one?
Special note: For reuse projects, many of us look for pallets that are made from harder wood that, if it’s been treated, was heat-treated, not chemical-treated. We mention it on Facebook here.
I always enjoy coming across reuse ideas on sites where I don’t expect to find such things … like Buzzfeed! But this post about what to do with pizza boxes is pretty cool:
So you can’t recycle them and they don’t fit in your trash can. Earn a few extra karma points with the earth by making these practical projects.
Here they are: 15 Awesome Things You Can Make With A Stupid Pizza Box
As you burrow back into your cold-weather clothes, you’re probably taking stock of your sweater supply. Here’s an option for the ones that are too shrunken or moth-eaten to donate: Turn them into fingerless mittens.
How to instructions here: Recycled Craft: Fingerless Mittens | Whole Living
The washing-machine-drum firepit:
It’s a super-easy project and the design of the washing machine drum is perfect for a fire. Its small holes around the drum not only allow for oxygen flow to the fire but also make for a pretty light show. Joe added some welded feet to ours and painted it black but if you omit the extra features you can make this in an hour or less. It couldn’t be easier.
Materials we used:
- 1 Recycled Washing Machine Drum (we got ours at a used appliance store for $10)
- Angle grinder (optional)
- Cup wire brush, Cut-off wheel, and Flap-wheel sanding disc (for grinder, also optional)
- Safety Glasses
- Angle-stock and Flat-stock steel (optional)
- High heat black paint (optional)
Instructions and more: $10 DIY One Hour Upcycled Firepit | House & Fig
Ring in the new year with this fun and easy DIY calendar. This project is a double win: you get to clean out all your old magazines and scrap papers while making the perfect end-of-the-year gift for your calendar-loving friends. Who doesn’t love a good calendar?
What you’ll need:
18 x 24 inch piece of paper (or what’s lying around)
Scissors
Markers
Glue stick
Ruler
Collage scraps/magazines
An old CD case
More here: Make Your Own DIY Calendar From a Recycled CD Case | Living on GOOD
I never expected to link to a video from Vice, but:
Materials: How to Make Yarn Out of Dog Hair - Core77
I realize this video might gross many of you out, but I am fascinated by people who view waste as a raw material. As the owner of two dogs I’m constantly dealing with shedding, and the thought that their cast-off fur could actually be turned into something useful is alluring.
A Connecticut-based needleworker named Kendall Crolius, author of Knitting With Dog Hair, shows how she can turn dog fur into hypoallergenic yarn.
FWIW, I don’t think there’s anything here to be “grossed out” about.
And I’d love to see someone do something with this for the Uncollection!
This item suggests some “DIY gift ideas:”
December has really gotten away on me and with less than a week now until Christmas — time is of the essence. I don’t know about you, but I still have a bit of a list to get through and was hoping to do a few last minute DIYs for some of them. I’ve been bookmarking ideas and inspiration and thought some of you may be interested. I think there’s something for everyone on this list (adult-wise) and they’re all do-able in an afternoon.
Of the various projects, this one seemed promising for Unconsumptioneers. (“A simple DIY for anyone (yet so impressive)! Made with an old T-shirt too — so perfect for an eco-friendly friend!”)
Lifehacker says:
The best part about this impeccably organized junk drawer is that it repurposes unused things around the house, thereby tackling even more junk—for free.
Here’s how we did it:
Organize Your Junk Drawer with Stuff You Already Have Around the House
This how-to video shows how to convert old, unused 10-speeds into fast, fixed gear bikes, giving them a second life. The video shows the whole conversion process from start to finish.
(via GOOD)
