Free Upcycled Craft Projects at Terracycle's Green Up Shop!

We are very excited to be a part of Terracycle's Green Up Shop, now officially open in midtown Manhattan at 41st Street and 8th Avenue. RePlayGround is participating in a few different ways, including hosting a craft workshop with Etsy and Generation T on April 8th, and selling our ReMake It! kits.

We also invite you to come play with us and create a FREE! -- that's right, free -- do-it-yourself project from recycled materials. Every day that the shop is open, you can walk up to RePlayGround's craft table at the store, create and take home a wallet or business card holder made from fused food wrappers or juice pouches. We provide the materials and instructions for the project - you just need to bring yourself. Children as young as 4 or 5 can complete these projects with an adult's help, and people of all ages get a kick out of carrying their Metrocards, cash or change in something that used to carry juice.



We'll also supply extra materials and templates for you supercrafty types who might want to come up with your very own upcycling ideas.

See you at the Green Up Shop!

Think outside the cereal box...

You've seen us make wallets out of cereal boxes before. Now we've evolved that project into a pencil box. Get the complete DIY and template over at Craftzine.com. This pencil case will start your day off right - it's loaded with upcycled fiber~

Make a pillow chair from old t-shirts!

I stopped by Crafty superstar, Becky Stern's design studio and helped her make a bean-bag-type chair from old t-shirts. It was super fun and super upcycled! Watch the video for the complete step-by-step to transform your worn-out t-shirts into this comfy chair.

Greening Up Shop!

Hey there eco-fabulous RePlay blog readers - Earth Month is almost here! I’m pleased to announce that my latest eco-project is TerraCycle’s Green Up Shop! We'll be open all Earth Month and will be located in New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal on the corner of 8th Ave. and 41st Steet. It’s the largest green pop-up shop of its kind. Ever.

Think over 1400 square feet jam-packed with eco-goodness. In addition to TerraCycle products, it will also feature RePlayGround goods, and other friends including our very own Carly’s Earth Spirit Yoga Bags and Abby’s Abby Valentine accessories. And it doesn’t stop there. We will have free DIY projects every day the store is open. That’s right – FREE! Stop by make a wallet from a drink pouch or food wrapper. Plus, Wednesdays we’ll have free lunchtime workout sessions. And every Thursday night there will be fun eco-events - like our fave DIY Scraptacular event on April 8th.

If you're in the NYC city area, it's a definite destination for Earth Month. Stop by and say hi - at least someone from the RePlayGround crew will be manning the store almost everyday. Hurray for Greening Upping!

Dish up this collapsible bowl

Looking for a crunchy project from your old granola wrappers? Dish up this sweet little collapsible bowl over at Craftzine. Your granola will have double the goodness.

Get crafty at SpaceCraft

We are very excited to announce a new location for RePlayGround's eco-crafty recycled workshops...SpaceCraft on Bedford Ave in Williamsburg! Let the trash-tacular begin!

Come learn how to remake new value from your garbage!


like a photo cuff


and a picture frame


and a crafty soap dish

You guessed it - our trashy material is plastic soda bottles! We are very excited for this opportunity to share our crafts with the Brooklyn community, and hope to continue on for a series! This workshop is perfect for ages 5-10, but adults enjoy it too.

What: Pop Art at SpaceCraft
When: Sunday, March 21st 1:30-3pm
Where: SpaceCraft, 355 Bedford Ave Brooklyn NY
Who:Carly Miller, Garbage Outreach Coordinator at RePlayGround
How: RSVP to carly@replayground.com

You bring: your crafty genius, $15, and any used plastic bottles you love
We bring: materials, instruction, our delightful company

Upcycled Organization

We've been working on re-organizing and streamlining our craft supplies here at the RePlayGround studio. The other day, I began to tackle (hah!) our giant pile of trim, ribbons, webbing and other sewing supplies.



Here's some of the 'before' and 'after' in progress - I used all sorts of random materials to help me put things in order. Thread went into shoeboxes and old plastic storage boxes, and webbing got wrapped around scrap cardboard.



And here's a nice trick I discovered: old, empty spools make perfect places to store ribbon and other small bits of trim. Not the most innovative reuse in the world, but certainly worth keeping in mind!

March 7 - Climate Change event in Park Slope

If you're in the NYC area this Sunday, be sure to swing by the Parents for Climate Protection event! Better yet, it's free and open to anyone! And better still, if you're between the ages of 5 and 9 the RePlayGround crafty crew will be showing you how to craft up new projects from the stuff you usually scrap.

Here's the scoop:

Sunday, March 7 from 2pm - 4pm at Congregation Beth Elohim, 271 Garfield Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

Check out more details at the ToePrint Project.

Pack-o-recycled-fun

Check out the most recent issue of Pack-O-Fun magazine. It's loaded with eco-goodness for Earth Month coming up in April. Plus it includes a few RePlayGround articles - including these sweet little scrap paper picture frames and a plastic bag woven fruit basket. You can't get much more packed-o-fun!

images courtesy of Pack-O-Fun