Recycling your old jeans into new and useful things is fun and frugal. The denim recycled from old jeans is very durable and the fabric is very versatile. Oh and the best part, when you recycle denim from materials you have on hand, its FREE.
Today I want to share how to make an oven mitt from your old jeans. There are several good tutorials on the Internet showing how to create a homemade oven mitt. (Edit:) Here is a oven mitt template you can use. The original one I used is no longer free so the link has been changed to one that is free.
Cut two denim panels using the mitt template. Then cut two from fabric for your lining and two for your mylar batting. If you don’t want to use store bought mylar batting, just cut two pieces from old towels but make sure they are thick so you get enough protection for inside of your mitt.
Click on any photos to supersize
Because denim is so hard to machine sew through several layers, I assembled my oven mitt in two pieces. First pin the two denim panels together with right sides together. Machine sew the two denim panels together using a narrow hem around the mitt. Leave the end hem unfinished at this point. Trim curves and clip at thumb turn. Turn wrong sides to the inside. Using a pencil’s eraser end, push out the thumb and edges. Press with hot iron and turn under a narrow hem along the unfinished edge of the denim mitt shell.
Next put the two fabric lining panels together with right sides together. Then add a batting layer to the bottom and top of your lining insert. Pin in place and machine stitch a narrow hem around the mitt. Leave the end hem unfinished for now. Trim edges and clip at thumb curve but don’t turn. Turn under a narrow hem and press with a hot iron along the unfinished edge of the fabric lining.
Lastly insert your fabric lining inside your denim oven mitt. Check fit and trim edges if necessary so the insert fits nicely inside your denim mitt shell. Match hem edges and pin the two edges together. Machine stitch very close to the edge to enclose the hem of the denim panel and the lining insert. Fold over the edge if desired to show off your fabric lining or add embellishments to the outside of the mitt.
Need a potholder to go along with your oven mitt? You can add a denim potholder that sports a pocket from a pair of jeans to create a cool recycled denim kitchen set.
As I continue on my gardening venture, I am happy to report that my raised beds have been added inside my new greenhouse. My dh built raised gardening boxes on each side using old recycled boards that we had leftover from an old fort we tore down. He built both boxes and then installed them along the sides.
Here is the first box when it was done and filled with organic topsoil. I started my seedlings in the house and got them transplanted this past weekend. Here is my carrots which were more than ready to be replanted as they had outgrown my egg carton I recycled for a seed starter.
Here is a final photo of both raised beds with my tomatoes, carrots, onions, lettuce and green peppers. I think my veggie seedlings are happy with their new home inside the greenhouse. Now if it would just stop raining so the sun could shine on my greenhouse I’d be happy.
Here is my latest recycled tote bag which features spike stitch striping. I added the recycled pink newspaper plastic bags in an effort to spice up my mainly white tote bag. It’s amazing how just a few brightly colored bags can add a nice touch to a plain-looking bag.
So if you only have a few colored bags, you might want to try this crochet pattern to add some diversity to your tote bag project. Should anyone be interested in purchasing this bag, it is available on my products page for sale. For all those crafters out there who make their own recycled tote bags, please enjoy my free plarn pattern below.
Spike Stitch Recycled Plarn Tote Bag Pattern
Materials needed:
One large ball of plastic bag yarn aka Plarn
Approx. 50 plastic grocery bags – white in color
One smaller amount of pink plarn – Approx. 8-10 bags
Hook: N (9 mm) metal crochet hook
Description: Recycled Plarn Tote Bag
Bag measures 14″ wide and 13-1/2″ tall with 12″ handles
Directions:
Ch 26 with white plarn.
I am excited to start a new category here at my blog. In a effort to become more self-sustaining and frugal, I have started gardening. Of course when you live in the mountains and want to be successful gardening, you need a greenhouse. Well here is my new greenhouse. It was built from a kit and we finished it last weekend.
Here is my DH working hard on the greenhouse. I must say that he built most of greenhouse by himself and while it was a kit, it wasn’t easy to put together. The instructions were not very clear and he had to improvise quite often but he made it work and got my greenhouse built. Personally I think its beautiful and I am so proud of my husband building it for me.
Here are some seedlings I started in the house and moved out to the greenhouse. I’ve used recycled containers for my starts. The white buckets are recycled from my local bakery. I have my one big tomato plant in a white bucket as shown in the photo. I plan to transplant more tomato seedlings into the big buckets this weekend. We also will be building some wooden planter boxes for each side of the greenhouse floor area.
I will blog more about my gardening venture in the days to come. I will share my ideas, my successes and my failures as I explore the world of gardening. I will incorporate my recycling ideas into my gardening and will share my experiences as this gardening season progresses. Please feel free to contribute and help me as I develop my gardening skills.
This project is for a jar helper that I crocheted to help you open those tough jar lids. The center is a plastic mesh that is cut from a dollar store roll of shelf liner.
I cut down the middle of my roll which was 12 inches wide. So for every 12 inches from the roll, you can cut four squares.
Work with a smaller crochet hook around evenly with your cotton. I used a D hook for my base row and then you can change to a G hook if desired to finish off your crocheted edging. I made a number of these jar openers and plan to use them as gifts along with matching dishcloths.
Crocheted Jar Helper Pattern
Finished crocheted piece measures: 7 inch Square
Hook: Metal D USA sized crochet hook
Materials:
1/2 oz – cotton yarn
6 inches x 6 inches piece of plastic shelf liner
Cut a 6 inch x 6 inch square from the plastic shelf liner roll. I purchased my non-slip shelf liner from the dollar store. The roll was 5 inches x 12 inches so I was able to cut 20 squares from the 99 cent purchase.
Rnd 1
Using a small D crochet hook, attach yarn at a corner and ch 1.
Got some old jeans? Well how about recycling the hems into some cool coasters. I saw the idea over at Going Green Crafters where they used the hems from old jeans to create denim coasters.
I just love recycling denim and had to try this craft project. I used two inside hems from a pair of old jeans to create my coaster. Trim the edges very close and evenly with a pair of sharp scissors.
Next I spliced my two hem strips together with a thread and needle. Just do a few hidden slip stitches to secure your two denim pieces together. You can click on any of the photos to supersize them.
Using a fabric glue, roll up your denim hem and apply a line of glue along the inside of the strip. Work your way along by tightly rolling up the denim and applying the glue until you get to the end. I added a extra bit of glue at the end and left the coaster to dry for several hours on a flat surface to make sure the coaster would set up nicely.
Here is my finished denim coaster. It measures about 4 inches wide. I left the bottom hem end on it as I thought it added character. You could cut it off or add another hem strip to make your coaster larger as desired. Now I’m ready to go out and enjoy a hot cup of coffee using my new recycled denim coaster.
I crocheted this plarn yarn basket using recycled plastic trash. The sides are made with recycled plastic bags that I make into yarn which is known as plarn. The base is a recycled plastic frozen dinner tray I fished out of the garbage at work. I cut the rim off the dinner tray and punched holes all around the outside as shown in this picture below.
Next using plarn (plastic-bag-yarn), I crocheted a single crochet base round through the holes and around the complete base. Once you get the base row done, it’s much easier crocheting into the plarn of each stitch as you work the additional rounds for your basket. I changed colors several times and used up some of my unique colored stashed plastic bags.
These trays work wonderfully to provide a nice sturdy base for the basket. You could crochet more rounds with the plastic yarn to make your basket taller or add a handle for a cute carrying basket. Either way recycling these plastic trays is a great way to keep them out of our landfills and provides a useful purpose in the recycled crafting field.
Free Pattern for Recycled Plastic Basket
Materials needed:
Plastic bags cut into 1 inch strips into plarn is several different colors
as desired for stripes
1) Plastic frozen dinner tray with the rim cut off
(One used in project was 6 inches long)
Hook: J (6 mm) sized metal crochet hook
Description: Recycled Plastic Yarn Basket
Basket measures 6 inches long, 4-1/2 inches wide and 4 inches tall
Directions:
Using the tray after cutting off the rim, punch holes around the base as shown in the photo. I used heavy duty hole punch to put my holes in the plastic base.
This is my first vcr tape designer bag. This bag was a custom order from a customer of mine that sent me a picture of a specific purse she wanted crocheted from recycled vcr tape. I crocheted the shell and added the two handles as outlined in the description that accompanied the photo. I lined the purse and also added a removal insert that I created from plastic canvas to give the bottom of the bag a sturdy base.
I took several photos of the project as it progressed. I hope you will find the photos useful as you craft this recycled vcr tape bag. You could also use the crochet pattern below to make the bag using plastic bags (plarn) or bulky yarn. Just adjust your gauge and work the pattern to create your own unique recycled designer bag.
Free Pattern for Crocheted Video Tape Designer Handbag
Materials needed:
2) VHS video tapes recycled into yarn
4) 3/4 inch D rings
1) 1 inch Button
2/3 yards of fabric for lining
50 inches of 3/8 inch cording
1) Magnetic closure
1) 15″ long by 4″ wide piece of plastic canvas for bottom insert
Small amount of super glue
Hooks: N (9 mm) and J (6 mm) metal crochet hooks
Description: VCR designer handbag measures 15-1/2 inches wide, 10 inches tall and 4-3/4 inches wide at base with 22 inch handles.
Directions:
Using N hook with 2 strands of vcr tape held together, Ch 28.
What comes to mind when you think about recycling? We all know the importance of recycling when it comes to plastic, glass, tin, and paper but what about electronic trash. Electronic waste is defined as discarded, surplus, obsolete, broken electrical or electronic devices.
Electronic waste or e-waste includes computers, entertainment device electronics, television sets, and mobile phones just to name a few of the most frequently found e-waste items.
Today I want to focus in on mobile phones. Each year nearly two hundred fifty million phones cell phones are discarded and many get thrown away and end up in our trash and landfills. Cell phones contain toxic chemicals and hazardous materials such as copper, lead, arsenic and zinc products just to name a few of the concerning materials.
So what is the answer? Well mobile phone recycling of course. Not only can you turn your e-trash into cash, you can be helping our environment by keeping them out of our landfills. By recycling your old mobile phones you keep them from leeching into our Earth, contaminating our water aquifers, poisoning our animals and thus harming all of us.
One company in the Uk is making it easier to recycle some of those 68 million old mobile phones found in the UK. Sell My Mobile is the UK’s number 1 mobile phone recycling price comparison site. They help you to turn your trash into cash by providing an easy to use search box that will help you identify the make and model of your mobile phone. Then by comparing all the UK’s leading mobile phone recycling companies and with daily updated price checking, you can choose the best deals possible when you sell mobile phones.
Is your old cell phone broken? Never fear — Many of the merchants listed even pay out for broken phones. You could still receive up to 90% of the original working phone offer depending on the level of damage your phone has. The reason is that even damaged mobile phones can be repaired back to factory standard and parts can be reused and refurbished by retailers.
So whatever type of e-waste you may have, please consider recycling it rather than allowing it to end up in the trash. When you choose to reuse, refurbish and recycle, you are making a positive move in making our world greener. A greener world is definitely a goal that we all can support and reach towards. Remember every little bit helps.
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