Where do you get all this stuff?

People that make their goods from re-cycled materials probably get asked this a lot. The sources of recyclable materials are as varied as the materials themselves.

Today I'm going to talk about the waste products that leave our houses. Does all of it need to go in the bin that gets emptied and taken to be land fill? In the UK as in many countries rubbish is a huge problem. We are running out of space to put it. What can we each do about it? Firstly we need to look at everything we are about to put in the rubbish bin and think hard "is there any other use I can put to this item?" The answer in most cases will be yes, but we have got so used to just putting everything inside that black bin bag that gets picked up and taken away each week or fortnight that we have forgotten to ask this question before discarding things.

Vegetable peelings can all be composted and reused to grow plants in. Compost is great for digging into the garden or for putting in pots to grow things. If you don't have a garden of your own do a bit of research and find the nearest local community garden or local allotments where a whole hoard of gardeners will probably be happy to help you get rid of those peelings. You can compost natural fibre clothing and paper too.

Glass jars and bottles can all be reused. Instant re-purposing of jam jars is to get a bit of glass paint, draw pretty pictures on the jar, put a tea light candle in the bottom, light it and hey presto you have a pretty candle holder that protects the candle flame from drafts that might otherwise put them out. Great for using outside on a summers evening. Alex's green Blog has a list of 20 things to do with jam jars if you need more ideas.

Wine and beer bottles come in very handy for people that home brew. Ask around and see if you can donate a few, you never know it might get you a free sample to sip when the wine has matured.

Any glass you don't find a use for yourself can be sent off to be melted back down and made into new glass jars and bottles. "Recycling two bottles saves enough energy to boil water for five cups of tea" says Waste online.

Paper and card can all be re-cycled or re-used. Re-using is probably best, but there will come a point when you have used and reused each bit until it is usable no more. That's when you need to send it to the recycling plant to be pulped down and turned into new products or pulp it yourself an make your own paper.

Lots of plastics are reusable, such as plastic carrier bags can be be cut into strips, tied together and knitted with to make bags and mats. They can also be fused and together to make a very strong plastic fabric that can be stitched together into, pretty much anything you like. There are millions of carrier bags being used everyday and so many ending up in landfill.



Plastic food trays can be reused for many things. They make great trays to stand plant pots on your window ledges. They can be pierced in the base and used with the compost you made earlier to grow seeds in. Once the seedlings have sprouted you can pot them on into yoghurt pots or cut down water/soft drinks bottles. Most plastics will never degraded when put in landfill so reuse as many as you can and those you can't, recycle them as much as possible or better yet try not to buy as many goods wrapper/contained in plastic.

Tin cans and soft drinks cans are all recyclable. I have seen wonderful suitcases and sculptures made from drinks cans like this elephant from greener style.Any can's that you cannot reuse yourself can be recycled.

So next time you are walking to the bin with something to put in it, stop and think if it can be reused by you, or if it can be sent to be recycled. The less waste that we send to landfill the better.

So who in the UK sells Re-cycled goods?

I have been looking through the shops of Etsy again seeing how many people in the UK use re-cycled material in their work. I came across so many that I might have to do a few more articles to fit items from them all in. Here are today's selection of goodies that most definitely prove that with skill and talent re-using/re-purposing materials, that others discard as junk, can result in gorgeous items being made.

To start us off we have KoolKookyKreatures with her funky Monster Jake, who adorns the front of a recycled paper sketch pad. He may not be all that great at grrr-ing loudly enough to scare people out of poking around in your sketch book but he might over dose them on cuteness.

I've known of this ladies work for a long time, as I know a lot of people that own her hats. They are very popular in the fire spinning community. HelenHats goods are all made from re-purposed fabrics, mainly knitted items. This beautiful hooded sweater is no exception. Helen has a talent for de-constructing garments, mixing them up and fitting them back together to make something completely new and very wearable. Her shop is cram packed with goodies of all sizes.

Do you fancy a retro doorstop? Well if you do, surf over to Swirlyarts and check out her chickens! This one is made from vintage fabric and is eager to hold the door for you. What a gent! There are a lot of other recycled goods in her shop, so stop by and take a look.

As with a most of these items you would never tell that this beautiful bag was made from recycled materials unless you were told. Pouch definitely has talent! This medium sized bag has lots of space inside to store all manner of things and it's wide shoulder strap means it's not going to dig into you no matter how much you fill it up.

Inspired by nature and made from "reclaimed silver from recycled products such as photographic and dental supplies, and circuit boards." to quote the maker. How great is that? Silverofthevalley makes her items from art clay silver, so she is in effect turning old electrical bits and bobs and dental surgery waste into beautiful items of jewellery. I think that's brilliant!

I confess, this artwork ROCKS MY SOCKS! My fathers family are from North Wales around where all the slate mines are and I remember well as a child going to see slate being cut and split to make roof tiles, so imagine my joy to see that old roof slates were being given a new and beautiful life by Reform. Her shop is full of fantastic pieces all reclaimed/recycled/re-purposed. I shall be visiting it again soon to see what's new!

Now if you're a fan of bright, vibrant and big, and you like to make a bold statement with your jewellery you need to visit JoyAndJewels. She takes the old, mixes it with the new and creates jewellery that will be sure to make you stand out from the crowd. This piece is made up from vintage lucite and pearl beads and is finished off with this amazing turquoise blue vintage flower. If your thing is something with more twinkly sparkle she has lots for you to see too. Take a wander through her shop and be amazed at what you see.

Lots of great sellers all making recycling look effortless. So why don't more of us do it? We need to work towards a more sustainable way of living. I applaud these artisans for leading the way!

Voting time is here!

So, there have been 4 entries for the banner competition. Thank you to Cat, tizz, Lesley and Marie for your entries. Good luck to you all!

Below you can see each of the entries. If you click on the image you will get a larger version to view. Choose the one you like best and would like to be the blog banner for the rest of the month, then vote in the poll in the above. The poll closes on Friday 7th March at 12 noon (GMT). The winning banner will then be used on the blog for the month of March and the artist who made it will be given an ad space in the side bar free of charge for one month.

Banner 1 by Cat also known as Racergirl1313

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Banner2 by Tizz of Tizzalicious

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Banner 3 by Lesley of TrinityRS

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Banner 4 by Marie of Malam

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Thanks again for entering into the fun!

Artisan of the Week, Drew from Fairy Tale fibers.

Good Morning all! It's a fine sunny Spring morning here with us in South Wales. The daffodils and crocuses are starting to flower and all feels right with the world. What a perfect day to introduce you to the lovely Drew from Fairy Tale Fibers. This lady makes the most gorgeous elf hats from up-cycled yarns. I was not only drawn to feature her because of her beautiful hats, but because of her genuine conviction to try and change peoples misconceptions about recycling and the goods made from recycled materials.

1. Could you please introduce us to who you are and what you do?
My name is Drew. I hand make Furry Eco-Friendly head wear for playful, yet practical folk. I run an Etsy Shop. I live in the puddle-tastic town of Portland OR. in the USA. I am a maker. It's not just the product, or even what I do. It's who I am. I create and recreate. If something stays in my hands too long it may find it has become something new.

2. What led you to take up your craft?
I took up crocheting because I wanted to create clothing and accessories that were unique, useful, and fun to wear.

3. Which part of your work do you most enjoy?
Gee, I love it all. I guess the most enjoyable part is customer feedback. When someone drops me an email saying that their hood has lead them to a more sustainable lifestyle. I light up inside! It's awesome when folks send pictures of my creations all over the world being constant companions to their owners. That is so gratifying!

4. Which part do you find hardest?
I recycle (up-cycle is a clearer description) wool selvage. It's quite a process to de-tangle and straiten it out so it can be usable. There are days when it's so discouraging. Then I look at my two year old and remember that reusing a material that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill is a small step toward ensuring a better future for her. That gives me the vivacity I need to dig back in.

5. Where do you hope to be in 1 year's time?
Almost exactly where I am. Perhaps my work space will be better organized, perhaps I'll be getting more sleep. Otherwise I'm very satisfied. The Etsy shop is giving me the freedom to stay home with my daughter while managing a successful, gratifying small business. I really couldn't hope for a better place to be.

6. What is the best advice you have ever been given?
There are two pieces of advice I took equally to heart. The first bit of business advice is from Ani Difranco "generally my generation wouldn't be caught dead working for the man and generally I agree with them. Trouble is you gotta have yourself an alternate plan"
The most helpful piece of business and life advice toward creating that plan was from Maya Angelou "Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

7. Name other artisans sites/shops would you recommend are worth a visit?
I am a member of the Etsy Trashion Street Team and I help run our team shop, so of course I'm going to recommend you come check us out. It's an awesome group of over 150 Etsy Shop Artisans that reduce, reuse, recycle, and remake every thing you can imagine all the while keeping fashion in mind.

My favourite clothing is custom made by Treehouse28. Alix is absolutely incredible!

The only soap my family is willing to use these days is made by Naps.

Charlie at Faery? Where? Makes the most exquisite leather masks. They are remarkable comfortable to wear and rather sturdy too!


8. What is your favourite sandwich filling?
Pesto!! It may sound odd, but everything tastes great with fresh pesto!

Drew I have to agree with you about Alix of treehouse28. I love the simple yet beautiful style of her clothes. Thank you for introducing me to Faery? Where?'s shop. I particularly like this mask. Your hats are adorable, beautiful and so practical. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Right, I'm off to check out the Etsy Trashion Street Team and then some hula hooping in the park. Have a fabulous and creative day everyone!

Our recycling month begins with St Davids day.

Today is the first day of our month of featuring people that use mostly or all recycled items to make their goods. It's also St Davids Day and as a good little Welsh girl, I thought we should mark that fact by combining the 2 topics. As the Patron saint of Wales, David is celebrated by little girls wearing the national costume and the rest of us wearing Daffodils or leeks in our button holes. Some young boys are also seen sporting the red and black dog tooth waistcoats and flat caps or the national rugby team's jersey.

So, before showing you some of the lovely items I've found to share with you, I thought I'd give you the recipe for a welsh tea loaf that you can make, and eat, in honour of the lovely St David.

Ingredients for Barabrith Cake

350 grams mixed dried fruit
400 ml cold tea (strong)
250 grams brown sugar
600 grams self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1 medium egg

How to make Barabrith Cake

1. Put the dried mixed fruit into a large bowl and soak over night in the tea.
2. Add the sugar and spice to the bowl and mix in.
3. Beat the egg and stir into the mix.
4. Add the flour and stir in with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the mixture into well a greased loaf tin.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/356 F/gas mark 4 for 1 1/2 hours. The cake will be brown and firm.
7. Turn out on a wire rack and allow to cool.
8. Serve sliced and spread with slightly salted butter.

The maker of this cushion has the perfect name to start this month off. Useitagain made this cushion from vintage linen and the pretty yellow and orange flowers reminded me of the national flower of Wales, the daffodil. It has a very 1920's arts and crafts look about it. I like it's cheery spring look very much. By taking old damaged pieces of linen, and recovering the undamaged parts to make her pieces, Useitagain is giving something that most would throw away another lease of life.

As coal has a large part to play in the history of Wales, when I saw this vintage book up for sale I knew I had to include it. I have no idea where ArtPhotoGirl found this well used book but I'm glad she did as it made me smile when I saw it. After a bit of a search on the net I found out this book was first published in 1935 and was an American tale of the coal industry rather than anything to do with Wales, but coal is coal I guess.

This unusual item is a pretty vase made from a blown bulb. St David is always pictured with a dove on his shoulder, hence I picked this item to share with you. Rainestorm has other pretty recycle bulb vases in her shop. They come with a suction cup so you can attach them to a window. I think a row of these in a window with tiny flowers standing in them would look gorgeous on a cold spring morning.

Now you might say, what do recycled plastic fencing tote bags have to do with St David, well in all honesty nothing, but the maker is called David. These great orange totes come from Davidshockdesigns. He makes them from the discarded builders temporary fencing plastic that you can see on most building sites around the world. Not only is David removing this non biodegradable litter off our streets, but he is using it to create a useful product that I think looks great! Yay David!!!

I hope you have enjoyed my St David's day post and go away now and make yourself some Barabrith to munch on. Have a fabulous St Davids day and raise a glass to the Welsh. We may be a small country that many have never heard of, but we are proud to be known as Welsh!