I saw a number of blog posts for recycling crayons recently, and one Make and Take that suggested Valentine's Cards... so we whipped these up for Zach and Sela to take for their Valentines cards. We used the gazillion restaurant crayons that they always HAVE to take, when we leave - which is better than tossing them - but I was thinking we would be buried in Red, Blue and Yellow crayons until this great project came along!

I used a silicone heart baking tray, we broke the crayons in pieces, heated them up to 300, watched them melt, pulled them out, let them cool, and repeated until we have 48 beautiful chunky crayons for their Valentines! Easy Peasy!

Like the idea - but not the mess?  Join us for our Recycled Crayon Class coming up!

Thanks for stopping by the blog for reCREATE!  reCREATE is a creative reuse center - which means we collect stuff that other people don't want (cool stuff like fabric sample books, packing foam, hardware, decorator samples, and more) and we use if for art and creative expression. 

Today I made a couple of cards - all from paper samples that were donated to reCREATE. 

The first card I am calling "Headline News."

In this card I use vertical l strips of newspaper behind a reverse die cut (what is left after you get your cutout.  I also took a pink heart, and added paper onto it.  Run your card through the printer for your caption, before you do anything else.  I just glued the newspaper strips on with a glue stick. 

Then I glued the strips on to the coordinating pink heart.  I wanted the pink heart to "pop", so I put a piece of cardboard from a cereal box behind it, and glued it down.

Je t'aime Card # 2

One day while reading the paper, I noticed that the edge of the newpaper has quite a pretty almost ruffled edge to it.  I have made several cards using that edge, and quite like the results.

Again, I used scraps of paper that were donated to reCREATE.    This card is so simple, because it doesn't matter if the p[ieces are perfectly straight.  Just place them howevery you want your card to look.  Be usre to print out your caption, and then glue them down.  I glue them upward, so if an edge needs to be hidden, it is consistent. Finally, trim the edges, and voila!  It is done!

 Oh... if you are looking for a key word... I have two.... "Love is"...

Now... Hop on over to take a look at the beautiful ATCs Sarah has whipped up over at:

http://readnscrap.blogspot.com/

 If you are enjoying our blog hop, please join our yahoo group createitgreen.  We have art lotteries, blog hops, and ceative challenges - it is some serious green artsy fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  If you leave a comment, I will be randomly picking someone for a RAK - goodie bag of scrapbook paper. 

This month for the Creative Collective, we are going to be making Fabric Banners.  We have a gorgeous one in our store that says "Happy Brthday!"  We are also adding one to our window at the Art Center that says, "Got Art?".

Making a banner from fabric may sound daunting - especially for non-sewers.  We have actually found a way to construct them with little or no sewing at all.  The banners come out beautiful, and Are made from Fabric Sample Books - so the cutting is minimal!

Join us to learn how to make a banner on February 12th from 7pm to 10pm.  For $18.00 you will learn how to whip up a fabric banner and go home with your own Happy Birthday Banner!  To sign up for the class, call 916.749.3717

I was inspired by this link over at Crafting Green World... so we will be makig it availabe as an activity at reCREATE in December... it will be added to the calendar shortly!

Hey All

We are crafting away here at reCREATE.  Today we are playing with Biodegradable (made from corn starch) packing peanuts.  It just so happens that if you get one wet - it will stick to another one.  So - with a bit of water and some imagination - you can make some fun things with these little things.

It is the same stuff that Magic Nuudle kits are made of.  (A bag of Magic Nuudles retails for about $5.00) Magic Nuudles are colored.  We used washable markers, and they colored up nicely. 

My son made a cool rocket ship and my daughter made some Seuss-like animals!

Oh!  Our bags of Packing Peanuts cost $1.00 each.  What a bargain!  These would make EXCELLENT stocking stuffers!