Green + Crafty = Responsible Fun!

This is not a political blog so I won't even get started on environmental issues, but I will say that one of the things that I love doing with my crafts is reusing, repurposing and recycliing. I'm not as green as I'd like to be but I'm on a learning curve and love to throw some green crafts in the mix. This earth is a gift from God and I think that we are to be good stewards with it as we would with our own homes and our own bodies. Being a green crafter means a lot to me and I love feeling like I'm doing something, no matter how small, to be less of a consumer with my creativity.

As I get older, not only do I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and think it's my mother, but I find that I have the same tendancies as well. My mother loved, loved, loved magazines...Family Circle and Women's Day to be exact...and she never, ever threw them away when she was done reading them. When she passed away unexpectedly, it took me months to clean out her bedroom but once I did, I found stacks and stacks of magazines dating back to the 80's! While I don't have magazines from 20 years ago, I do find it very hard to throw mine away and limit myself to having only 5 back issues at a time of any given magazine. Once I do decide to throw it away, it makes me sad so I am on a constant quest to find ways of reusing magazines and have found many.

I read so many crafting blogs and found this recycled craft a few years ago at http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/06/recycled-magazine-coasters.html I've wanted to try it for the longest time and Labor Day gave me the opportunity to sit in front of the tv and do some crafting. If you have time and you have the heart, it's fun and it's usable and so worth a try!

I grabbed a couple of magazines and chose six pages that had plenty of color. I like color so I try to choose pages that have lots of it!

1. Supplies: magazine pages, exacto knife, scissors, ruler, folder tool, Mod Podge, glue and sponge brush. I also chose to craft on a ruled mat so that I could measure and cut more easily.

2. I made a clean cut along the edges of all the pages to ensure they are all the same size, then using an exacto knife and a ruler, cut the pages in half lengthwise. My knife is sharp and my mat is strong, so I was able to cut all six pages at the same time.

3. This left me with twelve half-sheets of paper.

4. I folded each piece in half lengthwise. I then took the folded strip and folded it in thirds lengthwise. Finally, I took the twice folded strip and folded it in half. When I held a finished strip, it was be 'V' shaped.

5. I took two strips, interlocked them to make the lower left corner and started to weave. Each new strip that was woven, started the opposite of the previous so that the strips weaved in and out of each other. It's hard to explain but once you get started it starts to come together.

6. As I added each strip, I used binder blips to hold the weave in place. The strips were a bit slippery and I wanted the weave somewhat tight.

7. I left the strips clipped for a while to enforce the folds and when I removed them, I went over the edges with my folder tool just to reinforce them.

8. I repeated this four times and had a very unique set of coasters, each with a different pattern than the others because of the way the colors show through the weave.

To be honest, you could use coasters as is because let's be honest, they're recycled and they're so replaceable, but I wanted them to last a bit longer so I coated both sides with Mod Podge and I was done!

Honestly, this craft just made me happy. It used recycled items I already had and I think the set makes a nice little gift for a housewarming basket, or even a stocking stuffer for friends who I know love things made from the heart. I look forward to using mine in the coming months and maybe even giving a few sets away to those I love. Happy crafting!