Putting the recycling in the right bin is a time-consuming but worthy cause. This blog will show you some cool things to make with your recycling, so you don’t have to go out to the bins quite so often.
This week is National Recycling Week so I thought it would be a good opportunity to practice my best craft skills and tell you how to make some pretty cool things.
I will say that all these ideas aren’t something I thought up all by myself- I’ve been inspired by many years of doing craft activities and, like most people, the internet.
Toilet tube bird feeder
First up we have the toilet tube bird feeder. Everyone uses (or should use) toilet paper so you’ll have plenty of toilet tube rolls to spare. Rather than just being normal and recycling them- how about you make a bird feeder instead?
What you’ll need:
- An empty cardboard toilet tube
- Bird seed
- Peanut butter
- String
How to make it:
- Pour your bird seed onto a tray
- Cover the entire outside of the cardboard toilet tube with peanut butter- to avoid messy fingers I used a knife to spread it (quite thickly) but you could use a lollypop stick or just your hands if you didn’t mind them covered in peanut butter.
- Roll the newly peanut buttered (think that’s a real phrase) toilet tube in the bird seed until it’s completely covered.
- Thread a length of string through the toilet tube and tie a knot
- The final step is to hang the tube in a tree or somewhere where the birds can reach it.
The bird seeds are really important for birds as it helps them build muscle and body fat, but most importantly it means they don’t starve during the cold winter months.
When you’re putting out food for birds, it’s a good idea to do it every year. Birds remember where they found in winter and will return for more next time, it will have been a waste of a trip if there is no food for them.
A musical instrument
I’ve been playing musical instruments since I was six years old- which is now longer ago than I want to admit- with this easy idea, you can make your musical instruments and annoy not only the people you live with but your neighbours as well.
What you’ll need:
- An empty tissue box
- Elastic band
How to make it:
This one is a recycling classic.
- Take the empty tissue box and wrap several elastic bands around it
- You’re done- pluck the elastic bands and you have yourself a recycled made musical instrument.
I didn’t have a tissue box when I was writing this- so here’s another musical instrument you could make- I used a small pringles tub- put some bread crumbs inside it, sellotaped the lid down to prevent accidents and got myself…
A shaker- it sounds beautiful- and is much quieter than a shoebox guitar.
A vehicle
Houses are full of toy vehicles- but why not add your own to the mix? A vehicle is definitely a cool thing you can make out of your recycling.
What you’ll need:
- An empty plastic bottle- whichever size you fancy
- 4 Bottle cap lids
- Cocktail sticks (be careful they are sharp)
How to make it:
- Take your bottle and stick four cocktail sticks through it (you probably want an adult to help with this) where you want your wheels to be. Usually, vehicles have 2 wheels on each side- but this is your vehicle so you can have 10 wheels on each side if you wanted.
- Ask a grownup to drill a small hole in the middle of each of your lids so you can slot them over the cocktail sticks (I sand the edge of my cocktail sticks or cover it in blue tac to make sure I don’t get accidentally pricked)
- Add your own decorations- I’m thinking orange and yellow paper that looks like fire out the bottom, use a marker to draw a pattern- the choice is yours!
Don’t have a drill? No problem!
- If you don’t have a drill don’t worry- you can stick the bottle caps on the side of your bottle- or maybe even invent a vehicle which doesn’t have wheels- like a space rocket perhaps?
tin can plant pots
Bring a touch of uniqueness to your garden and house with a tin can plant pot- not only good for recycling points but also great fun to say.
What you’ll need:
- An empty tin (make sure it’s empty and the top isn’t sharp, we don’t want cut fingers)
- Acrylic paint and paintbrush
- Soil
- Stickers and other things you might want to stick onto the can
How to make it:
- Ask for an adult’s help for this first step as you need to drill a hole in the bottom of the tin can to make sure there is some drainage- one hole will be more than enough.
- The next job is to paint the tin can, any colour you like! You will probably need more than one coat of pain. I perhaps should have mentioned this sooner- but make sure the tin is clean and if you wanted to leave a pattern you could use masking tape to cover up parts of the tin then peel them off when the paint has dried. you could do this to make a multicoloured tin as well- just make sure the paint is dry before sticking on the masking tape.
- Once everything is dry add soil to the tin plant pot
- Add the flower seed or a pre-grown flower- I wouldn’t recommend adding a tree or anything- unless you have an enormous tin can
If you didn’t fancy a plant pot you can use the same method for making a tin can pen pot- just don’t bother adding the soil or flower, it’d make it difficult to put pens and pencils in. Any of these would be cool things to make with your recycling.
Wine cork teapot holder
Obviously, if you’re under 18 you won’t be drinking wine- but someone in your household might do! Collect all the used corks and you can create a whole host of stuff.
What you’ll need
- Wine corks (At least 15 I would say)
- Glue gun
How to make it:
- Put all your corks in a tight circle (standing upright so they stay still) – tightly wedge them together and glue them in place.
- Once the glue dries you’re done. It’s really that simple. Just ensure they’re properly glued then you have a recycled teapot holder. As a note, I wouldn’t recommend putting anything really hot on them.
So what did you think of those cool things to make with your recycling? Be sure to let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of them- or if you have even more cool things to make with your recycling.