Green Creativity: Use it Up, Make It Do

I have a fairly good-sized collection of craft items in my home. I love making things and relish the challenge of finding something unusual (on the street, at a flea market, from a friend) and holding on to it until I find the perfect way to use it.

That said, it follows that crafters like me have a LOT of stuff waiting to be discovered for its moment of fame. It's not so bad around here that I will be featured on a TV show about hoarding anytime soon, but enough for the clutter to drive me a little batty sometimes.

With the Depression-era saying of "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" as my mantra, I have been loooking for ways to use what I have.

As an example, I wanted to send St. Patrick's Day cards to some family members. I took out the leprechaun stickers I bought a couple of years ago for some reason that escapes me now, and used them to create the cards I would send, instead of buying them. I saved a few bucks and the crafty clutter pile was reduced a little bit.

Let me know if you have any success in this area. It takes a little creativity but the results feel good.

Creativity Tip. No. 13

Valentine Heart Boxes: Easy to Make, Give

For the Valentine boxes shown above, I borrowed an idea from Victoria Gertenbach, as featured in Somerset Holidays & Celebrations, Vol. 1, 2007.

Depending on how many heart flowers you want to make, cut or punch 2 in. and 1 in circles out of paper. Also cut out or punch 2 in. hearts from colorful paper. (You will need one of each size of  circles and five to six hearts for each flower.)

Fold each heart down the center and crease it, right sides together. Place the tips of five or six hearts on the 2 in. circle and glue each one separately. (The hearts will stand up a little because they have been creased. Glue one of the smaller circles on the front of the flower, centered, covering up the tips.

Victoria suggests gluing an old board game piece or button onto the top circle. I followed her suggestions and also used those and  old pop-it bead heart that I had.

(Optional: I sprayed the entire heart flower with a glitter spray and let it dry before proceeding.)

Using bright pink acrylic paint and a foam paintbrush, paint 4 in. paper boxes ($1 each at JoAnn's). I had to paint two coats on the outside surfaces of the box to totally cover the paper, but only used one coat on the insides of the top and bottom.

When the boxes are dry, glue a small heart-shaped paper doily onto the top of the box. Put glue on the back of the 2 in. circle on the flower's wrong side and glue the flower on top of the doily, as shown in the photo. (Don't glue down the petals. They are prettier if they are standing up from the box.)

I put cotton balls inside the box (because I had them) and then placed a heart-shaped chocolate in the box.

With my leftover flowers, I glued a lollipop stick (Victoria used old straws) to the back of each flower and then put this bouquet in a glass jar.

Enjoy!