DIY Junk Mail Cork Coasters

I came up with this project because I have so much cork scraps and my favorite material to upcycle with is junk mail!  It's so plentiful and I like revealing it's inner beauty, literally.  Here's an easy coasters project! 

{ Materials needed }    

• cork squares
• junk mail with patterns on inside
• paint and brush
• mod podge hard coat (or any waterproof sealant)

{ Instructions }

1. Cut junk mail with patterns into 4x4" squares to fit your cork squares.  Place on adhesive side of cork.
2. Paint whatever pattern you'd like onto junk mail paper.
3. Seal it with mod podge hard coat (purple bottle).  I chose this one because it is a non-toxic, waterproof sealant since we will be putting cold drinks on these coasters after all.  

I plan to add these packs of handmade coasters to Christmas wine baskets this year!

*The cork squares I offer are natural, eco-friendly, and from a renewable resource.

Happy upcycling!

Green Organization

recycled organizing project no. 1 - cereal box filers
I found this idea on martha sewart's organizing section and had to try it. these are great for magazines, although you have to search for a big cereal box i think. I'm just using them to store my scrap papers at the moment. You can use so many recycled resources to cover these cereal boxes up. I used a gift bag that I saved from my birthday because it was way too cute and I knew it was going to come in handy.

other fun recycled materials you could use:
sunday comics or plain ole newpaper looks cool
decoupage with comic books or magazine pages
used gift wrapping paper
grocery paper bags and rubber stamp them to make it cute
comment me your ideas

cereal box + cute gift bag = stylish filer
+ =

recycled organizing project no. 2 - record album cover wall organizers
awesome diy by paper and stitch.


here's my own wall below. sorry the pictures are blurry but i'm too lazy to retake them. lol, mine doesn't look organized anymore with all the recycled papers hanging out. i love it since my wall was so bare and being a student it's more efficient to utilize my wall space in my cramped room for ecomonster projects. the great thing was, after i saw the diy i was thinking i should head to the thirft store to purchase some records for this project but instead i got to rescue some off the streets! it was really meant to be because we parked downtown and when we got back to the car, they were litterally dumped behind a shop. that really made my day greener! :)


okay that's it for now. hopefully i'll get to finish other organizing projects when exams are over which feels like never!

toodles!

the ecomonsters are here

ecomonster is surely making a turtle slow progress due to school loads piling in. since it takes so long to get a full stocked online shop up and running, we decided to start off small by blogging our progress. our goal is to make being green easy for all ages and likes. we strive to attract the bystanders over to the greener side with our unique and fun products that everyone could appreciate.

so here are just a few projects the monsters were able to crank between exams! enjoy :)

no. 1 - grocery paper bag book cover

{materials recycled}
paper // grocery bag

{how}
used the old school trick of turning a paper bag into a useful book cover for my cell bio book. then simply rubber stamped ecomonster logo all over.
no. 2 - pow comic bowl - SOLD


{materials recycled}
wooden bowl // curbside trash
comic books // 2nd hand shop

{how}
decoupage with old comic books using mod podge glue.
it was time consuming but it was fun. i'm glad i tried it on a simple and easy shaped bowl.
no. 3 - junk mail address filer

for sale to a green-hearted home.

{materials recycled}
paper \\ junk mail
wooden container \\ 2nd hand shop

{how}
cut junk mail into same sizes to fit container. still need to add the alphabetical letters on somehow.

no. 4 - gamer envelopes


available on our etsy
{materials recycled}
gamer book // retail trash
labels // paper scraps

{how}
used a template i found online (forgot where) but made lots of adjustments until I liked how they came out.

no. 5 - reversed junk mail envelopes

available on our etsy
{process}
EcoMonster gave these unwanted junk mail security envelopes a makeover by revealing their inner beauty, literally! Equipped with blank address labels. Seal with tape or lick and tuck the flap inside.

{materials recycled}
junk mail envelopes = paper = wood
mini labels from work = paper = wood

no. 6 - magazine envelopes

free with purchases on etsy while supplies last.

{how}
magazine pages turned into stylish eco envelopes with a template I found online (again, forgot where but will look for source).

{materials recycled // from}
paper // magazines

no. 7 - mini cassette necklace

for sale to a green-hearted home.

{how}
mini cassette tapes rescued from a second hand store and turned into retro jewelry.

{materials recycled}
mini answering machine cassettes // 2nd hand shop

no. 8 - egg candles

for sale to a green-hearted home.

{how}
organic eggshells filled with unwanted left over candle wax.

{materials recycled}
egg shells //
wax from used candle // 2nd hand shop
vintage holders // 2nd hand shop

have a sunny day :)
ecomonster
greener@ecomonster.com