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!

Mini Junk Mail Envelopes

m i n i . j u n k . e n v e l o p e s

my pile of used junk mail envelopes was growing uncontrollably so I had to come up with something. still has the same purpose yet rockin a different look.
perfect for business cards, thank you notes, gift cards, & more.

{recycling process}
Used junk mail envelopes were hand cut into mini envelopes for a 2nd run. This time they're petite & showing off their inner beauty. Salvaged mini white blank labels will be provided. Seal with cute stickers, tape, or glue.

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

Easy How To Make Envelopes From Magazine

m a g a z i n e . e n v e l o p e s

This is a super-dee-duper easy envelope you can make from old magazines with minimal cutting with means less scraps of paper left over. You just need old magazines, scissors, and tape or other adhesive. I package my items this way most times.

1. Start of with any magazine page. Turn it around, fold the bottom up but leave about an inch for your flap later.
2. Fold the right and left sides in about an inch.
3. Fold your flap down.
4. Open up the page and flatten out.
5. Cut as seen in picture. I cut the corners at an angle which you can also round out.
6. Fold back up and glue or tape the two side flaps down.
7. Fill with goodies and use cute stickers or tape to seal it up and mail it out.

Mini Cassette Tape Necklace

c a s s e t t e . n e c k l a c e


{info}
3M answering machine cassette tape
chain about 13" in length
100% post consumer recycled necklace

{recycling process}
This cute little cassette was rescued from a lonely 2nd hand shop shelf and turned into a cool retro necklace with misc. metal scraps.

{materials recycled // from}
cassette tape // 2nd hand shop
necklace chain // yard sale
zipper piece // old jacket

eco address file

e c o . a d d r e s s . w h e e l

{info}
a-z tabs
over 400 recycled cards
2.5" x 4" cards

{recycling process}
This address wheel was rescued from a 2nd hand shop and refilled with over 400 hand cut and hole punched recycled cards. Recycled papers included junk mail, magazine subscription cards, old typewriter paper, etc... The tabs were then embellished with cute a-z stickers (non-recycled though).

{materials recycled // from}
wheel (GBC Bates brand) // 2nd hand shop
paper // various sources

Spread the green message by showing others how easy it is to be eco-friendly.

We.Eat.Your.Trash Program

How WE.EAT.YOUR.TRASH program works:

1. is your junk on our wanted list?
2. don't want to send them to the landfills?
3. is your item on our CURRENT purple list (right hand side of home page)?
4. email us greener@ecomonster.com
5. once your items are accepted, ship it to us
6. we either give you a coupon, cash money, or a pat on the back for being eco-friendly. it all depends! It doesn't hurt to drop us an email to see if we'll take it.

Send us your junk! We need certain recycled materials for our projects and crafts and it gets tough looking for them, thus we are turning to you. Please contact us first before sending out any items to confirm acceptance. We appreciate you supporting a greener life.

This is NOT THE UPDATED LIST. Please check on right hand side of home page for an current list of accepted items.
example
. birthday candles
. bumper stickers
. composition books
. fabrics
. knitting tools
. rolodex $$$
. stickers
. wick
. yarn

$$$= we will pay you for these items. (email for an estimate)

All donations should be used and/or unwanted or else it'll defeat the purpose of recycling. thanks!

Birthday Candle Eggs

Made more eggs but this time even the wick is upcycled since they're from used birthday candles that were trimmed down.

{recycling process}
These egg shells were rescued by a great friend who wanted to help spread the green message! Used vanilla candles rescued from a 2nd hand shop were remelted to make these cute little ones. Used birthday candles trimmed down to serve as recycled wicks. Then packaged in cute strawberry baskets and donated straw packaging. Tah-dah! 100% post consumer egg candles.

{materials recycled // from}
egg shells // friend
straw packaging // friend
strawberry baskets // 2nd hand shop
used vanilla candles // 2nd hand shop
used birthday candles // friend

EcoMonster Zine Issue No. 1 - DIY recycled envelopes

our first issue of diy zine.
w e . e a t . t r a s h
this one is on how to make your own recycled envelopes. this is a very easy diy that i thought i'd make it available for someone who wanted easy instructions to turn their own magazines and such into useful envelopes.

comes with recycled stickers from unwanted bumper stickers to seal up the envelopes.

comes with a template with easy instructions

also comes with rescued address labels

this zine is available on our etsy

here are online links of different envelope templates that you could just print out yourself.
from etsylabs
http://etsylabs.blogspot.com/2007/04/make-envelopes.html
others
http://desktoppub.about.com/library/weekly/xenvtemp.htm
http://www.bydonovan.com/templates.html
http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm

What I also do is whenever i get a cute box or envelope I'll disassemble it and save it as my template.

greener @,
ecomonster.com

Green Organization

It's eco-friendly and cheap! Instead of studying for a midterm I decided to organize and label all my craft supplies, materials, etc... Being a college kid, I definitely don't have the money and it's just not practical since I'll be moving soon to purchase permanent organizers.

Cup Containers for markers, pens, crayons, etc...

These were first used for black light beer pong which worked out really well. Now that they have retired they're living their next purpose as organizers. Labeling them just personally makes putting things back a quicker process.

Shoe Boxes as containers to organize certain supplies and materials. Since I have so many different crafts going on, things get lost really easily. It would be easy to pretty them up by just wrapping the boxes in different types of paper but obviously I'm too lazy to do so and am just happy with them as naked boxes.


Record albums as wall organizers for my recycled paper crafts. I blogged about these last time but I actually sorted them this time and labeled them because I just love everything labeled apparently. Again this awesome idea was from paper and stitch


that's all for now!
toodles,
ecomonsters

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