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8 Clever Uses for Plastic Straws

8 Clever Uses for Plastic Straws
Have you ever pried a straw out of the mouth of a young child, only to find it macerated and dripping in saliva? Let’s all let out a collective “eeeewww.” In general, my “clever uses” articles are meant to teach people how to get a second use out of something disposable. Now: It is not too gross to wash plastic drinking straws and save them for DIY projects. When the plastic drinking straws are clean and dry and you’ve amassed a decent-sized collection, try your hand at one of the following projects. Drinking straw lamp shade: The L.A. The straw cluster chandelier: Design Sponge featured a spiky-looking straw cluster chandelier. Woven coasters: According to Country Living, woven drinking straws are a great material to make coasters from. The straw weaving loom: True Blue Me & You introduced the idea of using drinking straws as a portable, simple, DIY weaving loom. Tiny vases made of drinking straws: One of my favorite blogs, Coolhunting, featured tiny vases made from drinking straws. Related:  DIY

DIY Eco Friendly Packaging February 26th, 2013 Have you ever needed to find a box to package up a gift in a hurry? Look no further than the simple plastic PET bottle you have in your kitchen. Certainly don’t throw it in the bin! Don’t put it in the recycling either! Transform it into a fabulous pillow box and impress people with your ingenuity and resourcefulness. What you will need: - Plastic bottle - Cutting Mat - Craft Knife - Scissors - Marker Pen - A Plate - A pointy thing (I used a blunt sewing needle) Step One The first thing you need to do is cut the top and the bottom of the bottle off. Step Two Flatten the tube by pressing down on it with your hands and then flatten/crease one edge with your thumb. Then re-inforce the crease using the edge of your craft knife. Next do the other side. Step Three Place you flattened tube onto a cutting mat so that you know where the center is. Step Four Step Five Start forming your pillow box by creasing along the scored lines you’ve just drawn. Step Six

Making Fused Plastic March 12th, 2013 I’ve been wanting to experiment with fused plastic for ages so what better place to try it out than here on Tutorial Tuesday and share my experiences with you. I’ve got lots of plastic bags stored in the kitchen from a few online supermarket deliveries we’ve done since Milo was born and I’ve just never got round to taking them back to the supermarkets for recycling. Good job too as then I wouldn’t have any bags to experiment with. As I was experimenting and learning at the same time, the images in the tutorial below show different bags all at different stages – I hope it’s not too confusing! What you will need: - Sharp Scissors - Plastic Bags - Iron - Ironing Board - Greaseproof Paper - Large Wooden Chopping Board - Metal Ruler - Craft Knife - Cutting Mat Step One The first thing you need to do is lay your plastic bag out flat and cut off the bottom and the top so that you’re left with a large tube of plastic. Stretch and flatten this out and put aside. Step Two Step Three

Paper Flowers - Anyone Can Do That Japanese Kusudama, this tutorial is featured on Craftuts Anyone can do that, I assure you. The proof: I can, just take a quick look at my result below. And, believe me, I am neither meticulous nor particularly patient. You could even say I’m the opposite. Below you can see my very first attempt to create paper flowers. What you will need to make your own Kusudama paper ball? 1. 3. 4. (optionally) I prefer torn paper instead of cut. You have to start with a single petal. Now you have to glue your 5 petals into a flower. Apply the glue to only one side of each petal, except for the last one, in this case cover both sides with glue. Your first flower is done. Don’t glue every petal right after you make it. When all 12 flowers are finished you have to glue them together. When two halves of Kusudama Flower Ball are ready you have to glue them together.

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How To Make A Pendant Light With Drinking Straws Here’s another DIY project that fell through the cracks when I switched to WordPress. This was the very first DIY project I ever did for Addicted 2 Decorating, originally posted in July 2008, and it was before the days that I realized I needed to be taking pictures of each step of the process. Blogging DIY projects has certainly been a learning process! I hope you enjoy this blast from the past! This drinking straw pendant light is a fun and fairly easy DIY lighting project that is sure to add great texture to your room. This drinking straw light would be a fun addition to a child’s room, a play room, or anywhere you’d like to add some fun and color. **Please read the helpful hints section before beginning this project. Project Cost: Approximately $40 Tools & Materials: Instructions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Helpful Hints: This project is not appropriate for small children. Variations: For a more mature, contemporary look, use one color for the entire shade.

Alice's Soda Can Bookmarks What does Wonderland's Alice have to do with Christmas? Absolutely nothing. Except that the same procedure with which I made her 'Drink me' bookmark I employed to make a more Christmas-y version. First, the ingredients: An empty aluminum can (one per bookmark)White card stockMatt fixativeCraft knifeBone folder1/8” spring punch/eyelet setter and eyelet/s (I have this one) Straight edgeCutting matBlack perle cotton or crochet cottonSmall silver bell or jingle bell for the Christmas option and one large and one small silver bead for the non-Christmas onePDF of the Christmas version or the 'Drink me' version available on my Scribd pageSticky-back tape220 grit sandpaper Step 1: Print the PDF image onto white card stock. Step 2: Cut the middle section of the aluminum can into one large sheet. Step 3: Using your straight blade and craft knife, miter each of the corners of your aluminum. Step 4: Step 5: Place your straight edge along the long side of the image/print. Repeat with the other long side.

Barnacles by John Paul Plauché for Plodes Studio Product Details Inspired by the marine crustacean, the Barnacles are adaptable storage pods using minimal shell-like housings to store items inside. Their smooth hard pixelated outer shells, along with the three mounting holes, make the Barnacles strong and effortless to install to any surface. The 15 degree angled bottom combined with its modularity, allow them to be pointed in any direction, with infinite possible compositional arrangements. Also can be used on tabletop. Product Specs Materials: Gel-coated glass fiber. Dimensions: Set of three vessels. 8"dia. x 10" 7"dia. x 9" 6"dia x 8"

Spiral Braids with 12 to 28 Strands You can make larger braids from 12 to 28 strands of thread using the same technique as the 8 strand spiral braid. These are woven from brights so you can easily see the structure and pattern, but they could also be worked in muted tones or even solid colored for specific applications. If you’ve ever tried to find a trim to match a fabric at a craft store you know how nice it is to be able to make your own! This technique uses the braiding disk from the 8 strand spiral braid (click here for the download, printing, and cutting info.) This braid can be made in any size as long as the number of strands is a multiple of 4. It should also be noted that, when small, the braid is very sturdy. Most interestingly, I found that, no matter how many strands I worked with, 12 inches of length per strand made about 7 inches of braid. I cut my strands double length, then tied them all together with a crochet thread scrap at the center. This image has a box drawn around each pair of pairs.

Swiss Candy Jewelry I call it Swiss Candy Jewelry because it loosely resembles Swiss cheese and the Haribo Gummi candies they sell all over central Europe. Similar to the process used in the Sparkling and Melting Flowers, this tutorial uses the magical properties of #6 recyclable plastic. Materials: * Five #6 recyclable plastic cups * Heat source (like a well ventilated oven) * Chain or wire to use as necklace base and links * Pliers Cost: Free for me (I already had cups leftover from a party and an old junk necklace, but I imagine this could be assembled for less than $10) Time: 60 minutes for the blue statement necklace, 20 minutes for the pink pendant 1. 4. Variation in pink.

The Reason I Jump – Naoki Higashida, Sceptre, 2013, London. | Diamond Sharp The Reason I Jump The Reason I Jump was written by its author, Naoki Higashida, when he was just 13. He is autistic and non-verbal, and wrote the work with a character-board and an assistant who transcribed the characters one by one. The result of this painstaking effort is both direct and haunting – a true-to-life account of what it is like inside an autistic self. The Reason I Jump was translated by David Mitchell (author of Cloud Atlas) and his wife K.A. “…imagine a daily life in which your faculty of speech is taken away. … the editor-in-residence who orders your thoughts walks out without notice. … To make matters worse, another hitherto unrecognized editor has just quit without notice – your editor of the senses.” The result is cognitive and sensory chaos, “your mind is a room where twenty radios, all tuned to different stations, are blaring out voice and music.” And the reason he jumps? Kai and Sunny: Reviews of The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

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