Earth day is around the corner you know, and we are paper crafters with a conscience! We reuse, recycle and upcycle whenever we can and so should you! Don't just throw your old scrap supplies away, donate them to children's hospitals. There are plenty of kids who would love to use them and make a big mess while doing so. Just imagine the difference that you could make in someone's day.
Now for the not so obvious...your daily household items that you recycle or items that you think are old and you want to just throw away... may just be something you could upcycle. What is Upcycle you ask? It is to to transform discarded or second-hand resources into a new or altered object.
So that is what the design team did this time around in honor of our upcoming Earth day. We hope to inspire you as well. Here is what all of us came up with.
Illyse went to the movies and re-used her drink carrier as a little decorative box to put on her daughter's dresser to put her little "girly stuff' in. BRAVO YOU!
Julie made this lovely welcome sign from a wooden placemat,ribbon, flowers and some other paper crafting goodies. Anyone would feel welcome walking up to your door and seeing this colorful display. The good news is...you just might be that lucky person who gets to display this sign on their door. Julie wants to spread the love just a bit more...go to her blog and find out how. You just might be the lucky one! 
Vicki upcycled a prima flower tin and did a wonderful job. She was able to use a lot of incoroporate a lot of recycled products such as the tin, vintage buttons, vintage wallpaper and book pages well as many popular crafting products such as distressing inks,crackle paints, Prima Pearls annd much more. She ahs also offered a insturctions in word format. If you wold like a copy,please email us :0).
Christine well I stuck with a traditional layout and used some recycled elements . I made a flower of sorts with newspaper and with a bottle cap in the center. I also used one of the shopping fliers and cut a scalloped border down the side of my layout. Lastly I used one of my shopping paper bags and used it as an element in my layout.
Now our challenge to you is to show us how you upcycled making a new altered object or recycled some items to use in your layouts. Here is the prize that you can win!
An extra large bag from quick quotes to bring with you while you go shopping to cut down using those paper/plastic bags :0), a newpaper flower made by me (humor me I tried), a notebook made with recycled paper, and some fun Jillibean alpha stickers.
This challenge will run from today, Friday, April 16th, until Friday April 30th.. A winner will be announced Sat. May 1st.
Be sure to link your project in your post for us! We all want to enjoy your work and so do our readers!
Until then, get busy and get involved. You can do a lot to help save the earth, by just doing a little. Like checking out this website and signing little ol'petition about
keeping our climate clean and using clean energy :0).
Simple ways to help our earth
Make less garbage by packing your kids lunch in a lunch box instead of a bag
Turn off the lights, TV, radio, and computer when you are not using it to save energy.
Use less water by turning off the faucet while you are not using it (while you brush your teeth).
Plant flowers and tree in your yard and put up bird feeders and houses to provide shelter for animals.
Refill water bottles that you drink out of wach day instead of buying new ones.
Use totebags at the grocery store, store them in your car..so you don't forget!
Stop buying paper towels, period. Americans go through about 2.5 million tons of paper towels annually, an even those made of recycled materials usually end up in landfills.
And remember to join the Earth day Blog carnival at Craftique.com on April 22
right here!
April 16, 2010 at 4:38 PM
This is sooooooooooooooo AWESOME!!!!!!! I can not wait to see what everyone creates and loving what the dt created!!! AMAZING WORK! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)
April 16, 2010 at 5:31 PM
What a fun challenge....I have a fun one to share.
http://tamminniesdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-newest-jarlove-spring.html
I did not see any linky so hopefully this will work.
Thanks Julie for posting about this. Smiles...Tammy
April 21, 2010 at 8:15 AM
Here is mine: http://somethingfromcassie.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-first-galblog-post.html
=)
Cassie
April 22, 2010 at 8:51 AM
I looove this challenge! I made a mini album out of product packaging. =)
http://alongcamedani.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-3-keep-your-stash-from-turning-into.html
April 26, 2010 at 1:10 AM
Another fabulous challenge!
HERE is my entry.
April 29, 2010 at 8:54 PM
I created a junk mail mini album. Check it out:
http://living-in-the-positive.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-2010-everything-scrappn-guest.html