Monday, July 13, 2009

No Reason a Cubicle Can't Have Its Own Crafts!

If you're interested on doing some up-cycling, check out this great article from Geek/Eco Sugar!
My favorites? Gotta be the cord corraller (you could use a tube sock as suggested - or maybe a tee shirt sleeve or mitten) and the desk toy organizer. These really are great first-steps into the world of crafting for a cause, and can be modified (or 'modded' if you prefer the current crafter jargon)

The white paper CD holder seems a little wasteful - until you consider using paper with old printing on it, or magazine pages!



Thursday, July 9, 2009

Hot (as in Cool) Tin Roof

There I was, walking down the street in the village on my way to meet up with friends in my beloved, bohemian Alphabet City when I came upon... this:

So, I got a little closer. this was an honest to goodness tin roof in an east village garden, made entirely of TIN CANS! A fantastic project for using up those larger tin cans to create an out door structure. It has a similar structure to terracotta roofs, and my guess is that by applying them like shingles (the top pieces slightly overlapping bottom pieces) the roof remains solid and water proof.

Sadly, there weren't any gardeners around to explain who built the structure and how well it functioned, but based on appearances it's a fairly weathered structure that has held up through the sort of spastic weather NYC is prone to.  I can see this roof technique working wonders for a play house roof, a dog house or awning over a pergola. Enjoy the pictures - and if your near Avenue B and 6th street sometime soon, keep an eye out for this garden.


Friday, July 3, 2009

If you're not on Craftser already...

It's a great online resource for crafters, and a fabulous place to show off your work and look at inventive projects from other crafters. It's a site i check regularly and am a member of myself. Additionally, they have crafting challenges each month - and this one is simply delicious! Bon Appetite!

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=311369.0

Thursday, July 2, 2009

No Tricks, New Tweets!

Check us out on Twitter!

Follow for updates on new posts, projects and more!

If you're on Twitter already, you can search for it with the name CraftingCrusade (no spaces!) or you can just click the link below!

Welcome!

Here's the first post!
Welcome to Crafting Crusade. In the past few years, the time-honored tradition of buy-use-trash-buy-use-trash has, unsurprisingly, bought up, used up, and trashed up our globe beyond belief. It has also taught us that things are bought, not created - used, not made - trashed, not reused.

Right now, we're caught between a looming environmental catastrophe, and a self-inflicted lack of creativity. It's up to you to shake things up. You, and all the crafting, garden-keeping, farmer's-market-shopping, eco-shoe-wearing, wind-power-using greenies we can find.

Don't just think outside the box. Take a crafting blade to it and turn it into a book stand. Or an ottoman. Or a work of art. 

So have a read and take a look around. What can you do differently, and how can you make things greener, safer, and more original? Make it, fix it, find it, reuse it. And save some money doing it.

Welcome to the crusade.