Monday, September 23, 2013

INKLING: Recycled Grocery Bag Book {Fiskars Art Tools}

CB-sponsored-post-white-600
Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkGrowing up, art class was always my favorite subject in school. If it was art class day, my whole day would be brighter and I couldn’t wait to what we were going to paint, draw or create that day. I love supporting art programs for kids and was so excited to hear about Fiskars Shape Their Future Project.



The project is all about collecting art and school supplies for kids in our communities. Imagine not having enough art tools like: scissors, paper, crayons, paint or clay. That would be terrible. I headed off to Walmart to choose items to donate to my local elementary school. It’s the school my son went to and I absolutely love their art teacher. Along with the items I’m donating, I also got some cool Fiskars products and made this fun Recycled Grocery Bag Book.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkUsing brown bags is one of my favorite ways to craft and recycle. The weight of the grocery bag paper is nice and durable which is probably why they make such great text book covers.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkIf you’d like to make your own brown bag book, here are the simple instructions.
  1. Cut your brown bags down to the size you want your book. I made my book 4.5” x 6.5”. Be precise when cutting so that your book pages are even.
  2. Iron your pages so get rid of all the folds and wrinkles. Fold lines won’t completely go away but I think it adds to the charm of a recycled project.
  3. Clip your pages together and mark where you want your holes to go. The holes are for binding the book.
  4. Use a craft drill or hole punch to make your binding holes. IMPORTANT: If using a craft drill, you need to work on a scrap piece of wood. The drill will damage your work surface unless you protect it.
  5. Once your holes are drilled, use twine, ribbon or leather strips to bind your book. I used strips of leather.
  6. A rounded corner punch gives the book a finished, neat look.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkSome of the page edges still have the scalloped edge of from the original bags. It makes it all the more fun.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkI love the look of the rounded edge punch and will be using it on a lot of future projects.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkA simple cloth label adds a bit of charm to the book. You can use these little mini books for a variety of things – jot down notes, or project sketches or give them as gifts. You can add a few photos and use them as mini albums.

#Fiskars4Kids #cfk -  Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkTrying out the Fiskars tools was fun but even more fun was choosing products to donate to our local school. I decided to give them tubs of Air-Dry Clay. How fun for the kids to work with this versatile product and make some shapes or ornaments. There’s no baking required and it’s so easy to work with.

#Fiskars4Kids #cfk - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkI also picked up some Glitter Glue so that they could decorate their projects. Because nothing spells fun like glitter! I packed up all the clay and glitter glue and will be heading over to the school to present the items to Mrs. R. I already told her about the program and she was thrilled. I know she’ll come up with a wonderful project for the kids to work on.

If you would like to support your local school or organization, you can find more information on the Champions for Kids website or Facebook page.

Recyled Grocery Bag Book - Fiskars Art Tools via homeworkThanks for visiting.

Signature Box 3



13 comments :

  1. I love brown paper bags. (I'm actually quite sad that one of my fave shops has just changed to plastic bags. Boo.) This is a great project, and even better, I love that Fiskars has a program to support local schools. Makes me think I could do something like that here too (even though there aren't any programs that I know of like that in Sydney).
    Sheree

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh how fabulous. I love this idea. What a fantastic craft. I would love for you to link up to my Inspire Me party that will go live this afternoon. www.astrollthrulife.net Hope to see you there. Hugs, Marty

    ReplyDelete
  3. this is so cute it would be the perfect gift for the person who you want to give something really origninal

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love the paper bag book! It turned out so cute! The binding just makes it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The book you made is absolutely gorgeous. I had no idea at first glance that it was made from grocery bags! And I want that craft drill now!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The book you made is absolutely gorgeous. I had no idea at first glance that it was made from grocery bags! And I want that craft drill now!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is so fantastic C! Your book is so cool. Pinned.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really love how you did this. I've seen a number of paper bag crafts but this one is the best yet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love that book - so fun! Now to find some stores with paper bags so I can make one too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. How do you BIND the book, though? With twine, ribbon, or leather, yes, but there's a method here that you don't describe. It doesn't appear to be an obvious process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello. I used a side stitch to bind the book. You can use any type of edging stitch that you like. Here's a diagram of the stitch I used. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Bookbinding/Japanese_side_stitch
      Also, if you Google "book binding stitch" you will get amazing results with every type of stitch possible. There are some truly beautiful ones. Hope that helps. Thank you for visiting.

      Delete
    2. My project turned out beautifully, thanks for the tips!

      Delete

Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I enjoy reading and responding to your comments. If you do not hear back from me via email your profile is most likely defaulted to no reply-comment or anonymous and I am unable to respond.