Making Reusable Items for Earth Day

This year for Earth Day the boys and I decided to make some reusable items to reduce the amount of disposable things we use in our home.

We upcycled some flannelette pajamas into reusable make up wipes and upcycled old pillow cases into shopping bags.  

For the Reusable Make Up Wipes.

We started by tracing around a glass with a pen on one of the pant legs of each pair of pajamas so we had 20 circles on the women's pair and 10 circles on the child's pair.

We took it in turns using the sewing machine to stitch zigzag stitch around each line.

We are novice sewers and are learning together, we found sewing the make up wipes great practice for sewing curves which will really help with our upcoming cosplay sewing.

Once we had stitched all the circles we cut them out as close to the stitching as we could without cutting into the stitching.

And here are our finished Make Up Wipes ready for use in a clean Vegimite jar.

I have plenty of the pajamas left to make some dish clothes with or more make up wipes depending on our needs.

For the Pillowcase Bags.

I found a couple of guides online but decided to things a little different while still using their technique.

I folded the pillowcase in half length-ways as the instructions I found said but when drawing my handle pattern I put them at the end of the pillowcase that doesn't open so I wouldn't have to piece them together.

I put my ruler about 3 inches in from the side and drew a line 20cm down the length, then I moved my ruler to the outside and marked where 25cm was and joined this to my line with a curve.  I repeated on the other side so when I cut out I have a handle ready to hem.

Once they were cut out I turned them inside out and hemmed the handles by just turning about 6mm in on each side.

I then closed the bottom with a straight stitch which I then reinforced by stitching over it with a zigzag stitch, stitched the corner on a diagonal and snipped the corner off before turning right side out.

One of my pillowcases had a hole in the middle so I used the scraps from cutting the handles to patch the hole.

Once I turned the bags right side our I checked they would hold a lot of cans and they do so I am really excited to use my new shopping bags.

I have kept the left over scraps from making the bags to use as small rags when doing mixed media projects, so there is no waste which is fantastic.

Earth Day Upcycled Mini Album - Helmar Creative Team

I am so excited to be sharing my first project with the Helmar Creative Team with you.

I wanted to do something with my boys for Earth Day and decided I needed a mini album to record the memories in but I wanted it to be as environmentally friendly as possible so I decided a upcycled album was the way to go.

I love making mini albums but haven't made one in a long time because no matter how high quality the tape is I use due to the climate here the stick gives way due to the weight so I have wanted to experiment with using Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue to create a mini album and it was not only easier to do but the hold is much stronger than the strongest tape I have used in the past.

Supplies needed
5 Toilet rolls
1 sheet of Kraft cardstock
Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue
Digital Papers Earth Day and Embellishments from Pixel Scrapper printed on 160gsm paper
Earth Patch from the Scrapping Fun Kits April 2018 Kit
Assortment of Burlap trims and twine
Green Lace from the Scrapping Fun Kits St Paddy's Kit
Trimmer
Hole Punch
Score Board
Assorted green alpha stickers

As there can be a variation in toilet roll sizes I have included instructions for getting the best sizing for your rolls.
Flatten out your toilet rolls, you can do this with a iron, running them through a Big Shot or similar die cutting machine or with a bone folder and then put them under something heavy.


Measure the inside measurement of your toilet rolls, cut a strip of Kraft cardstock slightly smaller, this will form your Hidden Hinge Binding.


Cut 5 tags from Kraft cardstock slightly longer than your toilet rolls and punch a hole in the top.  Tie twine in the holes.

Cut 4 cover pieces to be long enough to cover your tags and slightly wider than your toilet rolls.
Save your scraps you will use one of them for the outside of your binding but we will wait to cut this once the binding is attached to the covers to be sure of the measurements.

For the Hidden Hinge Binding System piece make your first score mark at 1.5 inches then do this pattern - 1/2inch 1/2inch 1/4inch 1/2inch 1/2inch 1/4inch 1/2inch 1/2inch 1/4inch 1/2inch 1/2inch 1/4inch 1/2inch 1/2inch  leave a 1.5 inch flap and trim off the excess.

You need to glue the 1/2 inch sections to each other, this will form the flap you attach your pages to, leaving the 14 inch sections with no glue on.  Once glued together fold the flaps in each direction to ensure easy turning once the pages are attached.

Attach a cover piece to each 1.5 inch piece ensuring the line up with each other.  Then apply glue over the inside surface of the cover and attach the other 2 cover pieces on top with the 1.5 inch flap sandwiched in the middle.  This will give stronger bond for the binding and a thicker cover.  Note my flap is smaller in the second pic due to a error I made on that side.

Now for the spine.  Measure the finished width of your binding and covers and add 1 inch cut a piece of scrap the the height of the covers and this measurement your just made.  Score .5 inch in from each side.  Apply glue to the spine, attach the .5 inch flaps to your covers and the middle part to your binding.  You will need to press the various spaces together until things are holding well.  Set aside to dry.
Now work on your pages (toilet rolls) measure the length of the rolls and the width, double the width and add 1/2 inches.  Cut papers to these measurements.
Apply glue to the back of the paper, lie them down glue side up, put the toilet roll in the middle, fold the top and bottom of the papers over the toilet roll to cover.  Repeat for all 5.



Once your cover and spine are dry, cut papers chosen for the covers a 1/4 inch smaller than the cover and adhere with Helmar Acid Free Glue.  Make sure you are working on the outside of your covers when using what you want to be your cover, I got muddled and my front cover became my inside of the back cover.
Use the Lace or Ribbon you have chosen to cover the spine, adhering with Helmars Professional Acid Free Glue, this helped strengthen my spine.


Attach pages to your binding starting with the last page and working forward, by applying glue to both sides of the binding flap and sliding the page over the flap, apply pressure for a few moments until it is holding well.

Decorate covers and pages with printed embellishments, alphas, Earth patch and burlap trims.

Insert tags into your pages.

 Now your album is ready to add photos and journaling.