I want to share with you a unique company I came across on the web. Turtle Mat is a creator of all types of mats for the home. Not just useful by the door, Turtle Mats are now widely used in kitchens, bathrooms, boats, RVs, dorms, offices, and utility rooms. Turtle Mats are manufactured by one of the world’s largest and most eco-friendly textile groups. The group has achieved carbon negative status by planting one million trees every year and by producing green energy in its own hydroelectric plants. The group is also at the forefront of initiatives to reduce waste, cut water usage and use fewer chemicals.
Turtle Mat also supports the Marine Conservation Society, the only charity in the UK dedicated to caring for our seas, shores and wildlife. Through their Adopt-a-Turtle campaign, they are working to save marine turtles from extinction. In the last year, Turtle Mat customers have helped raise over £5,000 through their adoption scheme. To find out more about adopting a turtle, visit their website at Marine Conservation Society.
So should you need a new doormat, you of course could crochet your own recycled rug like this plarn round rug. Plarn rugs are fun to make and are very durable. But maybe you aren’t a crafter and want to shop for beautiful and practical doormats from a green eco-friendly company. I recommend you check out the collection of lovely mats and rugs that Turtle Mat offers.
Crafting with recycled materials is so addicting. I’m back with another green crafting project using a thrift store t-shirt I got free as it had a bleach stain. It was a pretty pink so I thought it would make a nice baby bib. This baby bib is crocheted from the t-yarn I created from the old t-shirt. Here is my tutorial on how I create t-yarn and how I curl it before crocheting. This baby bib uses about half of an adult sized seamless-sides t-shirt which has been cut into 1/4″ wide strips.
I had shared another t-yarn baby bib before but this crochet pattern has been simplified and makes for an even quicker project. I added flowers as an extra embellishment. I hope you enjoy this free baby bib pattern.
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Free Crocheted T-Yarn Baby Bib Pattern
Materials needed:
1) T-shirt cut into T-yarn approx. 1/4″ wide
2) Straps 12″ long cut from hem of T-shirt
Scrap piece of yarn for flowers
Hook:
H (5 mm) USA size crochet hook
Description:
Baby Bib measures 9 inches across and 8 inches long from neck edge to bottom center
Straps are 12 inches long each
Directions:
Ch 18
Need a watering can or container for your garden? Well I did and decided I would try and make my own. I took one of my empty apple jugs and upcycled it into this handy watering container for my garden.
You just need a plastic jug with a screw off lid. I like the one gallon Tree Top apple jugs as they are made with heavy plastic and a sturdy screw off cap. I used a hammer and a nail to punch the holes around the top of the cap as shown. Just put the cap on a old board and hammer the nail through the plastic to create your watering holes.
My recycled watering jug works great. I can use it to just gently sprinkle tender new seedlings with water or shake it to water larger areas. Plus you can squeeze on the jug to create pressure which allows you to spray water quite a distance.
So if you need a watering can, please consider recycling an old plastic jug into a very handy and frugal watering jug. I’m sure you will love your free watering jug as much as I love mine.
Happy gardening!
It’s nearly the 4th of July so I thought I’d post a fun stars and stripes project I did for charity. Crocheting for charity is very rewarding and enjoyable. It’s a wonderful way to give back a bit and pay it forward to someone that you may not even know.
I’ve recently crocheted a few wheelchair – walker tote bags for my local nursing home. Here is one of my stars and stripes tote bags I created from some vintage bulky wool yarn I found at a thrift store. Being wool I just had to felt this and I was really pleased with the results. Felted wool just looks so cool and I think it adds a special touch to the bag.
Please feel free to use my pattern to crochet for your local charities or organizations.
Enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July!
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Free Pattern for Stars & Stripes Wheelchair – Walker Tote Bag
Materials needed:
Bulky weight wool yarn in red, white and blue, approx. 2 ozs in each color
2) 1 inch buttons
Hook:
N (9 mm) U.S. size metal hook
Description: Wheelchair – Walker Tote Bag
Bag measures 9 inches wide by 9-1/2 inches long with 8 inch straps after felting
Bag measured 11″ wide by 12″ long with 8-1/2″ straps before felting
Directions:
Using red yarn, Ch 27.
My blog friend and fellow recycled crafter Carmen is back to share a cool project that she created using old denim from jeans. She used the jeans, along with bandannas and other recycled materials to decorate these flower pots.
Here is another denim pot she covered and used a pocket too. She created a fun gardening gift package with this project. You can see Carmen’s step-by-step photo tutorial here to help you create your own unique recycled denim pot cover.
Using recycled materials and promoting eco-friendly projects is always a goal of mine here at My Recycled Bags. But maybe you aren’t a crafter and want to be able to buy a unique gift or product that is eco-friendly and organic.
The Travelling Souk offers a wide range of products under their Eco Souk line. They offer Fair Trade products that are organic and eco-friendly. Fair Trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability.
Eco Souk embraces and encourages beautiful products promoting ecological and sustainable manufacturing practices and where all the workers have been paid a decent wage.
Wherever you see this symbol the product is either Fair Trade, ethical, eco-friendly, organic, recycled, green or natural. These cool-looking organic cotton oven mitts and peg bags were among my favorites at their site. Both of these items use organic, eco friendly raw materials and manufacturing methods.
So whether you want to make your own eco-friendly oven mitt or peg bag, you can check out my free patterns. Otherwise please check the unique eco-friendly products and gift ideas available at Eco Souk.
I am back sharing another free recycled plarn pattern that I created. I used a satchel style strap design in this crocheted tote bag using plastic bags. The white bags are just regular grocery sacks and the pink ones are plastic newspaper bags that I have been getting from my local library. I used the combination to craft this satchel styled tote which I hope you will enjoy.
Best wishes and happy crafting to all!
Satchel Styled Recycled Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn in white (approx. 40 bags)
Small ball of pink plarn (approx. 20 bags)
Hook: J (6 mm) metal crochet hook
Description: Tote bag
Bag measures 14 inches wide and 10 inches long with 14 inches handles
Directions:
Using pink plarn, Ch 26.
I made my own hummingbird food this weekend. The hummingbirds just love my homemade juice. They are drinking it up so fast I can’t believe it. In the past I had the red granulated mix that you buy from the store, but this week I ran out. So I tried my own homemade brew for the birds. I used the 4 to 1 mix which is 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar. I did not use food coloring and the birds don’t seem to care at all. They are still attracted by the red on my feeder and don’t need any artificial coloring.
Just check out these shots of one of my girls enjoying her natural hummingbird food. So if you feed hummingbirds, please consider making your own diy food. It will save you money and the hummingbirds will love your homemade brew!
Ever wonder what to do with all that junk mail? Some of it is very pretty — like those colorful gardening and flower magazines. Well I’ve been saving them along with old greeting cards, cereal boxes, and other junk mail to create my own recycled business cards and tags.
Here are some tags I made using old greeting cards and junk mail. I cut out the tag shapes using this die-cutter I purchased. I then used my green line stamp to stamp the backs of the tags creating my business cards. I chose to use a tag shape as I can use these to attach to my products as well as use them as business cards.
Above are more flower catalogs and greeting cards that I cut using my die-cutter. I plan to use these as gift tags for birthdays and Christmas. Just punch a hole at the top and attach a piece of yarn or ribbon to finish off the recycled gift tags.
So whether you need business cards, gift tags or both, consider recycling your junk mail and cards. They are very pretty and unique tags and a wonderful way to make your own business cards.
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