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recycle: instructions
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Instructions

How to Make Your Own...

Ball Carrier

  1. Remove the net from a soccer goal (or any other net).
  2. Cut a large circle from the good portion of the net.
  3. Weave a string or rope through the outer edge of the net to create a drawstring.
  4. Fill with balls.

Bee and Wasp Catcher

  1. Combine 4 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar.
  2. Heat and pour into a two liter plastic bottle.
  3. Cut two small "X's" in the top sides and push inward.
  4. Replace the cap on the bottle and hang from a tree using a broken shoelace. It will catch hundreds of bees!

Bird Feeder Molds

  1. You will need the plastic packaging that chocolate easter bunnies come in. They are in the shape of the bunny.
  2. Line the plastic bunny shape with wax paper.
  3. Mix honey or peanut butter with bird seed.
  4. Hang from a tree using an old shoelace.

Candy-Filled Eggs from Egg Cartons

  1. Cut the bottom half of the carton away from the top half.
  2. Cut the bottom of the carton into six sections, each containing two egg cups.
  3. Decorate the outsides to make them look like Easter eggs.
  4. Fill one cup from each of the six sections with small candies.
  5. Fold each section in half so that one of the egg cups rests on top of the second one.
  6. Attach the top and bottom together with a twistie.
  7. Place it inside an Easter basket, or hide them around the house for children to find.

If you make your own eggs, you don't have to buy the plastic ones at the store.

Cards from scrap paper and cereal boxes

  1. Cut and fold the cereal box to the size you would like your card to be.
  2. Place the cardboard on a piece of scrap paper. The picture side of the cereal box should face the used side of the paper so that only blank sides face out.
  3. Cut the paper so that it is larger than the cardboard. (How much larger will depend upon the size of the border you would like.)
  4. Fold the paper over the edges of the cardboard and glue to the inside. (This will form a border on the inside while making a nice transition from paper to cardboard.)
  5. Make sure that the card will close with the paper on the outside.
  6. Decorate the outside of the card as well as the borders. The more you decorate, the less likely you are to see what is on the other side of the paper.
  7. Put it in a custom-made envelope.

Cards from Valentine's Day Candy Boxes

  1. Cut a heart-shaped candy box so that you have two flat heart shapes.
  2. Punch a hole in the top of each hump of the heart.
  3. Using a short piece of red yarn, tie a bow at the top of each hump.
  4. Write a message inside.

Charcoal Fire Starter

Use CARDBOARD egg cartons only!!! Fill each egg indentation with wax so that it is between one-quarter and one-half full. Place a charcoal brickette in each indentation. (If you are going to store this for future use, close the carton and place on a shelf.) When you are ready to use, remove the top of the carton, and place the bottom half in the grill. Light the carton. Wait a few minutes and then add more charcoal. This will eliminate the need for lighter fluid.

Doll House

  1. 1.Cut the tops off of tissue boxes and glue their sides together so that when it sits up it looks like the rooms of a doll house.
  2. 2.Cut pictures of furniture, etc. out of old catalogs.
  3. 3.Glue the pictures to the inside of the tissue boxes to furnish the house.

Clothes Hanger

  1. Take the wire from a spiral notebook and straighten it. (The wire from a five subject notebook is NINE FEET LONG!!! Can you believe that?)
  2. You will need a total length of 4.5 feet, and the number of 4.5 foot wires you will need depends upon how thick you want your hanger. (I recommend using at least 2 pieces of wire, otherwise the hanger won't be strong enough to hold anything.)
  3. Twist the two or more pieces of wire together as tightly as you can. Be VERY CAREFUL when twisting since the wire will fling upward toward your face--you might want to wear safety goggles.
  4. Bend the wire into the shape of a clothes hanger--it helps to use an actual one as a sample.
  5. When you are finished, wrap and secure shoelaces tightly around the wire to prevent snagging any of your clothes.

Decorations from Valentine's Day Candy Boxes

  1. Cut a heart-shaped box so that you are left with two flat hearts.
  2. Cut a hole the size of a picture in one of the hearts.
  3. Place a child's picture in the hole and then tape it to the back of the heart to keep it from moving.
  4. Place the two heart shapes on top of each other, and then punch holes all the way around the perimeter of the heart.
  5. Use red yarn to attach the two hearts together by weaving it through the holes.

Damp-Proof Matches

CAREFULLY melt the crayon into a puddle (warning: hot wax hurts!!!). While the wax is still wet, dip the tip of a match into it. This will damp-proof the match (although it will not water-proof). When you need to use the match, just break off the wax.

Fishing Net

  1. Remove the string from a tennis racquet.
  2. Cut off the bottom half of an old pair of pantyhose.
  3. Staplegun the pantyhose to the racquet.

To make a pool skimmer, cut the pantyhose much smaller so that it can be pulled tightly across the racquet.

Ornaments

  1. Find old Christmas cards. You will need at least three pictures.
  2. Using a glass, trace a circle around the pictures you would like to include. Cut these out.
  3. Fold each circle in half.
  4. Glue or staple the three circles together with the pictures facing out so that it forms a triangle-like shape.
  5. Punch a hole through one of the sides, place an ornament hook through it. Hang it from the tree.

Patchwork Crayons

  1. Remove the paper from the crayons and place various colors in a non-stick muffin pan. Fill the muffin cup up only a quarter of the way.
  2. Place in the oven and bake on a low temperature setting until all of the crayons have melted.
  3. Let cool and then pop the wax out.

Picture Frames from Valentine's Day Candy Boxes

  1. Take the lid of a heart-shaped candy box.
  2. Cut a hole in the middle.
  3. Place a picture in the hole and then tape it to the back of the box to keep it from moving.
  4. Attach a string across the back of the box.
  5. Hang the picture frame on a wall.

Shiny Bows from Potato Chip Bags

This is complicated so pay attention. If you have questions, please e-mail me.
  1. Cut a potato chip bag along the seams so that it opens up and lays flat.
  2. Wash with dish soap and dry off.
  3. Cut a strip approximately one-half inch wide (or whatever you like).
  4. Cut the strip to whatever length you like. This will depend upon the size of bow you wish to make. (Experiment to find what you like best.)
  5. Twist the strip into a figure "8" keeping the shiny side facing out at all times. (The other side of the strip will be visible at the center of the bow.)
  6. Clip in the middle with a paper clip. (This is only temporary.)
  7. Repeat step 5 with another strip.
  8. Remove the paper clip from the first strip.
  9. CAREFULLY, so the strips do not slip, place the two bows perpendicular to each other. It should look like a "+". Staple at the center--make sure that all of the ends are stapled or the bow will fall apart.
  10. Repeat steps 5-9 but make it only slightly smaller than the first.
  11. Staple the second bow inside the first bow. Position them so that there are as few spaces as possible.

    At this point, the thing you're holding should resemble a half-done bow. The outside should be shiny and the inside should have some type of design on it. If it doesn't, try again.

  12. Although you can try to put more of these inside each other to make it a complete bow, this is very difficult and frustrating. Instead, try putting a cotton ball (from aspirin bottles) or a tiny tissue-paper flower in the center. Brush the top lightly with a marker to give it a tinge of color. If it is necessary, tape it to the center. (This completes the bow and disguises the inside.)
  13. Tape it to a package and proudly tell everyone that you made it--but only if it looks good!

Shiny Ribbons from Potato Chip Bags

  1. Cut a potato chip bag along the seams so that it opens up and lays flat.
  2. Wash with dish soap and dry off.
  3. Cut numerous strips to whatever width you would like the ribbon to be.
  4. Using very thin pieces of tape (approximately one-sixteenth of an inch wide) tape the strips together (both the shiny side and the other side).
  5. Tape as many together as you wish to make the ribbon as long as you would like.
  6. Tape one end to a toilet paper tube. Wrap the ribbon around it. When all of the ribbon has been wrapped around the tube, tape the other end down.
  7. Use it like you would use any other ribbon--just keep the shiny side up.

Tissue Paper Flowers

  1. After opening a new toilet paper roll, take the tissue paper and spread it flat.
  2. If you do not want any commercial design on the flower, cut around it. Cut strips of tissue paper. The width of the strip will be the diameter of the flower. The length will determine the number of pleats you will get.
  3. Place these strips on top of each other. (They will need to be the same size.) You will need at least four strips to make it look good.
  4. Pleat the group of strips along the length. The smaller the pleats, the tighter the flower. (Be careful not to make the pleats too tight, since it may be difficult to separate the layers.)
  5. When you are done pleating the strips, you should be left with one thick strip whose length is as long as the width of the original strip. Staple the center of this strip.
  6. Fan out each side of the strip around the staple.
  7. Carefully, so as not to rip the paper, separate the layers of tissue paper. Pull the first layer toward the staple--it should form a pleated half-circle. Then pull the second layer, and the third, etc.
  8. When you are finished, it should resemble a flower head. Brush the top lightly with a marker to give it a little color.
  9. Tape it to a present.

Toilet Paper Tube Packing Material

  1. When you finish with a roll of toilet paper or paper towels, cut the tube into rings that are three-quarters of an inch wide. You will need three of these rings for each one packing material.
  2. Place one of these inside another in the shape of an "X".
  3. Place the third one over the "X" so that none of the rings are overlapping.
  4. Stuff with a little ball of newspaper.
  5. Make as many of these as you need.

You should end up with a ball which will squish fairly easily (and bounce back). Use in place of styrofoam packing. While this can be used to help keep objects from moving, I am not sure if it will prevent breakage.

Votive

  1. Fill an empty soup can with water and then freeze.
  2. Once the water has frozen, use a nail and hammer to create a design in the can.
  3. When you have finished creating the design, allow the ice to melt.
  4. Place a candle inside, and voila! You have your own votive.

Waterproof Sitting Pad from Wallpaper

  1. Cut two pieces of wallpaper to a size large enough to sit on.
  2. Punch holes around the perimeter.
  3. Place several sheets of newspaper between the two sheets of wallpaper. Make it thick enough for comfort and warmth.
  4. With the wallpaper facing outward, attach the two sheets together by weaving old shoelaces through the holes.
Seasonal Ideas

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