Angela

10 ways to be a more eco-friendly crafter

April 22, 2013 by Angela

Happy Earth Day, friends! Earth Day is a time to reflect on one’s lifestyle, choices, and commitments. Let me begin by saying that I’m from a very environmentally considerate part of the world – the PNW – and while I’ve always celebrated nature – it wasn’t until college that I saw my role in protecting and maintaining the awe-inspiring planet we live on.

What’s not to love about a day to take a look at the beautiful natural world around us and think about what an awesome time we have taking walks on sunny days, going on hikes under a dome of trees, learning about our favorite animals, or photographing our adventures and travels?

When I think of the words that define me, it’s sometimes hard to consider them in terms of the Earth. I am a writer and crafter – and both can means lots of consumption and waste. I can’t imagine how many notebooks I’ve wasted writing a few words and thinking no, this isn’t what I want to say, and scrapping the whole page for the next. Going to college really got me thinking about my ecological footprint though, and now Earth is on my mind nonstop. It’s almost annoying, actually! I can’t help but critique a product’s packaging or take note when someone trashes something when a recycle bin is nearby. But I try not to judge.

Anyway, I thought all us crafters could use a handy list of tips for being more eco-friendly. We’re all making beautiful art, gifts, and products for others to treasure so we’re a step ahead of pack. We know that handmade trumps mass produced. But we can do better, too.

1. Consider the source.

Although so many inspiring designers are behind the supplies at the craft store, we should still read the label and find out where/who produces them, just like we would our food or clothes.

2. Don’t scrap the scraps.

When scrapbooking I can’t stand letting extra paper, ribbon, or yarn go to waste. There’s always something that can be made with it. The art journal in the background of the above photo is how I reused much of the scraps collected for years. It’s made up of book pages, old stickers, used packaging, and more.

3. Buy in Bulk.

This is hard for the indecisive crafter, but buying in bulk cuts down on packaging big time. Plus it usually saves on shipping, drives prices down, etc.

4. Don’t buy what you can make.

Being cheap is how I started making my own crafty embellishments. Then I realized it’s a lot more fun. I also no longer buy supplies like inkpads – I can just use washable markers I already own for stamping.

5. Know that secondhand doesn’t always mean used, and, vintage is in.

You can find a ton of craft supplies – including paper – new or lightly used at thrift shops. Not only are they cheap, but why create an unnecessary demand for NEW supplies?

See how artists combine handmade and secondhand on Etsy.

6. Get organized.

Things I buy because I always lose them: sewing needles, threads, glue, tape, etc. If I’d just get organized I would eliminate this need.

7. You just made a gift, why not the packaging?

It’s half the fun and can probably be made with scraps from other projects. There are tutorials all over Pinterest for spicing up gift wrap and making creative packaging.

8. Find your way around plastic.

Plastic never dies and there are often great alternatives for its use.

9. Two words: small business.

Just recently I started crocheting with handspun yarn (from an Etsy shop). I know that if I swap the items in my shop for only sustainable, locally made, I’ll have to increase my prices a lot. But it’s something to consider in order to be a more sustainable crafter and have higher quality goods in the long run. Peruse the internet or your local farmers/craft markets for materials.

10. If your craft is sustainable, promote it.

Eco-friendly is marketable. People want others to know when they’re doing something good. And buying handmade, natural, secondhand, and sustainable – that’s good. Why not let people know?

Of course, this is just my take on eco-friendly crafting – if you have ideas, PLEASE share them in the comments! This whole week is Earth week, so don’t forget to celebrate!

One day, one room: my Ikea bedroom makeover

April 2, 2013 by Angela

Have you ever had a series of disappointments that made you hesitant to announce when you were actually really excited for something? That’s what happened with this apartment my bf and I were planning to get. It was a fairly short term lease, which was perfect for us (and very hard to find), but we felt the change would be just enough to make us feel refreshed & happy after a tough year of adjustments. We’d had a disappointing search with apartments last fall, so when we were told we could move in last weekend, we were so excited! Then I had to go and jinx it by announcing it to friends, family, and here on the blog! I’m only a little superstitious. The whole thing fell through at the last minute, and here I am at my family’s house again. Not that I don’t love them, but I’m almost 23, I thought I’d get an apartment (and subsequently a kitten!) for my birthday.

Thus began a 48-hour period full of surprise, confusion, and plan-making. Ultimately, I thought better than to rush back out into the cruel world that house-hunting is, and we’re going to wait a bit, save our money, and figure out what we really want–most of all where we really want to live.

Saturday we went to Ikea anyway as planned before the big letdown, and we bought a few things for when we do move, and I focused on getting things that would get me out of my creative rut. I wish I had taken before pictures! I moved my teeny bed underneath my inspiration board, formerly above my desk.

I bought a pretty rug to center the room with, and it really makes a difference!

Then I traded out my bulky desk for Ikea’s simple table, which I customized with a brown top and gray legs. I still don’t have enough room for all my books, so I stacked some beneath it. The little gray cart is also from my Ikea trip–super amazing for crafty goodness, but kind of a pain to put together!

The focal point in the room is my DIY of the weekend, a cheap clothing rack in white for $9.99, that I spray painted (I used two cans) mint green (it’s Catalina Mist if you choose DIY!) which matches my vintage-style bird art and other wall art, and is also my favorite color. After I do all my laundry, this will be filled with spring dresses–there is most definitely not enough room in my closet for them.

I spent about $100 at Ikea, and got a ton of stuff that helped me organize my space a bit and feel a little more comfortable not having my own private apartment for the immediate future. I’ve been really interested in styling small spaces lately (see: upcoming feature!) so this was a nice lesson in design.

DIY painted wooden spoons

January 24, 2013 by Angela

Back when I thought I was moving out of my parents’ house promptly after graduating & getting a job (cue needless whining), I started collecting items from thrift & dollar stores to add to my little collection of housewares and decor. Finally, I got around to painting these simple wooden spoons, after seeing many tutorials floating around Pinterest for months.

I didn’t use any specific tutorial but some of my favorite versions of this wooden cutlery are here, here, and here. All you need for this project are wooden spoons, acrylic paint in your favorite colors, and some type of sealant/overcoat (I have yet to go over mine with a finish; if you have a suggestion let me know!). My color scheme includes mustard yellow, peach, sage, and aqua. I didn’t want to do anything too bright not knowing the decor in my future kitchen. For now, this kitchenware will be put in a very overstuffed cardboard box of the stuff I’ll use one day…hopefully soon!

What do you think? Have you tried similar projects for yourself? I love how, because of blogs and Pinterest, there are so many inspiring versions of the same craft DIYs for everyone to look at and gather ideas for their own unique decor. If you’re not the craftiest, you can always buy beautiful, professional versions of housewares on Etsy, such as these customized polka dot spoons.

Equality

January 21, 2013 by Angela

There are a lot of historically important days that I breeze by, thinking only of what I need to accomplish at the present moment, how to get to the next moment, and what is going on with me, and only me. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is one of those that could easily be pushed aside as ordinary.

It has always bothered me when I see one person treated as lesser than another, and living in politically and socially progressive cities all my life, it’s often hard to imagine that people are still being treated in such ways. It wasn’t until a sociology class in college that I realized how truly how wrong that assumption was, that not everyone thinks like me. It’s easy for us all to think we believe in true equality. We all want to think that regardless of race, religion, gender, orientation, class, and whatever else, that we don’t treat people differently. But we often judge people based off of how we personally perceive life, based off our experiences + assumptions.

After briefly hearing speakers on MLK and black history month last week, I did some reading of my own. I hadn’t known that MLK graduated high school at fifteen, or that in eleven years he spoke on equality over 2500 times. It’s easy to think that if he hadn’t made such advances, someone else would have, but it takes a remarkably brave person.

typography quote from TheMotivatedType

My freshman year of college I had a professor who, on the last day of class, showed us a video of a “nonviolent” protest she had been involved in (I don’t even remember what they were protesting!). It involved smashing windows and the general dirtying of streets and neighborhoods. The fact that MLK and his allies boycotts’ were actually peaceful (to my knowledge), and yet people were still arrested + abused for participating, is wrong, but shows their power + resilience, and faith that the issues they faced needed to be changed.

The funny thing about civil rights has always been to me that we base our assumptions off of laws. Women couldn’t vote because of laws, interracial couples couldn’t get married because of laws, and a plethora of unjust laws still exist. Were these actions that were wrong before suddenly acceptable because the laws were amended? Obviously not. Sometimes, we need to base our actions off of other reasoning in order to advance. Sometimes it seems like America prefers baby steps to the leaps + bounds that seem necessary.

It bothers me that there is still so much work to do—but I think today is the perfect day to put those fanciful notions we all like to live by—you can do anything, hard work pays off, just believe in yourself, live your dreams, love is all that matters—to use in the littlest of ways: resolving problems with peace, hanging in there when things seem unjust + doing what you can do turn it around.

DIY Cutlery Tray to Cosmetic Organizer

December 8, 2012 by Angela

A couple weeks ago I thrifted a large wooden cutlery tray for a few dollars. There have been a few different uses of these going around Pinterest, too, so I felt inspired. This is perfect for the makeup I actually use regularly because usually it’s all falling out of a dirty little zip-bag and it’s hard to find anything.

After giving this a good scrub down, I taped around the edges of the parts I didn’t want to start with. I did this once for each color so I didn’t have to keep switching.

Some of the lighter colors were more difficult to get a good matte layer with, so I applied multiple coats. Keep that in mind if you do this yourself.

I painted the insides and the top, but not the outside, and didn’t do any particular pattern with the turquoise and aqua.

Now I can organize by type of makeup, and add things like nail polish and different eyeshadows that I’m especially into that week. If I had a lot of counter space I might leave this right out in the open; it looks much cleaner (not for long!) than my makeup bag. Right now, it’s being slipped onto a side-closet shelf.

What do you think? Would your makeup stash benefit from a cosmetic organizer like this?

Pretty DIY packaging

December 1, 2012 by Angela

These are just some of the pretty packages I’ve worked on lately to get ready for the holidays in both my shop and gift giving! I love wrapping presents just as much as I love unwrapping them. Not kidding. My mom actually wrapped up a huge pack of multi-colored tissue paper for me one Christmas. I think it was a joke but I loved it all the same!

Check out my post over on the lovely Kanelstrand blog for inspiration to make your own gifts with tissue and kraft papers, and by using your own makeshift stamps.

This is how I’ve wrapped my coffee cozies lately. Tissue paper, thrifted lace trims and ribbons (I never, ever buy these new – they can always be found in shops or even on Etsy, in original packaging), stamped kraft paper tags, and pretty washi tape.

If you’re into a little nontraditional holiday packaging, go for silver and pinks or purples – they still give a festive feel with the metallic, but aren’t just a the same red + green as everything else under the tree.

All my materials are recycled or thrifted except a sheet or two of cardstock and the massive amount of tissue paper that you can get at the dollar store!

Do you make your own gift wrap?