Random Redness

A few eco-friendly creations that are fantastic just to stare at. I so want them...


Hand painted My Red Garden Tote by CarryMeAway
Great replacement to disposable baggies for any and all shopping!


Picnic Wallet by acommonthread
Wallet upcycled from plastic bag material!

Happy New Year! I'll see you earth-loving peeps in 2009...

Crafty Mom Make

I love this racetrack that Mindful Momma made for her son to play on. I can remember loving old boxes and the like when I was a kid because they had limitless play-time possibilities. It's so cool that she nudges her kids in the direction of reusing things for more than one purpose too. I can only imagine that this practice instills in children, the idea of reusing lots of things, and of thinking about how many uses you can get out of items instead of just tossing them out.

Discovered Tutorial: Calendar to Envelopes

As much as I dig calendars, I hate how expendible they are, which is why I love this tutorial done over at There's No Place Like Home, where Kelli shows you how to turn beautiful calendar pages into the fanciest of Envelopes and Notecards...

Calendar Envelopes & Notecards

This is just the tutorial that I've been patiently saving up my old calendars for!

Furoshiki = Japanese Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping!

Furoshiki is a method gift wrapping for many different shapes/sized items, which uses beautiful decorative cloths that can then be reused for this purpose again and again. Check out recyclenow (image link below) for a great video presentation on how it works, as well as step-by-step instruction...


Here are some Furoshiki cloths for sale on Etsy.com:


Furoshiki by Zabelou - $50.00


Mini Furoshiki by minitoko - $15.00


Batik fabric gift wrap by miszisz - $23.00

BTW, Merry Christmas Eve to all of you readers who celebrate the holiday!!!

Eco-Friendly Color Trends: Whites & Tans

I like looking through Etsy listings to see what colors pop out at me over and over again. Doing a search for team EcoEtsy items, whites and tans were the most prevalent colors I saw today...

Ho-Ho-HOLD UP! These are eco-friendly???

Christmas is 3 days away, and me being the Xmas fanatic that I am, I gotta run with some eco-friendly creations that contain great holiday colors!

Recycled Upcycled Repurposed T-shirt -- Show Me the Mistletoe by LittleOvercoat - $28.00


Eco Chic Christmas Sachets - Set of Three by momomadeit - $7.50


Set of 3 Makeup Removal Pads by EcoKate - $5.00

I dunno about you, but these surely get me in the mood for Yule!

Upcycled Warmth

My apartment is freezing today. One of the not-so-great aspects of renting: I have no control over my heat! On days when it's not so chilly out our landlord will have the heat blaring, and then for days like today when it's chilly and icy out, the radiator is cold to the touch. Bah! I picked out some wonderful upcycled accessories to help warm up my mind and soul for today, as conventional methods of heating seem to be out of the question...
Woolen Ear Flap Cap by littlebyrdortmund

Upcycled Fingerless Gloves by ShutterKate (me)

Lime Ade Scarf - Upcycled Wool by mosey

Flickr Pool Finds

Here are some Eco Craftiness flickr pool finds for the week. I love the homey and cozy feel of these photos, and how warm, endearing and inviting they all are...
Custom Tam
Posted by sand and sky

Recycled Skirt Apron
Posted by amyandwill

Holiday Kitschy Candlestick
Posted by eclectica miami

Recycled Gift Bows!
Posted by pouch designs

Stuff These

Upcycled stockings are pleasingly in abundance from what I've found. Check out the ones that really caught my fancy...

The Christmas 'Stache Stocking by katiepatatey - $7.00
A great stocking idea for the mustache aficionado, or playful type.

Suit Coat Stocking by mandinka - $36.00
Gentlemen the world over covet this stocking.

Modern Teal Christmas Stocking by xoelle - $28.00
If there was ever an nontraditional design and coloring that would allow me to stray from the more traditional Christmas stocking look, it'd be this puppy.

Crazy Quilt Christmas Stocking by thehemline - $9.50
Crazy like a fox!

---
EcoKate

Re-Wrap It

Why buy wrapping paper year after year, only to have it ripped up and tossed into a landfill after one use? Seems kind of unnecessary, right? That's where the following items can step in as eco-friendly alternatives to throw-away wrapping paper and paper gift bags:


Gift Wrap - Tinsel Tidings by Plumcreekmercantile
Straight up wrap it up with cloth! These cloths are decorated beautifully, and are made to the size of common gift boxes, to easily wrap right over them!



Fabric Gift Bag/Tote by GreenWillow
The gift tote that just keeps giving! Prettier than many paper gift bags I've ever received to boot!


All Occasion Fabric Wrap by loneweever



Reusable Shopping Bags Made from Upcycled Shirts by ZJayne
Here's a mind blowing idea: Bags made of reclaimed materials that can be used to put gifts in and be given as gifts in themselves... Once these bags are finished with their initial task of "wrapping" gifts, the giftee has them to use as shopping totes!


Reusable Gift Wrap Fabric Pouch by sistermaide
For the tinier gifts you're giving.

Have other fun and eco-friendly gift wrapping suggestions? Please share them in the comments!

---
EcoKate

Free Printable Gift Tags!

I've come across a plethora of free gift tag templates that are oh so generously being given out over the interweb. I picked a few that really caught my eye to share with you here.

If you've got left over paper, paper from bags, or anything else that you can safely feed through your printer, you could print out some great eco-friendly gift tags with these templates:

1.by Delight.com

2.by a Fanciful Twist

3.PaperSeed's Free Holiday Gift Tags

4.by The Black Apple

5.by Sublime Stitching

6.by Kitty Genius

Please share photos of your printed gift tags on eco-friendly surfaces in the comments!

Christmas on the Brains

Christmas is only 10 days away, so you'll have to forgive my obsession with Christmas-related finds until the big day arrives.



For instance, today I found these adorable Christmas tree gift tags by MelissaKate. They are hand printed on recycled card stock. I almost want to make them the gift itself. Is that wrong?

Eco Crafty Flickr Finds...

Here are just some of the fun eco-friendly crafts posted to our Flickr group for this week. There was an abundance of reds and greens which totally called to me:

Vintage Belt Buckle Package Wrap by lilfishstudios:


Five Red Birds Nest Magnets by ecogeneration:


Christmas Card Clips from Roxy Jewelry & Giggling Gnome:


Reusable Cleaning Cloths by EcoKate:


Thanks to those who share their wonderful creations in our flickr group, and please, keep sharing!

If you aren't a group member yet you should join up to the EcoCraftiness Flickr group and share your own eco-friendly creations as well!

Proceeds of Promise

December 7th through the 14th, select team EcoEtsy members will be donating a portion of their sales proceeds to raise money for Heifer.org, an organizational effort to end hunger. Check out all the details on the Proceeds of Promise, who is participating, and how you can spread the word about this effort, here.

This could be a wonderful way to get your holiday shopping done, support handmade artists that are eco-friendly, and simultaneously support Heifer.org!