What to do With Old Glass Bottles

Too many old glass bottles around? Tired of filling them with sand or Christmas lights?  Have enough to fill a landfill? Here is a creative way to turn those old bottles into something grand, and to get you and the hubby working on projects together!

The Etsy Recycler's Guild Upcycles Paper!

Did you know that: Recycling 1 short ton (0.91 t) of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7 thousand US gallons (26 m3) of water, 3 cubic yards (2.3 m3) of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil (84 US gal or 320 l), and 4,100 kilowatt-hours (15 GJ) of electricity?! This is enough energy to power the average American home for six months! (Resources: "Wastes – Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials - Paper Recycling"- US EPA)

The Etsy Recyclers Guild is upcycling recycled and vintage paper and transforming it into some beautiful treasures! Please check out the treasury I created below featuring exclusively recycled paper creations all from members the Etsy Recyclers Guild; the treasury is titled "Orange Cats Love Recycled Paper".My darling sister, Andrea of Storybook Artifact, created a picture tutorial just for the Etsy Recyclers Guild instructing how to make upcycled paper confetti gift/package stuffing "curlicues". Andrea puts these upcycled decorative curlicues in all of her Etsy shop order packages...I bet her customers feel like it is their birthday when they open their packages!

How to Make Upcycled Paper Confetti Package "Curlicues":

1. Collect some magazine pages with brightly colored pages (on both sides of the page if possible). These usually consist of advertisements; however, it is okay to have a little bit of text as long as the other side has lots of color. Recycled clippings of gift wrapping paper is a wonderful choice since they have brightly colored designs and are sometimes shiny or glittery. Furthermore, it is perfectly fine to make different sizes of curlicues (short, long, thin, wide), so you can create them with ease while watching your favorite television show!2. Take the sheet of recycled paper in one hand and the your scissors in the other (sharp scissors work best) and cut off a strip of paper.3. Now take the strip (if it is uneven and not completely straight that is okay) and with the sharp end of the scissors, pull the paper from end to end with a sliding motion to create a curlicue. As shown below.Thank you Andrea of Storybook Artifact for sharing this picture tutorial with us! I encourage everyone to check out the vintage items in her shop...Remember buying vintage is recycling and reusing items from the past! I just love this vintage little leather library collection titled Victorian Literature Collection...It's made of vintage paper!
This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Loving Mother Earthships

What better way to show our love for Mother Earth than to create a beautiful nature dwelling that uses recycled materials and natural supplies from the earth?! These amazing structures are called "earthships". Many earthships are designed to catch and use water from the local environment, normally harvested from rain, snow and condensation; they are also designed to collect and store their own energy from a variety of sources (solar panels, wind turbines, etc.). You can be completely off-the-grid in an earthship...and when combined with a garden and farm, you can be quite self-sufficent too!

I think earthships are stunningly gorgeous! The earth-rammed walls (made of either compacted "earth": dirt, sand, and sometimes cement; or with a collection of recycled old tires packed with earth) create a warm and inviting space; the floors are also typically made of rammed earth which supports holding in the thermal heat collected from the passive solar. Windows are placed on sun-facing walls which admit lighting and heating ("passive solar"). These large passive solar windows are also generally used to provide lighting for an indoor greenhouse. Earthships are often horseshoe-shaped to maximize natural light and solar-gain during winter months.

I love how earthships utilize so many natural and recycled materials! To live in a home sculpted with your own hands with stucco and earth, and a home created by so many things that would otherwise be packing a landfill would feel incredibly empowering, rewarding, and benevolent.

Not only are so many of the walls created with old recycled tires, plastic bottles, and aluminum soda pop cans, but many of them are embellished with lovely illuminating windows made of glass bottles (some colored) creating a kaleidoscope of colors with an almost art deco design. Isn't it amazing how beautiful a home can be with using recycled supplies?! My husband, Joe, and I would love to build an earthship of our own someday...along with having a garden/farming homestead!

To find out more about Earthships, please check out the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship

This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Reuse and Recycle Your Packaging Materials

Embrace you eco-friendly heart and reuse your packaging materials in your Etsy business. Did you know that paper products are the largest component of municipal solid waste, making up more than 40 percent of the composition of landfills?! Save your cardboard, popcorn, bubble wrap, paper, and brown paper bags by reusing them when shipping out your Etsy sold items!You can get crafty and creative by embellishing your recycled materials with printed tape and elegant wax seals like my sister, Andrea of Storybook Artifact, did (package pictured below); she reused a cardboard box and attached information about her Etsy shop printed on recycled paper. I like to embellish my packaged items with descriptive tags and paste recycled inspirational Yogi Tea tag messages on them. You can also incorporate some fun, unique recycled items into your packages like old maps, sheet music, buttons, used stamps, bottle caps, etc.If you don't want to do the work, yet want to support the cause, please consider purchasing these embellished upcycled packaging materials from Etsy Recycler's Guild members for your next sold shop items!"6 acorn gift tags autumn colored ties" by 42 Things Upcycled Goodies.
"12 Upcycled Handmade Envelopes - Eco-Friendly Set Made from Wallpaper" by Harvest Moon by Hand.
"Shoe Advertising Pendant 4 Necklace - Embellishment, Package Tag or use in Mixed Media" by Retro Chalet.
"30 Upcycled Blank Business Cards from Bingo Cards" by Paper Picker.
"Vintage Map Gift Tag Set" by The Weeping Willows.
This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Interview with Gloria of Lolailo

Lolailo is a shop who believes in the importance of reducing and reusing. Lolailo is based out of Fairfield, California and is owned and operated by my Etsy Recyclers Guild team member, Gloria.








Q. Tell me a little about yourself:

When I am not unemployed, I am a winemaker. I grew up in Spain. I live near the Napa Valley, I am married to a winemaker, and I must say we drink quite well at our house. In my newly found spare time I have reconnected with my crafts, which is something that had been falling by the wayside little by little. I also take classes at the community college by my house and practice kickboxing.

Q. When did you first start crafting?

My mom is a very creative person, and I’ve been crafting since I was able to hold a pair of scissors, pretty much.

Q. Please describe your work in detail. What's your favorite type of crafting/art?

I primarily make bulletin/message boards using wine corks and old frames. My love for corks came through my job. I was fascinated by the typography and design that each producer used. I was dismayed at these very interesting and diverse corks ending up in the garbage after a tasting, so I started hoarding them. I investigated what to do with them, and of all the many crafts you can use corks for, the bulletin board was my favorite. I am a pragmatic person, so I like things that have a function. I go to thrift stores and garage sales and look for frames suited to become cork boards.

Q. How has your work evolved from your earlier work?

I have become more flexible, in that I can see more possibilities on frames that perhaps I would have dismissed earlier on. I decorate the frames, paint them, nail beer caps onto them... Anything to rescue unloved frames from the landfill.

Q. Where do you get your inspiration?

I get a lot of inspiration from the frames themselves. There is nothing standard about creating something out of a “found object”, so when I’m ready to tackle a new project, I just throw some corks into the frame and start playing with them, forming a design, changing it, and eventually I come up with a plan.

Q. Where are your products sold (online/stores)?

Online at Lolailo.

Q. What advice can you give other crafters when selling their items?

I am trying to figure out so many things myself! I find Etsy to be full of very experienced and talented artisans, who tackle crafting as a business. I read the forums and the blogs as much as I can, and try to heed their advice.

Q. Describe yourself in three words:

Recently Etsy had a similar exercise, but we had six words! This exercise was based on Ernest Hemingway's claim that he could write a good story in six words.
I wrote:
“Spanish winemaker hates throwing corks away”

Q. Is there is anything else you'd like to share with us?

Treasuries are a wonderful way to connect with other Etsians, promote your items and develop an aesthetic eye. The fairest treasury team I know is the Pay It Forward Team. We follow the Golden Rule and try to be as helpful as possible. Please look us up! Everybody is welcome to join!

You can find Gloria online at the following places:

Lolailo on Etsy
Facebook
Twitter
Kaboodle

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