I’ve been excited about this book for a while — as both an eco-geek and a crafter, I love upcycling trash into treasures. I’ve seen a lot of craft books for kids that encourage recycling — MAKE for example, is a favorite — but never one geared toward teens. Laurie Goldrich Wolf‘s RECYCLO-GAMI is full of fun ideas, with easy-to-follow instructions and colorful photographs. Just flipping through, I already knew exactly which projects I wanted to make. And to take the fun to the next level, I decided to invite some friends over to try out some RECYCLO-GAMI-inspired projects. Here are our results:


The first project I tried was this basket, made of an ice cream pint carton and ribbon. I’m pretty sure my neigbors wondered what I was up to when I put out the cartons to dry on our shared porch. But this is the result. I must admit, it was a little harder than it looked, since I used a pint-sized carton and, on checking with the book, the author used larger containers. But, I think the product I turned out was pretty adorable. My friend Lynn thought the basket would be fun for easter, and I’m thinking it would make a cute purse, or maybe even a planter for some flowers. Lots of ideas!

Another project we tried was the bubble wrap purse. I’m totally jealous of Ali, who whipped this up and added tons of her own person flair. Ali said “I’m so not a crafty person,” but check this photo of her with her brand new bag. I think she did an amazing job, and since I have plenty of bubblewrap at my house, I’m going to have to make one, too. While in the book they used colored bubble wrap and duct tape, Ali used clear bubble wrap (which I always seem to have leftover from packages) and some ribbon and sequins from my craft bin. RECYCLO-GAMI also has easy instructions for a matching wallet. So cute!

My favorite project of the evening was making jewelry from bottle caps! I’ve been saving bottle caps forever, just waiting for something to make with them. I sort of combined inspiration from “Bottle Cap Jewelry Set” (pg 32) and “Personalized Tacks” (pg 57) to put together this smorgasbord of yummy accessories:

All of these were pretty easy to make. With some hot glue, jewelry findings, and a pair of pliers, you can make almost any trash into something pretty to wear! RECYCLO-GAMI had some great ideas for where to start — I just didn’t know where to stop! I think my favorites are either the soda tab earrings, which I made using those flicky tab things from soda cans, some jewelry chain, buttons, and ribbon. Also, you can see there’s a hair pin there made with buttons, and Ali and I both had a fun time making those.

What I like about the button hair pins is that we all have buttons laying around our house. I mean, almost any time you buy a garment with buttons, they give you a few extra in case one falls off in that little plastic packet with the sales tag. What do you do with them? I save them for projects like this. Ali made some adorable purple button hair pins. So easy to make — just some hot glue, bobby pins (which you can buy, like, everywhere) and those buttons you have laying around.

Lynn is our group’s resident master crafter. She came prepared with leftover wrapping paper to make an organizer for her craft supplies. All she needed was a bottle carrier from a six pack of sodas (or in our case, a four-pack of frappucinos), some paper, and ribbon. She also decorated her tote with a tissue paper flower, made from leftover giftwrap. (Can you tell from the giftwrap that one of our BFFs got married recently? Ha!)

Lynn also had plans to make the playing card tote bag, but we ran out of time. There were so many fabulous ideas! Things to make with Altoid tins, toilet paper tubes, magazine pages, corks, and gelatto cups. I have a feeling my friends and I will be turning to this book in the future, for more fun get-togethers.

RECYCLO-GAMI is a ton of fun, great for earth-conscious and craft-savvy teens (and grown-ups!) There’s something for everyone in this boo ( )