More crafty creations for Halloween! Courtesy of Kiwi!

Hey there blog readers! Spend your Halloween in crafty style tomorrow and try one of these crafty projects. I wrote up two new projects for the October issue of Kiwi Magazine.

Dish up this sweet recycling project with scrap paper and candy wrappers. Then, put a new spin on an old T-shirt with this spider web project. These projects are a sweet way to flex your recycling power this Halloween. So grab a copy of Kiwi Magazine for the complete how to and get crafting!

Craft up this cardboard carton candy carryall!

Getting into the crafty Halloween spirit? Check out these sweet candy totes we made for Craft. We used an empty salt container, oatmeal cylinder, and ice cream carton. It's a great trick for turning empty containers into Halloween treats. Get the complete how to over at Craftzine.

Green City Challenge Race & Family Expo

This Sunday Oct. 23 you can catch RePlayGround at Green City Challenge in Union Square Park from 12-3PM. We'll be teaching free eco-crafty projects to make and take, so stop on by! The event will demonstrate how to live, work, and eat green, and will also connect eco-friendly businesses and organizations. To see more info on the event, click here!

Plastic bag bangles by Garbage of Eden!

This week we're featuring our friend Stephanie Huffaker of Garbage of Eden! Stephanie, who is also a RePlayGround instructor, creates beautiful bangles out of plastic bags and yogurt cups. Below you can see the process of creating the yogurt cup base. Stephanie uses pre-consumer and post-consumer waste to make her upcycled designs. Materials include misprints from companies and also used materials that are sterilized for reuse. Garbage of Eden seeks to raise consciousness about sustainability. "If we take the time to seek out and realize the positive potential in the objects around us, there is no waste." To get your own recycled bag bangle, check out the Etsy shop!

Light up used glass!

Cargo Collective offers a line of JarLamps made from re-used glass jars! A hole is drilled in the cap and a lamp fitting is offered through to create your own recycled reading lamp. Our favorite is the Nutella JarLamp! Check out more functional designs including drinking glasses made from beer bottles and a jump rope from used plastic bottles at http://cargocollective.com/upcycle

Adam Matta remixes a recycled bicycle!

This year at Maker Faire we met a cool musician who beatboxes with upcycled style! Adam Matta (as pictured at Maker Faire 2011 below) reinvented the bicycle wheel as an artistic turntable. Matta combined Marcel Duchamp's Roue de bicyclette and a deconstructed cassette tape player to make his turntable sounds. The cassette tape runs along the outside of the bicycle wheel, and as he turns the wheel the tape moves across the cassette player piece at the base of the stool. he is then able to manipulate sound into a record scratching and spinning style. To hear Matta's upcycled musical creation, see his video here!

Adam Matta is great inspiration to remix the way we recycle!

Tie one on

I was just searching the internet for inspiration to make something nice to make my brother's upcoming 40th birthday. I want to make something for him from my dad's old neckties. I came across these great finds and just needed to share: Diane Gilleland's heart shaped necktie pins over at Craftstylish.
 

image courtesy Craftsylish 

This awesome dress from Glamarita's Etsy shop. Maybe not so appropriate for my brother, but something for my own wish list. 

 

image courtesy Glamarita's Etsy shop 

Here's Laura Martin's site Ties that Matter. She's my new friend and fellow upcycler collected from my recent Creative Connection event. Love her range of products from upcycled neckties. 

 

 image courtesy Ties that Matter

Whoa. Some of those neckties are up there on the styleometer with my dear old dad's neckties.

Then there's this whole Sewing With Neckties blog devoted to cool tie finds.

 And don't forget project 50, necktie gadget case, from my own book, ReMake It.

 

So, definitely inspired, but still trying to figure out that perfect gift for the tech-savvy brother who doesn't-really-wear-ties-himself all that much. Any ideas out that can tie together the sentimentality of my dad's neckties and a gift my brother would definitely use?