Wastenot Workshop: December 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Crafting for Kids: The Yo-Bot

I'm constantly looking for crafts to do with my three-year-old daughter, Maya. Although we do buy supplies from the store, I also like to use things we have laying around the house. Never in short supply are 32 ounce yogurt containers. They are perfectly good containers and we can't bear to throw them away, but it presents the ultimate pack-rat's dilemna. The containers just end up taking up space because we aren't actually using them.

So, one day, upon facing the pile of yogurt containers once again and almost throwing them away, I stopped myself and took a deep breath. The thought occured to me that they could be used for kids crafts. Lately, Maya has been really into robots - building them out of various toys and legos. The yogurt containers were the perfect shape for making robots! We used other things we found around the house to make our robots - construction paper, markers, wood chopsticks, tape, and twist ties. The result was a couple of cute "yo-bots!" The possibilities are endless with this project because kids can decorate their robot with almost anything! I think that the smaller, individual sized yogurt containers could work well, too. For younger kids like Maya, you'll want to run the scissors, but they can tape and draw and glue away.

For other awesome kid's crafts ideas, check out this awesome website I found. http://www.kidscraftweekly.com/.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Starfish for Christmas

I don't know where she got the idea, but my three year old daughter has made a decision. For this Christmas, she wants a starfish. Seriously? A starfish? Oh, I so wish that I could get into that mind of hers. I haven't asked her if she means a real starfish or a toy starfish, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she understands a real starfish is just not an option. Not wanting to overlook her wishes though - and definitely not in the mood to scour the internet for toy sea creatures - I decided to make a mini-starfish pillow out of some discarded upholstery fabric samples.

I cannot wait to give this little cutey to my daughter!!

Watch for these to appear in my Etsy shop! This little starfish is eight or nine inches across, but I hope to make a bigger one as well - plus some seahorses and fish in various sizes.

(appropriate for kids ages three and up)

more about me and wastenot workshop

I grew up making things using saws and hammers with my dad, while my mom was introducing me to many different crafts. Then I went to architecture school and spent the better part of ten years drawing and making models. Now I own a home and often feel like the lady in the Lowe’s commercial who is empowered by her home remodeling project. By now, I know how to use every tool from a table saw and a nail gun to paint brushes and knitting needles. Now that my daughter is three, the time is near for her to learn the ways of the do-it-yourselfer, too - something I am very much looking forward to teaching her. Over the years, I have developed a deep interest in sustainability which comes out through my work in architecture and furniture design.

After several years of being crafty, I get the most excited when I work with reused materials. This love of making things out of “junk” is where Wastenot Workshop began. Creating items that are beautiful and functional out of materials destined for the landfill has given me the opportunity to satisfy two of my passions at once – making things with my own hands and lightening my footprint on the earth.

This is not to say that all the materials I use are salvaged, as I have found it too limiting and impractical to do things this way. However, I do operate under the long-used idiom “waste not, want not” – a philosophy that seems to have been lost in our hyper-consumer age. I like using discarded materials, used or new, that just happen to come my way. When new materials are required, I take great care to use them efficiently, saving every scrap possible. I am always amazed at the level of creativity and uniqueness that comes out of asking myself one simple question – “what the heck can I do with this?” Of course, it is no less important to make things that are durable and reusable - equipping us with the ability to waste less.

As a side note, I also enjoy photography and am trying to upload more of my photos to share. Check 'em out!!