Crafts from Trash
Recycle Crafts for Kids - Page 2

Wrapping Paper Beads - Don't throw old Birthday wrapping paper away! You can make beautiful beads with it.

What you will need: Wrapping paper, scissors, ruler, Elmer's glue, round toothpicks, and clear paint or nail polish.

What to do:

1. Flatten out the wrapping paper and cut it about 8" long x 8" wide. Cut long wedges 1 - 1.5" inches wide at the bottom to a point at the top and 8" long.

2. Pour some glue into a cup and add some water to make it thin.

3. Carefully roll the wide end of the paper around a toothpick as shown in the picture.

4. Paint glue on the rest of the paper and roll it up around the toothpick.

5. Gently twist the toothpick the opposite way you rolled the bead and pull it out.

6. Let the beads dry completely and paint them with clear paint or clear fingernail polish.

I'd Rather Be Golfing - Carved Golf Ball Craft

What you will need: Golf balls, hand saw, table vice, flat screwdriver, Dremel Tool with carving blades, hand held vice, Fimo clay, toothpick, dry erase marker, Super Glue, and acrylic paint.

What to do:

1. Mark the center of the ball all the way around with a dry erase marker. Place the ball in a vice so that it doesn't move. Use the hand saw to cut all the way around the ball. Cut only through the hard outer shell being careful not to cut through the rubber ball that is inside.

2. Once it has been cut all the way around, use a screwdriver to pry the shell off one side of the ball. Save the side you pried away to use as a stand.

3. Decide what you would like to carve into the ball. Lightly draw the design on the rubber. Decide which areas are going to be the deepest. Place the ball in a hand-held vice and start carving out the deepest areas such as the mouth and eyes. When you are all done carving you can add other features using Fimo clay. Cook the clay and then glue the pieces to the sculpture with Super Glue. Note: It is always a good idea to wear goggle and a dust mask. The rubber is quite fine and you don't want to breath it in.

4. When you have finished assembling the piece add paint to bring your piece to life.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Boy and Girl Can Caddies
Designed by Tracy Piatt
What you will need: A small and large aluminum coffee can, 3/4-inch screw & nut, a hammer and nail, a pink pompom for the nose, wiggly eyes, felt for the hair and arms, lace (girl), buttons, hot melt glue (low temp), and wooden craft spoons.

Acrylic Paint - You will need a flesh color for the face and wooden craft spoon, and any color you would like to paint the clothes. You will also need some black dimensional fabric paint or a black permanent marker to draw in the face.


What to do:

1. Paint the smaller can flesh color and the larger can any color you would like for the clothes. You can also cover the larger can with material or felt instead of painting it.
2. Have an adult hammer a hole into the center bottom of the large coffee can and the small coffee can. Place the can bottom to bottom, lining up the holes, and run a screw through both holes and secure with a nut.
3. Cut felt or material 1" x 2" for the arms and them glue over the wooden spoons leaving one end of the spoon showing for the hand as shown in the pictures. Glue the arms to the sides of the large can.
4. Glue buttons to the front of the can and lace around the bottom of the girl can.
5. Cut felt strips for the hair and glue to the top of the small can. Glue on a pink pompom for the nose.
6. Use black dimensional fabric paint or a black permanent marker to draw in the eyebrows and mouth.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Tie Snake Craft - These snakes are easy and inexpensive to make.  And best of all they are fun to play with.

What you will need: Old ties, polyfil stuffing, wiggly eyes, glue, wire (from a hanger)

What to do:
1. If you would like your snake to be bendable, straighten out a wire hanger or use some other type of wire. Make sure you fold down the ends of the wire with some needle nose pliers so that the edges are very smooth. Insert the hanger into the tie.
2.   Stuff the tie with polyfil from each end of the snake.
3. Glue or sew the tail end of the snake closed.
4. Push some stuffing up into the point of the snakes head (the wider end of the tie).  Glue the end closed and glue on some wiggly eyes to finish.

Plastic Milk Jug Whale Craft - This whale is easy to make.  All you need is a clean plastic milk jug, a knife and scissors, black permanent marker and some low temp glue or glue that will work on plastic.

What to do:
1. Draw the mouth shape as shown around the bottom of the milk jug with a marker (use a marker that will wipe off in case you make a mistake). Poke a whole in the marked line with a knife so that you will be able to insert your scissors.  Cut out the mouth in one piece.  This piece will be used for the whale's fin. 
2. Cut two slits in the screw top so that you will be able to insert the fin.
3. Shape the mouth piece to cut it into a fin shape as shown in the diagram.
4. Insert the fin into the two slits you made on the milk jug and glue it in place.
5. Use a permanent black marker to trace around the mouth, draw in eyes, and lines on the fin.

Nancie Gordom sent me these comments after trying this craft with her class:   I used the whales yesterday and they were a huge success with both the children and adults. I knew the kidos would like anything that involved "throw" as Jonah into the whale. I sprayed mine with silver paint which didn't take long and worked well. Not only did the kid have a terrific time I feel sure they will never forget the story of Jonah and the whale. Thanks for your help Nancie.

L'oreal Goldfish Craft - These fish cost less than a dollar to make. The L'oreal Kid's shampoo bottles come in different colors so you can make some different types of fish. 

What you will need: L'oreal kid's shampoo bottle, glue  gun with low temp glue, orange Fun Foam, 3/4 inch eye, or black marker
What to do:
1. Cut two pieces of orange fun foam to cover the L'oreal labels on the bottle.  You can leave the eye showing on the front of the bottle or cover it and glue on your own eyes.
2.  Print out the fin patterns (Pattern 1  and Pattern 2)  and trace onto the orange fun foam.  Cut them out and cut slits in the foam where indicated on the pattern.  Glue to the body.
8.  Glue on a black string to the top to hang.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Spinning Space Ship Toys - These are so easy.  All you need is an old AOL CD and two lids from 7-11 Slurpies

What to do:   Glue a Slurpy lid to each side of an CD using a low temp glue Gen. You may want to use two CD's and glue the word sides together so that both sides of the space ship are pretty. Spin them on a flat surface like you would a jack or coin.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

"Jesus in My Heart" Flip Toy Craft - Here's another easy project and costs almost nothing.  One side of the toy has a heart on it and the other side has the word Jesus.  When you wind up the toy and let it spin around it looks like the word "Jesus" is inside the heart.

What you will need:  an old CD ROM, paper, crayon or paint, string about 40" long, and glue.

What to do: 
1.  Print out the pattern, cut it out, and decorate it.
2.  Fold the 40" piece of string in half and tie it together at the ends.  Position the folded string  on the CD, centering the string so that equal lengths of string show on both sides of the CD.   Glue the string to the CD so that each half is on one side of the middle hole about an inch apart.
3.  Glue the circle with the heart on one side of the CD so that it is face up when the strings are straight across (see picture).
4.  Flip the CD over from top to bottom and glue on the circle with "Jesus" on it so that it is right side up.
To Play: Hold a loop of the string in each hand and flip the CD around until it is wound up nice and tight.  Now pull the strings apart (pull your hands apart while holding the strings) and the CD will start to turn around and around.  If you look at the CD the word "Jesus" will look  like it is inside the heart.

Copyright Notice - While many of the crafts on this site are free, they are still copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, except for use in your local church, school, home, and other organizations. It is illegal to copy any part of this craft and place it on another web site, bulletin board, or personal web site. To request permission to copy this material for any other use than personal use contact me by e-mail.

Greeting Card Puzzles - Cut your old greeting cards into smaller pieces and glue them onto card stock to make instant puzzles for your children. Glue them onto magnetic sheets and cut them into pieces to make puzzles you can place on your refrigerator. This is a great way to keep young children busy while you are in the kitchen. Idea sent in by Lana Britt