Crafts From Trash

Recycle Crafts, Green Crafts, and
Saving Energy Crafts for Kids- Page 1

How to Make Crafts and Activities Relating to Recycling and Energy Saving Including: Saving Energy Craft, Fish Puppet Craft, Box Boat Craft, Pop Bottle Goldfish Craft

 

Pallet Strawberry Planter Garden

What you will need: Old Pallet, tools such as hammer, screw driver, staple gun, box cutters, saw, twelve 1 1/2" L-shaped brackets, and a eight foot 1"x 4" board.

How to make a Pallet Planter Garden:

1. This pallet had eight boards. I removed the 3rd and 6th board from the top to make room for the plants. Every two boards is a planter box. So there are three levels of planter boxes.

2. Cut 1" x 4" pieces of boards to make the bottom of the planters so dirt doesn't fall through. I left the bottom open because the planter rests on the ground. If you want to be able to move your planter, you may want to add pieces of wood to the bottom to close in the bottom planter.

3. Screw the cut boards to the pallet using L-shaped brackets as shown in the picture to the left.

4. Since I live in the desert I stapled a thick plastic that I found in the desert to the back of the planter to help keep in moisture. You can also use a board or heavy duty fabric.

5. To keep the pallet from falling over I screwed it to my raised garden with straight brackets.

 

6. I placed pieces of cardboard inside the planter boxes to cover the opening between the boards. I just rested them up against the front and filled in with dirt.

7. Before adding the dirt you may want to add a watering system.

8. I used 1/4" hose for irrigation. The red line indicates solid hose and the blue is soaker hose. I connected the hose with two Ts and one elbow at the top. I brought the line up through the bottom and behind the boards but in front of the back of the planter. Make sure the system works before adding your plants.

How to Print or Copy these instructions.

©2012, Carolyn Warvel -*See Copyright Information

 

 

Soda Can Recycle Art Project

What you will need:

Empty soda cans, acrylic paint, paint brushes, small frames with 1/2" depth, background material such as craft foam or felt for the background, and glue.

How to Crushed Can Art:

1. Wash the cans with soapy water and

rinse well. Let them dry over night.

2. Crush the cans using your hands and feet. Decide who you want the crushed can to look. You can crush the top of the can to one side and the bottom to the other or both to the back side so that you have a flat surface to work on.

3. Decide what you would like to paint on the can. Use acrylic paint to paint the design.

4. Prepare the frames by cutting a background to fit in the frame. Glue the background to the card board that comes with the frame. Pice a color that matches your soda can picture. We used craft foam for the background of these pictures. You can also use felt or other material, or paint the card board to match your picture.

5. Glue the finished can to the background and place in the frame.

Check out the Crushed can art of Charles Kaufman! - Charles crushes his can so that top of the can is pulled out and is a little mangled. His images are amazing, bright and comical.

We would love to see your soda can art. Send us a picture in .jpeg format and we will publish it here.

Free! Free Saving Energy Craft

"Did You Turn Off the Lights?" Printable Door Hanger - One side says, "Stop! Did you turn off the lights?" and the other side says, " Save Energy! Turn the lights off!"

Go to the Earth Day Crafts, Learning Activities, Earth Day Projects for Kids Page to get the directions and printable pattern for this craft.

©2010, Carolyn Warvel -*See Copyright Information

 

 

Fish Puppet Craft

This puppet opens and closes its mouth when you press in on his mouth. It isn't easy to make so you will probably have to make them ahead of time and then have the children color them. See the Bible Lessons Page for lessons to go with this craft.

What you will need: Toilet paper rolls, rubber cement, colored paper, markers, scissors, and hot melt glue.

How to make:

1. Cover the entire toilet paper roll with construction paper using rubber cement. Use the pattern (Printing Problems?) to cut out the fish mouth and fins. Use the leftover pieces to cut out the two side fins. Glue the back fin closed, using hot melt glue. Insert the two side fins into the fish body as indicated and glue them into the body. You don't have to glue the side fins closed.

2. Have the children decorate them with markers or crayons.

How to Print or Copy these instructions.

©2005, Carolyn Warvel -*See Copyright Information

Pop Bottle Goldfish Craft

This fish takes quite a bit of time to complete. If you are looking for something much less complicated, there is another fish that is similar to this except you use a L'oreal shampoo bottle and fun foam. Click here

What you will need: 2 liter empty pop bottle, glue gun with low temp. glue, orange paper 3/4 inch, eyes, or black marker, white glue, Dremel tool or something to cut the pop bottle string to hang fish.

How to make:

1. Remove the little ring left on the bottle when the cap is removed. With a Dremel tool cut off the bottle top at the place where the ring was (where the bottle gets wider).

2. Cut the bottom off the bottle with scissors.

3. Cut the bottle in the shape of a fish as shown. Squeeze the cut sides together and glue them together as much as possible using low temp glue. It doesn't have to be perfect because it will be covered with paper. Glue a string to the top of the body so you can hang it up.

4. Tear strips of gold or orange paper one inch wide by about 4 or 5 inches wide. Soak the paper strips in a solution of 1/2 water and 1/2 white glue.

5. Drape the wet paper over the fish body covering the whole body. You may want to hang up the fish for this process or just do one side of the fish at a time. Wrap paper over the fishes lips and tuck into the hole.
6. To finish the body rip paper into small pieces 1" x 1". Soak in glue/water solution. Starting at the mouth glue pieces on the body overlapping each piece as you go around and down the body. These will look like scales.

7. Print out the fin patterns (Pattern 1 and Pattern 2 ) (Printing Problems?) and trace onto the orange paper. Cut them out. Fold each piece like a fan following the lines on the pattern. Glue to the body.

8. Glue on the eyes.

How to Print or Copy these instructions.

©2005, Carolyn Warvel -*See Copyright Information

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for local church, school, or home use only. It is illegal to copy this material and publish it on another web site even if you include the copyright notice. You must have permission to copy the material. To request permission to copy this material for any other use contact me by email.