Recycled Crafts

Every other Monday we have clubs at the end of the school day.  This semester mine is a Recycled Crafts Club and I have been on the prowl for ideas.  Last time we worked on Origami boxes out of leftover greeting cards.  This week I thought we might make some gift bags out of newspaper.
I was also looking for some bags to use for the upcoming Girl Scout leader daughter camp-out.  I was out shopping for goodies this afternoon and thought it would be more fun to make a container than to buy one.
The girls helped me set up an assembly line tonight and we got a good start on it.  I wish there were enough comics to do all of them, but some are made out of more mundane sections of the paper.  Maybe if I ask nicely I can get some free labor out of my craft club students on Monday?  I found this tutorial on youtube that had directions, though I changed it up a bit.  I can post a tutorial if anyone is interested, I'll need some directions for recycled crafts club as well. 

Terracycled Binder Cover

I'm having my AP Environmental students do a terracyling project as a little change of pace after the big exam.  After putting some ideas together today to get them started, I was inspired to do a little project of my own. I had sewn a cover at some point in the past for the binder to use as a grade book, but it didn't survive the wash and I needed something new.  Check out the strategic pocket placement for pencils.  Seriously, how cute it that?

If you've ever cut up an old paper bag to cover a textbook, then you know just how to make a fabric cover for a binder.  The fabric gets cut to the right width and hemmed up.  It is then folded over at the ends and stitched along the edges so the binder can get slipped in.  This is the second one that I made, I accidentally sewed the pocket onto the back the first time.  Thankfully jeans have two pockets though, so the second time I paid more attention. 

Lunch Bag

The kids have been saving empty juice bags for a while now. I used them to make this lunch bag. I would have liked it to be a little smaller, but was limited the size of the bags. I need to shorten the strap a bit and I might take out the bottom to make it flat instead of pleated.


All of that is assuming that I can get it back from Sydney again. She thinks it would make a nice hat or possibly a pillow. We have company on the way so I'll be offline for a while. Hope everyone is having fun without me though.