Table of Contents
Here I will share some of the crafty ideas
I have used over the years to minimise costs whilst increasing my happiness and enjoyment of the garden and indoor space. Being eco-friendly is often synonymous with a large outlay in cost or time. I want to show you that upcycling can be just as environmentally friendly but also cost effective too. This is crafting on a budget, it involves being creative and willing to look at new ideas. Whether you are making gifts for friends or family, upcycling is a fantastic way to add that personal touch.
The concept of repurposing old materials
-means you will be able to add value to your unwanted furniture, clothes, books, glassware and stop your reliance on single-use plastics and non-recyclable materials. So whether you call it reusing, recycling, repurposing or upcycling, getting crafty allows you to use your imagination and create in a low cost way. I love being creative and have chosen a range of skill levels for these ideas. There are video tutorials for most of the crafts and or step by step how to guides. You can repeat the videos as many times as you need to and I love teaching young kids how to be creative, so I think you will too.
Some of these projects are big long-term projects
which I have roped my work friends in to helping with, some are suitable upcycling projects for schools or community groups. All of these ideas have sustainability at their heart and are designed for even the novice eco-warrior to have a go at. Rest assured most of these ideas are practically free and use minimal man made materials. Sometimes we use glue, but always a child safe version and never when we don’t need to. I have put child safe scissors in when we can, but at times it may take adult supervision, and even then do take care!
I want us all to have fun with these crafty ideas and not take it too seriously, but you can make some of these upcycling ideas for sale through various means and that also fits in very well with our ideas of a sustainable community. Being crafty comes naturally to some of us, so let’s use nature to help with our creativity.
When you try these ideas please do post
to our Facebook Page and really help to inspire everyone else. This is a community designed to be full of positive reinforcement and help for each other – what could be more sustainable than that?
When we grow our home to include a garden
the mini smallholder element will start to come through and you will see how we can all grow our own ingredients for crafts. Imagine having your homegrown lavender, dried and then popped inside a wheat heat pack? Or keeping ex-battery hens in your garden which is suddenly a smallholding. The homestead idyll is not that far away and these small steps will help you see it within reach!
I find sometimes the gathering of ideas is the easy part,
so there is nothing stopping you from giving these ideas a go, especially as they are all budget ideas for the frugal crafty family! Good luck and keep us all posted!
