In my husbands Environmental Science class he went on a field trip to our local dump! There he discovered an exciting place called Recycle Town! Here people can come and search through many items that were taken to the dump but that are still usable. There were many things from bikes, play structures, books, doors, windows, sinks, tubs, toilets, pipes, lumber, clothing, toys, furniture, desks, tables. bookshelves, TV's, car parts, tools, and more!
You can buy these items for a fraction of what they would cost new.
My husband got our daughter this play structure with a slide for $10.00
Here's the website for Recycle Town in Sonoma County, California if you would like to check it out yourself! http://www.garbage.org/
I also know people who have gone to the dump/ landfill in Santa Cruz County California and traded some metal items for metal pogo sticks!
Check out the dump in your area to see if there's something like Recycle Town near you!
Photos taken by my husband. (:
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Turn Your Road Maps and Toy Packaging Into Wallets!
This was a pretty easy project over all. First I made a pattern by looking at the shape of an existing wallet and seeing what functions were important to me. I wanted my wallets to have a place to keep money and places for cards.
I then cut out the pattern pieces on some heavy weight paper. (I reused some paper that my daughter had been painting on.) I Then I taped the map pieces onto the paper and then taped everything together with packing tape. I used a glue gun to attach an elastic strap to hold the wallet closed.
I also made a wallet out of a My Little Pony box. This was a similar process, but since the box material was already thick, I didn't need to use heavy weight paper.
I used a glue gun to add ribbon and decorations.
The My Little Pony characters could also be cut out and used as paper dolls!
Finally, a similar wallet can be made with duct tape! Here's one that I made with Hello Kitty duct tape.
First I cut out the pattern pieces on some heavy weight paper. Then I placed the duct tape over them. Then I added ribbons and elastic with a glue gun!
These are fun ways to reuse worn out maps and toy packaging that would otherwise be thrown away!
Monday, January 7, 2013
25 Items You Can Reuse in Your Own Home!
Old CDs make funky coasters! Just stick two together and paste felt underneath if necessary.
Melt the remains of a lipstick together with a small pot of lip balm - makes a great lip gloss!
Make a tin can telephone. Take off the lids and then tie two coffee tins together with a long piece of string for the desired effect - kids love it!
Create ice blocks by filling up old milk cartons with water and freeze them.
Want to keep the kids amused? Empty roll-on deodorant bottles can be used as paint pens for small children. Wash the plastic ball and bottle, then fill with paint and replace the ball and lid. When storing, keep it upside down with the lid on tightly.
Get yourself a worm bin and feed it all of your food scraps. One kilogram of worms can eat and recycle one kilogram of food every day, giving you nutritious worm castings for your plants and veggies.
Put your steel bottle tops and jam jar lids into an old tomato tin. When the tin is half full, squash the top together so the contents are held in - then put it in your recycling bin.
Open up the bottom of a used milk carton and plant a tree seedling inside it. The carton will protect your seedling from weather and pests, and when planted it will degrade as the tree grows.
Going on a picnic? Squash your cans and bottles and bring them home to recycle!
Save your corks in a jar on the window ledge. They can be used as a stamp when painting. If you don't feel like stamping, take the corks to your local Girl Guides or Body Shop for recycling.
Clear plastic lids can be placed under oil jars in the cupboard or aerosols in the bathroom to prevent oil or rust marks on your shelves.
Make your own gift wrap! Wrap your presents in the comic pages from your local Sunday newspaper, magazines or comics. Kids (and even adults) love it!
Why not store your food scraps temporarily in an old ice cream container, before you put them onto your worm farm or compost?
Pour old cooking oil and fat into a used milk carton or jar and put it out in the rubbish. It clogs the drains if put down the sink. Newspaper can also be used to wipe out oily pots.
Old wet-wipe containers make great string dispensers - try it out!
Collect branches from the garden to make a Christmas tree. Have a fun time arranging them in a vase or pot and then hang on the decorations!
Get creative making Christmas and birthday cards from old cards, postcards, photos, stamps, pretty paper and more. Your family and friends will love the handmade greetings! For more recycling ideas with cards, check out FestiveRecycling.PlanetArk.org
Keep old jeans to use as patches for other jeans or you can make a jean quilt with them if you sew!
Save old lip balm pots and small toiletry containers. Refill these from your large bottles to make travelling packs.
Placing bottle top or jar lids under your chairs or sofa is a great way to protect your carpet.
Has your pillow gone flat? Then why not fold it over and put it inside a new cushion cover?
Got some old clothes or furniture that you don't want anymore? There are plenty of charity shops that do want them, so why not donate your unwanted items to your local op shop?
Save bread bags and other food or newspaper bags to take as doggie-doo bags when walking the dog.
Use newspaper to line the kitchen garbage can. Give the bin a quick rinse when needed, pouring it out on the garden.
Glass jars or take-away containers make great storage containers for cake decorations, leaf teas, buttons and many other things!
Thanks to http://recyclingnearyou.com.au/education/25-things-to-re-use.cfm for these ideas!
~*~Reusing Toys ~*~Making Custom Dolls~*~
~*~Reusing Toys ~*~Making Custom Dolls~*~
I have also made custom doll our of vintage My Pretty Mermaids, a giant Barbie, and other dolls.
To make them I follow similar steps to making custom My Little Ponies.
First I buy the ponies second hand on ebay or at thrift stores. Then I clean them with soap and water.
After they are clean, I do any necessary sculpting with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I then repaint their bodies with an airbrush. I use a Paasche Talon Gravity Feed Airbrush for large area repaints, however I need to be careful with joints and moving areas on dolls because the paint can rub off in these areas.
Then I use watercolor paint brushes and acrylic paint for symbol and eye details.
Once all of the painting is done I seal the pony for protection.
I then reroot their hair with a rerooting needle tool like the hair and tool from Dollyhair.com
Then details such as glitter, jewels, and hair styles can be added.
This is a nice way to reuse toys and create unique pieces of art.
It can also be a fun activity for parents to do with their kids!
Here are some examples of my custom dolls:
I have also made custom doll our of vintage My Pretty Mermaids, a giant Barbie, and other dolls.
To make them I follow similar steps to making custom My Little Ponies.
First I buy the ponies second hand on ebay or at thrift stores. Then I clean them with soap and water.
After they are clean, I do any necessary sculpting with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I then repaint their bodies with an airbrush. I use a Paasche Talon Gravity Feed Airbrush for large area repaints, however I need to be careful with joints and moving areas on dolls because the paint can rub off in these areas.
Then I use watercolor paint brushes and acrylic paint for symbol and eye details.
Once all of the painting is done I seal the pony for protection.
I then reroot their hair with a rerooting needle tool like the hair and tool from Dollyhair.com
Then details such as glitter, jewels, and hair styles can be added.
This is a nice way to reuse toys and create unique pieces of art.
It can also be a fun activity for parents to do with their kids!
Here are some examples of my custom dolls:
~*~Repairing Vintage Toys~*~Restoring a Vintage Rare My Little Pony~*~
~*~Repairing Vintage Toys!~*~
Restoring vintage toys can be a fun hobby and a good way to save money!
Here are before and after pictures of my restored rare Spain / Spanish Piggy My Little Pony Fresita. (He name means "little strawberry"!)
She had black mold inside, so first I carefully took of her head and cleaned her out and I disinfected her body by boiling her in water.
Then I replaced her eyes, gave her a new tail made out of restored doll hair, and my husband made decal images of her symbols on the computer that he then had printed for me!
First with her eye I was just going to replace the lashes, and I had success with that, but I wasn't able to clean up all the yellowing of the eyes. So I found one doll website that sold the right size sleep eyes (10 MM) and I was going to order then from there, but there was a $25.00 minimum order and I kept putting it off. Luckily I found a doll with the right size eyes at a thrift store for 0.50 cents and I took her eyes out and put them in the piggy.
It was easy to get the eyes out, I just pushed them out by pressing on the inside of her eye sockets. It was harder to get the new ones in... I used a hair dryer to soften the plastic and it took a lot of pushing with my thumbs. My thumbs were sore for a couple days afterwards, but it was worth it!
Then I painted the iris's all black to match the original eyes and they were done!
The decals were pretty easy to apply and they make the symbols look like they were factory air brushed. I then sealed the symbols with matte acrylic varnish.
Also here are many other before and after pictures of My Little Ponies that I restored.
My Little Pony Restorations
Restoring vintage toys can be a fun hobby and a good way to save money!
Here are before and after pictures of my restored rare Spain / Spanish Piggy My Little Pony Fresita. (He name means "little strawberry"!)
She had black mold inside, so first I carefully took of her head and cleaned her out and I disinfected her body by boiling her in water.
Then I replaced her eyes, gave her a new tail made out of restored doll hair, and my husband made decal images of her symbols on the computer that he then had printed for me!
First with her eye I was just going to replace the lashes, and I had success with that, but I wasn't able to clean up all the yellowing of the eyes. So I found one doll website that sold the right size sleep eyes (10 MM) and I was going to order then from there, but there was a $25.00 minimum order and I kept putting it off. Luckily I found a doll with the right size eyes at a thrift store for 0.50 cents and I took her eyes out and put them in the piggy.
It was easy to get the eyes out, I just pushed them out by pressing on the inside of her eye sockets. It was harder to get the new ones in... I used a hair dryer to soften the plastic and it took a lot of pushing with my thumbs. My thumbs were sore for a couple days afterwards, but it was worth it!
Then I painted the iris's all black to match the original eyes and they were done!
The decals were pretty easy to apply and they make the symbols look like they were factory air brushed. I then sealed the symbols with matte acrylic varnish.
Also here are many other before and after pictures of My Little Ponies that I restored.
My Little Pony Restorations
~*~Custom My Little Ponies~*~Reusing Worn Out Toys~*~
Every year the people of the United States generate approximately 230 million tons of garbage which averages about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Our landfills are filling up and we live in a throw away consumer culture.
I am always trying to repair and reuse things and buy perfectly good items second hand instead of buying new ones. Doing this helps me save money and is good for the planet because less resources need to be harvested from the Earth if I buy items that have already been made, or if I repair and reuse items. This helps keep garbage out of the landfills and it's also fun!
I have so many different projects that I have done involving these ideas, so I decided to create this blog to share with everyone how I repaired things, what I reused and so on.
My first example that I would like to share are my custom My Little Ponies:
Mayanbutterfly's Custom My Little Ponies
Most of them have been made out of ponies that were in very bad condition with hair cuts, chew marks, discoloration, and problems that would have normally landed them in a trash can.
I buy the ponies second hand on ebay or at thrift stores. Then I clean them with soap and water.
Then I either keep them for my collection of toys or I customize them!
After they are clean, I do any necessary sculpting with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I then repaint their bodies with an airbrush. I use a Paasche Talon Gravity Feed Airbrush for full body repaints.
Then I use watercolor paint brushes and acrylic paint for symbol and eye details.
Once all of the painting is done I seal the pony for protection.
I then reroot their hair with a rerooting needle tool like the hair and tool from Dollyhair.com
Then details such as glitter, jewels, and hair styles can be added.
This is a nice way to reuse toys and create unique pieces of art.
You can also do this with dolls!
The My Little Ponies below are examples of ones that were in bad disrepair before I customized them.
Marilyn Monroe Custom My Little Pony
I am always trying to repair and reuse things and buy perfectly good items second hand instead of buying new ones. Doing this helps me save money and is good for the planet because less resources need to be harvested from the Earth if I buy items that have already been made, or if I repair and reuse items. This helps keep garbage out of the landfills and it's also fun!
I have so many different projects that I have done involving these ideas, so I decided to create this blog to share with everyone how I repaired things, what I reused and so on.
My first example that I would like to share are my custom My Little Ponies:
Mayanbutterfly's Custom My Little Ponies
Most of them have been made out of ponies that were in very bad condition with hair cuts, chew marks, discoloration, and problems that would have normally landed them in a trash can.
I buy the ponies second hand on ebay or at thrift stores. Then I clean them with soap and water.
Then I either keep them for my collection of toys or I customize them!
After they are clean, I do any necessary sculpting with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
I then repaint their bodies with an airbrush. I use a Paasche Talon Gravity Feed Airbrush for full body repaints.
Then I use watercolor paint brushes and acrylic paint for symbol and eye details.
Once all of the painting is done I seal the pony for protection.
I then reroot their hair with a rerooting needle tool like the hair and tool from Dollyhair.com
Then details such as glitter, jewels, and hair styles can be added.
This is a nice way to reuse toys and create unique pieces of art.
You can also do this with dolls!
The My Little Ponies below are examples of ones that were in bad disrepair before I customized them.
The Mad Hatter Custom My Little Pony
Jack Sparrow Custom My Little Pony
Edward Scissor Hands Custom My Little Pony
Love Bloom Custom My Little Pony
Phantom of the Opera Custom My Little Pony
Giant Bluebelle My Pretty Pony Custom
Sweeney Todd Custom My Little Pony
Alice in Wonderland G4 Custom My Little Pony
Kirin Custom My Little Pony
The Last Unicorn Custom My Little Pony
Marilyn Monroe Custom My Little Pony
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)