"Discarded ribbons, wrinkled wrappings and bent cards containing good tidings pile up during this season of giving.
However, people can contain that waste while occupying their children running free from the classroom for the holiday by transforming the materials otherwise destined for the garbage bin into creative crafts.
‘‘They are just neat ideas,’’ said Erin Meehan, shared naturalist with Webster County Conservation and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. ‘‘It’s a great way to cut back and reuse. There’s so much waste during the holidays.’’
Waste management specialists estimate 25 million tons more waste will be created during the holidays than what’s generated during an average 10-week period. The bulk of garbage comes from ribbons, wrapping paper, packing paper, envelopes and packaging materials.
All are items that can be recycled, Meehan said, and used for creative crafts that can keep children busy during cold winter days.
The best part about the projects, she added, is they are a very affordable means of entertainment.
‘‘Everything you can do is available and at hand,’’ Meehan said. ‘‘You don’t have to go out and buy anything. It’s all very inexpensive.’’
Paper
A paper snowman is one creative way to use up junk-mail envelopes. It’s estimated around 418,000 tons of bulk mail gets thrown away unopened each year. That’s an entire civilization of snow people.
To make a snowman, cut three strips of paper out of white scrap paper or envelopes. The strip for the head should be 1 inch wide by 4 inches long. Cut the middle piece 1.25 inches wide by 5 inches long; and cut the bottom piece to measure 1.5 inches wide by 6 inches long.
Take each strip, roll it into a circle and glue where it meets. Then glue all the circles together. To make the eyes and buttons, either glue on scrap pieces of black paper or use a black marker.
For the nose, cut a small narrow strip of paper, fold over the base and glue it to the face. To make a scarf, cut a narrow strip of paper and cut fringe at the ends. Decorate it with markers, scraps of paper or paint then glue it around the neck.
A top hat can be made by cutting a circle for the brim 1.5 inches in diameter out of scrap paper. Cut a strip of matching paper 1.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches long. Make a cylinder and glue it where the edges meet. Glue the cylinder to the circle and glue the hat to the snowman’s head. Arms can be crafted by gluing two small twigs to the front of the body’s middle circle.
Snow can be added by gluing a piece of cotton from medicine bottles to the bottom.
"
Tags:
Bookmarks:
0 comments:
Post a Comment