Garbage for Energy!

I want to start this article off by giving Sweden a big pat on the back for being huge trend setters when it comes to effective recycled waste management. You can read more about their initiatives here: Sweden Is Recycling So Much Trash, It’s Running Out

Turning Trash into Treasure

I’m a big fan of upcycling and getting people to reuse things they would otherwise throw away (which either leaves our streets dirty, our oceans polluted, our tips full to brimming or — the lesser of the evils — recycled into something else via a recycling depot).

But how about actually earning an income selling your beautiful recycled wares? It’s cheap as you don’t have to lay out much money for materials and the finished products are amazing!

I started running a weekly craft class at the beginning of last year at our local youth upliftment center (called ‘Net vir Pret’ — Afrikaans for ‘Just for Fun’) here in South Africa and it’s been a great journey of discovery. Not only is it a pleasure working with these talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds but I’ve discovered loads about turning trash into treasure (picture to your right is my class making beads out of magazines)!

They are now selling their wares at our local market and this is how you can too!

Life’s All About Learning, Caring and Sharing

We’ve got a bit of a problem here in South Africa with litter. It’s a subject close to my heart ’cause, let’s face it, nobody thrives in an environment strewn with garbage. So, I wanted to offer these kids a fun way to, not only clean up the environment, but to make money with the crafty things they can do with it.

Pinterest was my saviour! You can check out some of the ideas I’ve collected on my board HERE.

I’ve been scrolling the many ideas on Pinterest, in my free moments, gathering a treasure trove of ideas to implement. I want to share these ideas that I’ve tried and tested with all you creatives out there wanting to make a bit of extra cash whilst letting the inner child out to play!

Read related article: 5 Amazing Super Powers You’ll Develop When You Get Creative

Below I’m going to share some of the crafty recycled tit-bits I’ve been making in my classes to give you some quick and easy ideas of how you can turn your garbage into gold. Not only can you sell these but you can give them as gifts or make useful things for around your own home.

Polystyrene and Magazines

These cards were made out of magazines and polystyrene.

Find a picture you like for the main focal point of the card and glue it to some polystyrene.

Then cut it out and glue to the card for a great looking raised effect.

These really look super in real life and a great way to impress friends and family at birthdays!

Bottles and Bottle Caps

Old soda, beer or wine bottles are great for making these vases or candle stick holders.

(Left photo) I apply my design with an acrylic glass paint tube — let that dry — and then fill in the color with acrylic paint. When that is dry I use an epoxy to glaze over the bottle (now you can safely hand wash it).

These are good sellers and make excellent gifts.

(Right photo) This project is done using any glass jar (this one happened to be an empty olive jar).

You glue the entire bottle with craft glue and then wrap twine or string around the bottle.

Then, to decorate, get some old bottle caps and cut out pictures
from magazines, old cards or wrapping paper — stick them inside the caps and glue them to your jar.

I use a bit of varnish or epoxy to glaze the pictures inside the bottle caps — it gives it a nice finishing touch.

The card is also made using bottle caps.

Magazine Craft

This is an old trick I learned when I was young — recycled magazine beads (see photo to your left).

This is done by cutting magazine pages into strips. The strip is done from the top to the bottom of the magazine page — start cutting at 2cm width and taper to a point.

Apply glue to the one side. Now take a match stick and — with the widest part of the strip — start rolling the strip onto the match stick. Keep guiding the strip towards the center as you are rolling to give the bulbous ‘bead’ shape.

You can dazzle your mates with the fabulous jewelry you can make with these super easy beads.

The white bracelet (also in the picture to your left) is made by braiding a plastic bag and then taking a glue gun and sealing the edges to form a bangle. It doesn’t get easier than that!

Plastic Bottles

This is by far my most favorite thing to make — flowers!

I stick these in my garden and use them in vases.

They are made by cutting a plastic soda bottle in half and then cutting leaf shapes and bending them to form a flower.

You use both sides of the bottle to accomplish this and then glue them together. I also use the bottle cap for the center of the flower. You practically use the entire bottle! How cool is that?

I then use acrylic paint or spray-paint to decorate.

That’s all the recycled stuff I’ve done to date. I hope I’ve given you some ideas about turning your trash into treasure!

Happy crafting!

Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.

To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.

Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).

Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.

This article (Make Money Creating Beautiful Recycled Goodies Today!) was originally written for and published byConscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.