Earth Day crafts using recycled materials are a fun way to celebrate the green holiday. You can make gifts with free Earth Day crafts for upcoming occasions such as Mother or Father’s Day and save a few dollars. With Earth Day Crafts, you can re-purpose materials already in your home for decorative and/or functional purposes. Earth Day crafts are also an education tool for all ages on the values of reusing, repurposing and recycling. Pull out those old tin can and torn jeans and start crafting!

Here are our 9 Earth Crafts to enjoy:

1. Plastic Bags- To be truly green, you should be taking your reusable shopping bag to the store instead of acquiring disposable plastic bags. But, if you do forget, there are several things you can do with the plastic bags instead of sending them to the landfill (where they will not biodegrade). You can fuse several plastic bags into a sturdy reusable shopping bag with your iron. Here’s how: Take 3-4 plastic bags and cut off the bottom seam and handles. Keep these to make more fused material for handles and embellishments.  Sandwich the bags between two layers of parchment or freezer paper and iron for about 15 seconds on each side. Use the fused material to sew up a shopping bag.
2. Plastic Bags- You can also use the occasional plastic bag to make yarn (called “plarn” by many crafters).  Cut the bags into 2-cm wide strips and knot the ends together to create a continuous strand. You can also loop ends together to create double-stranded plarn strand. Use for a sturdy door mat or any number of projects.
3. Old Sweaters- Felt old or damaged wool sweaters in your washing machine for a material for a variety of crafts. You can create toys, pillows, brooches, potholders, coffee cup sleeves and more with the homemade felt.
4. Old Jeans- Make a coffee cup cozy or sleeve from two layers of denim. Reduce the number of paper sleeves you use at your local café or slip on your own cups or mugs to protect your hands. Measure around the cup, cut and sew with a standard seam allowance.
5. Old Jeans- Cut out the pockets from the seat of the jeans. Add magnets on the back and use to stash craft supplies, a notepad and pencil for shopping lists, business cards, coupons or other items on your magnet board or fridge.
6. Old Jeans- Use old jeans to create quick hotpads. Cut two squares from the legs and insert a layer of quilt batting between the denim. Turn under raw edges and sew closed. Stitch a decorative shape in the middle of the hotpad to keep batting in place.
7. Wine Bottles- Coat old wine bottles with a coat of chalkboard paint. Decorate with chalk and use as vases or accent pieces.
8. Aluminum Cans– Aluminum cans become shiny embellishments for scrapbook pages or homemade jewelry. Wear gloves and use a sharp pair of scissors to cut off the top and bottom from the can and cut down the length. Cut out your object (such as a flower) and use sandpaper to remove any burrs. You can also emboss lines (such as leaf veins) into the shape before sanding. Use either the silver or color side for different looks.
9. Pop Tabs– Use pop tabs and elastic cord to create fun bracelets.