Recycled Crafts: Advice from a Career Crafter

Expert crafter Kayte Terry is living the DIYer's dream — she has turned repurposing into a career. We asked the author of Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper (Workman, 2012) to tell us how she did it. 

SIERRA: Tell us about crafting as a career. 

Kayte Terry: I've gone down lots of different paths. I've written books, contributed to magazines and blogs, sold at craft fairs, taught classes, and worked as a stylist. It takes a lot of time to get to a point where just one of these things pays the bills. Most professional crafters I know do a combination of jobs as well; I think it just comes with the territory. But I actually like it! I get bored doing the same thing over and over again. 

When I started trying to make a living from making things, crafting was just starting to trend again. I would tell people I was crafty and they would stare at me like I had two heads. But now there are so many more opportunities! Everyone knows about Etsy, almost every magazine has a DIY column or two, it's a great time to be a crafter!

What advice do you have for others who want to make a career of crafting? 

Recycled Crafts: Painterly Frame

Want to liven up your living space? Grab some paper scraps and get creative. For inspiration, we asked expert crafter Kayte Terry to share a few ideas from her book Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper (Workman, 2012). 

Project #3: Painterly Frames

Have you recently painted your home? Turn extra paint chips into a paint chip mobile or a fun picture frame!

What you need:

• shadow-box style frame
  
• foam brush
  
• decoupage medium
  
• 6-8 paint chips (or enough to cover frame size)
  
• craft knife
  
• self-healing cutting mat

Use the brush to decoupage a frame side, then line up a paint chip with the side, press flat, and let dry. Then lay the frame down on the cutting mat and use the craft knife to cut off excess paint chip. Repeat for each side of frame. When completely dry, add three more layers of decoupage medium over entire frame. Give time to dry between each coat.

READ MORE:

DIY in 10 Minutes: Rustic Jewelry Holder

Repurpose Your Plastic: Plastic-Cup Lamp

How to Make a T-Shirt Grocery Bag

--image from Kayte Terry/Paper Made!

Recycled Crafts: Dive into Scraps

Want to liven up your living space? Grab some paper scraps and get creative. For inspiration, we asked expert crafter Kayte Terry to share a few ideas from her book Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper (Workman, 2012).

Tip: Go dumpster diving!

Recycling is great. Repurposing is better! Some of the best craft supplies are found in the recycling bin, cost-free. 

Kayte Terry says that almost any scrap of paper, from "cool packaging to little pieces of wallpaper, paint chips, postage stamps, even the inside of security envelopes," can be reused in crafts. 

Terry organizes her smaller scraps by color in larger envelopes and her bigger pieces of paper by type of paper (lined, wallpaper, card stock, etc.).

Can't use your paper in a craft? Any paper with soy-based inks can be composted, so whatever you don't end up using can be repurposed in other ways. 

Give used paper in the bin a new purpose. What can you find?

READ MORE:

5 Ways to Reuse Old Calendars

Green Your DIY: Crafts from Trash

My Life as a Dumpster Diver

--image by Istockphoto/photka

Recycled Crafts: Paint Chip Mobile

Want to liven up your living space? Grab some paper scraps and get creative. For inspiration, we asked expert crafter Kayte Terry to share a few ideas from her book Paper Made! 101 Exceptional Projects to Make Out of Everyday Paper (Workman, 2012).

Project #1: Paint Chip Mobile

Why let these strips of color go to waste? Use paint chips for this easy-to-make mobile that catches the breeze in a colorful way.

What you need:

• pencil
  
• 1" circle template (like a spool of thread)
  
• 30-40 paint chips
  
• scissors
  
• access to a sewing machine
  
• thread 
• string or yarn
  
• 2 wooden embroidery hoops (one 5", one 8")
  
• hot glue gun, glue

With the pencil, trace 310 circles on the wrong side of the paint chips using the 1" template. Cut them out with scissors. Take the sewing machine, set to straight stitch, and pick 10-14 paint-chip circles to make your first chain. Line up a half inch apart and feed them through, adding a new paint chip circle until you've finished the first chain. Repeat until you have 20 chains, and lay them flat so they don't tangle.

Now take the large embroidery hoop and cut four 4" lengths of string or yarn, double knotting them equidistantly around the hoop. Then do the same with the smaller hoop with 6" lengths of string. Gather and knot together the untied ends of string. Hang the smaller hoop from a c-clamp attached to a shelf or window ledge. Make sure it hangs level. Put the large hoop below the smaller one, matching up the strings, and tie the larger hoop's strings on the smaller hoop's with a double knot.

Take out the hot glue gun and, starting with the smaller hoop, glue one end of eight paint-chip chains around the outside of the hoop about 1" apart. Repeat on the larger hoop with the remaining thirteen chains.

You should have some leftover circles not used in the chains; use those to glue on the parts of the hoops that are not already covered with circles.

Hang and enjoy!

--image courtesy of Kayte Terry from the book Paper Made!

READ MORE: Make a Key Rack from other repurposed materials!

Stunning Time-Lapse Photography of Yosemite

An amazing time-lapse photography video of Yosemite National Park is bringing international attention for photographer Shawn Reeder of Bishop, California.

The two-year project, Yosemite Range of Light, uses nearly 7,000 high-resolution still photos to create an inspiring vision of light and granite, capturing rolling cloud formations and the rainbow-lit waterfalls of Yosemite.

Reeder first came to Yosemite after winning a local waiter contest where he grew up in Maryland. First prize was a trip to Napa Valley wine-country, but the 18-year-old convinced the prize committee to offer a change of venue. Choosing Yosemite as his destination instead, he brought along his best friend, who happened to have a camera. . . .

DIY in 10 Minutes: Rustic Jewelry Holder

Got 10 minutes? Our friends at EcoSalon have instructions for a quick DIY jewelry holder made from reclaimed wood.

This easy project costs pennies and adds rustic charm to any decor. Hang it in a bathroom or above a dresser in the bedroom to keep your necklaces untangled and organized (also, so you don’t forget to wear them). The piece of wood used in this project was found on the beach. Try taking apart a pallet or sourcing reclaimed wood in your area.

Supplies:

Plank of wood, drill with ¼” bit, knobs (found at Anthropologie for approximately $5.00), hammer and nails.

Directions:

 

10 DIY Gifts for Dad

Father's Day is just around the corner. Luckily we have a few ideas to help you celebrate your dad on June 17. Check the Green Life blog all week to find more inspiration. 

10 DIY Gifts for Dad

There's nothing like a handmade gift to show your pops that you care. Whether you're a pro with tools or just a creative tinkerer, these DIY projects will help you construct an unforgettable Father's Day. 

1.) Keyboard Wallet: For the techie dad, transform an old circuit sheet into an geek chic wallet.

2.) Blazer Backpack: Turn Goodwill-bound threads into an unforgettable bag.  

3.) Blender Lamp: Reminisce about margaritas past by the light of a repurposed blender lamp. 

4.) Solar Oven: For the adventurous chef, make a solar oven for summer food fests. 

5.) Wall Art: For creative types, construct memorable masterpieces from repurposed materials.

6.) Microwave Mailbox: Make mail more fun with this quirky post box made from an old microwave. 

7.) Key Rack: Dad have trouble keeping track of his keys? Give him an eye-catching key holder. 

8.) Car Air Freshener: Pair the key rack with a DIY scent for his hybrid. 

9.) Bike Upgrades: Sew a bike bag, re-cover an old seat, or build your bicyclist dad a new ride. 

10.) Drink Coasters: Make a set of personalized beer coasters for game day.

Bonus: Dress your present in DIY wrapping paper!

Cyclists Draw Animal Shapes Over Tokyo

 

A group of cycling cartographers in Tokyo are creating a zoo of bike routes. Using a Sony GPS device called a nav-u, they ride around the city in paths shaped like the outlines of animals seen from above. A whale and a sea lion are the most recent additions to the 15-strong menagerie of rides. Can someone get this going stateside?

--Jake Abrahamson is the editorial assistant at Sierra

Video and image courtesy of Tokyo Zoo Project

Gorilla Goes to Emergency Room

Over the weekend, the Nebraska Medical Center opened its doors to a unique patient: Tubby the gorilla. Apparently, Tubby (his given name is Motuba) got into it with another male gorilla at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo.

During feeding time, zookeepers responded to a commotion in Tubby’s enclosure and noticed that his canine tooth was sticking out at an odd angle. He was sedated and transported to the hospital, where handlers covered him with a blanket and rolled him through the emergency room doors.

“It’s possible that he was punched by another gorilla, but we’ll never know what happened for sure,” said Doug Armstrong, director of animal health at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

Tubby, who’s in his mid-twenties, was brought to the hospital because his injury required a CT scan. Doctors diagnosed a fractured jaw and operated on him in the scanning room. He is now convalescing back at the zoo, where he’s expected to make a full recovery. Good for Tubby, who probably isn’t happy with his soft diet of microwaved vegetables and mushy biscuits.

--Jake Abrahamson is the editorial assistant at Sierra

 

Images courtesy of Francois Bates 

Other Zoo News: Check out this video (below) of Shanthi the elephant playing harmonica.

The Art of "Vegan Taxidermy"

Aimée Baldwin's bird sculptures are as lifelike as the best models in a natural history museum. Yet they don't involve any loss of life or toxic preservatives.

Thus her name for them — "vegan taxidermy."

Baldwin, a 36-year-old sculptor in Berkeley, California, creates her stunningly detailed birds out of crepe paper, papier-mâché, and other low-tech art supplies.

Woodpeckers. Warblers. Great blue herons. . . . Every piece is one-of-a-kind. Baldwin spends from 10 to 80 hours on each one, depending on its size. 

Baldwin's love of nature began as a child. But she never applied it to her artistic work until about ten years ago, when a friend with an art supply store asked for help showing customers what they could create with a special line of heavy-duty German crepe paper.

The paper was traditionally used for paper flowers, and Baldwin started out making party favors.  But she was inevitably drawn to wildlife.

"I moved into birds because I like animals and creatures, and the paper works well for feathers," she said.

Baldwin builds her birds from a Styrofoam core, layered with papier-mâché. She adds wire for legs, "sculpting goo" for bills, and glass taxidermy eyes — the only part of the bird she doesn't make by hand.

Then she painstakingly paints and cuts the crepe paper for feathers.

But before all that, she studies her subjects. In photos, field guides and web sites.

And ideally, in the field.

"I'm definitely more inspired if I get out and see birds doing things," she said. "They don't sit still or let me get close. But I prefer to see live birds moving around. It says a lot about their personality."