Spring Time is Kite Time... Make your own

I remember heading to Woolworth's as a kid (that shows my age, sigh) and looking through all the cheap plastic kites... There were Spider-Man, Holly Hobbie, Dinosaurs, flowers...so many to choose from. This was a sure sign of spring time! 

Well, welcome to spring! And what a great way to get it started... making a kite from grocery bags or lunch sacks.  Here's how we did ours...

Grab a kid (if you choose too) and these items...

• Large brown paper grocery bag or lunch sack
• Strong string
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Masking tape
• School glue or paste
• Paint (any kind) (we used all natural dyes made from fruits and veggies)
• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Paper streamers or crepe paper that you can cut into strips
• A few found objects (bits of paper, glitter, buttons — nothing too heavy)

1. Begin by taking the hole punch and making four holes in the top of the paper bag— one in each of the corners. Use masking tape at each hole. If you put it on after you punch, use a pencil to punch through the hole. This will ensure that your holes don't tear through.
2. Next, cut two lengths of string about 30" each.
3. Tie each end of the strings through a hole in the bag. The goal is to create two loops.
4. Next, cut another piece of string — again around 30". Loop this new piece of string through the two loops you created and tie in a knot. This piece of string will become the handle of your kite.
5. You are now ready to decorate the paper bag kite using paint, markers, or whatever else you desire. You can paint designs on the kite or turn the kite into a fish by adding eyes, gills, and fins. You can glue different items to the kite but be sure not to load the kite down with heavy items -- or it will have a hard time staying up in the air.
6. Use paper streamers as kite tails and glue them to the bottom of the paper bag. You can make your own streamers by cutting crepe paper, newspaper, tissue paper and even plastic bags into strips. 
7. Once the glue and paint is dry, the kite can fly. Hold on tightly to the string handle and run so that the wind catches the kite. When the bag fills with air it will float and flutter behind you.

It's Time to Start Those Seeds... And Reuse That Shredded Paper

Today is looking to be a very cold day and we are expecting ice this evening! Yuck! But I know spring is right around the corner. My friends at Timebank and various blogs are talking gardening and I realize I'm missing my garden, badly. Moving to an urban apartment, I don't have a great green space I can just till up and community gardens have waiting lists. This year, though, I have decided I'm not going to let that stop me. I am planting a container garden! 

Of course, I don't want to just go buy plants...I want to grow from seeds! And NOW is the time to start them... So I found this great way to reuse shredded paper or torn newspaper to make seed starters. It was so easy! 

You need: Blender, Newspaper, Water, Strainer, Muffin tin, and the sun preferably or an oven will do. 

Tear the paper in about 1" squares (doesn't have to be precise) or use shredded paper and fill your blender about half way. I don't have a blender, so I used my 'shake maker.' Fill the rest of the way with water. I let it soak for a little bit because the newspaper soaks it up. Blend until its a soggy mess paste. Add water or paper as needed.

Pour in the strainer and press most of the water out,until just moist. You don't want it to be completely dry. Then just put a bit of the goo the muffin tin, spreading it up the sides and making sure your bottom is good and covered. You don't want too thick, but you do want it strong enough to hold your dirt. 

I would have preferred to use the sun's heat to dry these, but the day I decided to make them was cold and rainy. I set the oven to 250 degrees and put the muffin tin in. I honestly didn't time it and at one time I turned the oven off because I could smell them baking. Later, I turned it up to 350 because they weren't drying fast enough. My suggestion is to turn it up to 400, then turn it off and put the muffin tins in. Best time is after you bake something and you can put them in when you've finished cooking and use the heat left in the oven. 

Once completely dry, they pop right out of the tin. Fill with compost, soil, seeds and give them sun, water and love. When ready to put them in your garden, the whole thing can be planted. Happy Gardening!

For more awesome repurpose, reuse and recycle ideas, follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@GoodGarbageSDF) and Pinterest! 

Good Garbage Gab... DON'T THROW AWAY THOSE CALENDARS!!!!

Art Journal

 Hope I caught you in time! Don't throw away those old calendars!!! There are so many things you can do with them once they have served their purpose on your desk or wall. They can become bookmarks, wrapping paper, coasters, art journals, puzzles for a rainy day and you could even print out new dates and use them to cover the old ones, saving the beautiful pictures to admire again during 2013. 

Bookmark

The that one that kept me organized during 2012, hung in my kitchen and was a gift for my birthday last year. It celebrated the wonderful stained glass in homes around the beautiful neighborhood I had just moved to, Old Louisville. The colors on it are gorgeous! The pictures fabulous and the stories are wonderful...I just can't throw it away!!! (Well I couldn't even if it was ugly, but that is beside the point.)  I love this calendar so much I plan to cut pieces out and actually mod-podge them to either small canvases or tiles or some other medium and group them together on my wall in the hallway, or the kitchen, of my little apartment. Instant artwork! I can't wait to get started on them. I will post pictures hopefully in a couple weeks to show you another great repurpose idea. 

For more ideas be sure to check out our Pinterest page, Calendar Reuse Pinterest Page.  If you use any of these ideas or come up with new ones, we really, REALLY want you to email us a picture of how you reused your calendar! I love seeing all the creative things being done out there and I know there are LOTS of creative people following us... so SHOW ME THE MONEY! Ummm I mean SHOW ME THE ART!!!!

And if you just aren't feeling crafty... Good Garbage is always willing to take them for you and they will someday become something wonderful again instead of sitting in the landfill wasting away. 

Good Garbage Gab - Creative Wrapping

One week until Christmas!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! How about you? Are you ready? This coming week I will be busy finishing up some handmade gifts, picking up the last few stocking stuffers, baking and  wrapping gifts!

There is nothing more fun to me than watching kids and adults ripping into a beautifully wrapped present. That is a big part of the fun for me! I really hate buying Christmas paper. Spend a fortune for it to last all of a minute before it's tossed in the trash. So, what alternatives are there? Just look around! You can use newspaper, comics, brown paper bags, and book and magazine pages. Add special touches by making your own bows from the same papers or scrap fabric. And if you are just dead set on bags... Then make your own from newspaper!!!

If you are making goodies like muffins, cookies, or candy, use some of these fun containers: aluminum box wrapped for muffins, Pringles cans wrapped for cookies and a toilet paper roll for candy! 

For instructions and more ideas, check out our Pinterest page. There you will find some great ideas for all kinds of repurposing! 

Please send us pictures of all your wonderful repurposed holiday crafts! We would love to share them on our blog and Facebook page! And if you use store bought wrapping paper (and don't fret, I am too, as I have paper I have purchased over the last 10 years I'm trying to use up), be sure to save the cardboard tubes. We will be using these for some wonderful gardening ideas and future crafts after the first of the year!

Anne and I want to wish you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas!!!! 

Holidays . . . A Time for Giving!

While you are trimming your tree, entertaining your guests, shopping for and wrapping all those wonderful gifts and before you throw things away, stop and take a look at what you are tossing and see if it could be re-purposed. Check out our list Good Garbage Accepted Materials and see if it is on here. You will also find the link on the right side of this page at all times. It is updated often and always current. At times you will even find a wish list attached to it.

Set aside a box and fill it with these items instead of throwing them away... Bottle caps, can tabs, corks, wine bottles, excess wrapping paper, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, decks of cards with missing cards, game pieces to old games and left over scrap from all your handmade gifts... there's a multitude of items we could use for art projects. 

If you own a business (and even if you don't) and you want to reduce your waste, take this list to work with you and see if there is anything you can donate. Maybe it isn't on this list but you think it could be re-purposed... Email us! We will be glad to talk to you about it. 

After the first of the year, we will have some days we will be setting appointments for drop offs! Thank you for your wonderful support!

Good Garbage Gab, October 30, 2012

It's starting to get here in Louisville and I thought this would be a great re-purposed idea for today.  And with Halloween tomorrow I thought I'd include a link to instructions on using two-gallon milk cartons to make a Storm Trooper mask for those who have waited until the last minute. (Note: You can use pool noodles cut down and the bottom wrapped in foil or masking tape as light sabers.)

Ever wondered what you could do with that dryer lint that you so quickly throw in the garbage? How about making fire starters? Fill an empty toilet paper roll with the dryer lint. Use it at camp or in your fire place in place of kindling. It's that easy! 

Here's the link for the Storm Trooper mask... This is on my to do list for sure, just so I can say I have one. I love Star Wars!!! 

http://www.filthwizardry.com/2010/10/milk-jug-storm-trooper-helmet.html

And for good measure a picture of the light saber idea. I really wish I could say I came up with these two ideas...  

Another "WOW! Now why didn't I think of that," moment has hit you! Yay! That is the purpose of these posts. To get you thinking beyond the norm. Making you look at everything you toss in the trash a second time to see if there is somewhere else the item could be of value if re-purposed. We encourage you to seek proper recycling if you can't figure out another way to use the item. If you are unsure, email us. We will help you find the best place for it!