How to Make a Ladybug Bug Catcher from a Recycled Jar

I made this easy recycled ladybug bug catcher craft with my son almost seven years ago for Earth Day when he was in preschool!

It's a great way to turn an empty glass jar into something cute your kids will use and enjoy.

The lid of this jar is painted to look like a ladybug and includes fun 3D features like eyes and antennae.

Catch bugs in the jar to observe through the glass - just be sure to let them go when you're done!

This is an easy kids craft to make with your preschool or kindergarten class to encourage them to get outside, looking for bugs and exploring in the garden!

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How to Make the Perfect Basic Iced Tea at Home (It's so easy!)

If you want to learn how to make iced tea at home, you are in the right place!

Iced tea is surprisingly easy to make from scratch.

I'll admit that I had NO IDEA how to make iced tea until I worked at Starbucks in college. Which was, ahem, a while ago.

Before I knew the secret for how to make iced tea at home, I thought if you wanted iced tea at home that you had to mix powdered tea mix into water or buy a gallon of ready-made tea.

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How to Use Old Jeans to Make a Cute Valentine Garland

Declutter for the new year by finding a fresh use for old jeans and decorate for Valentine's Day at the same time with this clever heart garland!

This denim upcycling project took me about 1.5 hours to make (photographing in the middle slows things down a little). If you are already good at sewing, it might take you an hour.

This is an easy to moderate craft and could certainly be done all by hand if you do not have a sewing machine.

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How to Make a Giant Jenga Yard Game

If you have ever wanted to make a giant Jenga style yard game, you're in the right place!

This jumbo Jenga project had been on my list for two years - since my husband and I played it at an outdoor bar and decided we needed a giant Jenga yard game set for our house, too. 

But you know how life goes: first we forgot about it.

Then when we remembered we were like, "Oh yeah, let's make that giant jenga game soon!" 

And then "soon" turned into another year. 

Whoops! It's finally done, though. 

Giant jenga (or as some might call it life size jenga) is the perfect yard game to play outside at BBQs, picnics or family get togethers! 

It's a great beginner woodworking project and it's super affordable, too (less than 10!). It also makes a great gift for outdoor, BBQ and tail gating enthusiasts.

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How to Make a Glamping Kids Tent from an Upcycled Pallet

When my first blog was in its infancy, one of my most popular projects was a DIY kids play tent. 

That project and those (terrible) photos are long gone now but I still love a good play tent!

When I was sent a review copy of Upcycling Outdoors by Max McMurdo, I saw his take on a play tent using pallet wood and fell in love with it.

I invited Max to come teach you guys how he made his awesome DIY pallet project into kids glamping tent!

Check out Max's tutorial below and then be sure to pick up a copy of his book, Upcycling Outdoors. You can find it at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Carissa

Upcycling isn’t just for adults – in fact being creative with junk really brings out the child in me!

When I was growing up I’m pretty sure I spent my entire school holidays building dens.

The joy of this design is that you can create a magical space in your garden or a den for the kids using just two identical pallets, some fabric or a bed sheet, a hammer, and nails.

The joy of using pallets the same size is that the wood is already the right length so you don’t even need to cut anything!

That means you can get the kids involved.

What could be better than helping your children create their own teepee out of reclaimed materials and then watching them make it their own, enjoying the great outdoors with their friends.

Of course, if you’re a big kid like me you might consider creating a larger, adult-sized teepee using more than two pallets and a couple of bed sheets.

To add a real magical sense of fairytale glamour, dress it up with lots of scatter cushions, some soft throws and a string of battery operated lights.

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Fresh Avocado DIY Bath Bomb - Inspired by Lush Bath Bomb Recipe

Lush is highly regarded as the makers of some of the best bath bomb recipes. This recipe will teach you how to make bath bombs with avocado and essential oils just like the AvoBath bath bombs at Lush!

The official Lush bath bomb recipe is a little different (and of course top secret!). We do know that they use avocado and extra virgin olive oil along with bergamot and lemongrass scent.

These homemade bath bombs use avacado along with coconut oil and essential oils that still capture the same scent profile as the Lush AvoBath recipe. 

Rumor has it that the real Lush bath bomb recipe uses rosewood essential oil. Even at my favorite provider of essential oils for bath bombs, it's really expensive!

To make our DIY Lush bath bomb recipe more affordable, we use the Love essential oil blend.  It still uses bergamot and other yummy citrus oils. We also add in lemongrass oil for that fresh, avo bath scent.

I start with lower amounts of essential oils in my DIY bath bombs so that they are safe for everybody. If you love a really strong scent to your homemade bath bombs and you know you don't have sensitive skin, go ahead and add more! Sniff and adjust as you go!

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How to Grow Your Own Edible Easter Grass

We started a tradition of growing our own Easter basket grass from wheat berries about six years ago. I hate plastic Easter grass and needed an eco-friendly alternative. We had been using shredded green paper but this real Easter grass (AKA wheatgrass) is super easy to grow in about seven days. The best part? When you are done with Easter, the wheatgrass is edible! 

To eat the wheatgrass, blend it into smoothie, run it through your juicer or feed it to your pet rabbit or chickens! Growing wheatgrass is really easy and makes your Easter baskets look extra fancy. Plus there's no waste, so it's an eco-friendly win all around!

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Natural Easter Egg Dye Recipes that Really Work

Dying Easter eggs is something my family loves to do every year. 

My kids and I don't eat artificial food coloring, though, so it doesn't make sense to dye Easter eggs with a product that will mean we won't want to eat the eggs anymore! 

Dying Easter eggs naturally isn't hard - although it does take a little bit more time than dying eggs with the kits from the store. 

Try coloring your Easter eggs naturally this year with fruits, veggies, spice and even coffee!

You and your kids will love how much fun it is to combine science with Easter egg decorating!

Making natural Easter egg dyes is easy and you will love thinking up new ways to dye eggs that I didn't even list here!

If you have success with a particular way to dye eggs naturally, pop into the Creative Green Living Tribe on Facebook and let us know!

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How to Make a DIY Jean Skirt Out of Denim Pants

Have you ever wondered how to make a DIY jean skirt out of a pair of jeans? I can help!

This step-by-step tutorial will show you exactly how to make an easy denim skirt for girls or women of any age or size from a pair of jeans.

Turning jeans into a skirt is easier than you might think. This even works with jeans where the knees have blown out and lets you salvage the rest of the usable fabric.

All you need is a pair of jeans, a seam ripper, scissors and a sewing machine.

Once you make one, you will love how easy it is to upgrade the jeans you decided didn't bring you joy into cute DIY jean skirt that you'll want to do this a few more times!

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St Patrick's Day Craft: Little Leprechaun Hat Tutorial

This cute leprechaun hat tutorial for St Patrick's Day is one of my oldest projects - I first wrote this St Paddy's Day craft tutorial back in 2013!

I had never been a big St Patrick's day crafter but with a three year old who loved holidays, I had to do something. 

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How to Make Patches from Recycled Jeans

Hi creative friends, it's Natalie from Doodlecraft here to teach you how to make patches from denim scraps!  

This is a fun upcycled craft that you can make from an old pair of jeans. You don't even need a whole pair! 

It's a great way to use up any scraps leftover from a project you made with recycled jeans like Carissa's really popular Farm Girl Apron from old jeans project or this upcycled denim crown project.

It's really easy to make denim patches using Dimensional Fabric paint (some might call it puffy paint).  

These colorful patches are perfect for adding embellishments to a tote or backpack. They are a fun craft to do with older kids or even as a summer camp craft.  

I have rainbows, unicorns, diamonds, flowers and narwhal patches featured here, but get as creative as you like--the sky is the limit!

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DIY Panda Unicorn Valentine Box with FREE Printable Pattern

Looking for a unique unicorn valentine box?

If you love pandas, unicorns or pandicorns (or is it pandacorns?), you will love my pandicorn panda unicorn valentine box.

I want to help you succeed with your DIY unicorn valentine box so I have also made a FREE PRINTABLE TEMPLATE to help make crafting your unicorn valentines box super easy.

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How to Make an Envelope for a Card from an Upcycled Cereal Box

Hi friends, it's Natalie from Doodlecraft! If you want to learn how to make an envelope from materials you already have at home, I'm your girl!

This fun tutorial will teach you how to fold an envelope from an empty food box. Your kids and tweens will love learning the secret of envelope making from trash!

This DIY envelope is perfect for brightening someone's day by sending snail mail...or a fabulous custom Valentine card!

Or Mother's Day!

Or Christmas!

OR what about Earth Day? How fitting! I think we should all start sending Earth Day cards made from recycled materials. Who's with me?

You can learn how to make an envelope that's just the right size for a card with any paper board (or lightweight cardboard) food box.

Cereal boxes, cracker boxes, you name it - the inside of a paper board food box is perfect for decorating and doodling on.

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How to Make a DIY Non-Christmas Winter Wreath

I love the subtle elegance of white and silvery winter decor.

When I took down my Christmas wreath in January, I knew I wanted to do something pretty and classic that would last through the rest of winter.

This pretty DIY winter wreath featuring snowflakes was my answer!

If your family doesn't do Christmas and just wants a pretty non-Christmas wreath for your door, this is great for this, too!

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How to Make Black Bath Bombs with Activated Charcoal

So you want to learn how to make black bath bombs? Want to make your bath water black? I've got you!

Last year, black bath bombs blew up on Instagram (check out black bath bombs on Instagram here).

For the most part, black bath bombs are made black by their use of activated charcoal rather than black dye or soap coloring.

Activated charcoal has been used in traditional health care settings as something you take internally (you swallow it!) to help poisoning or overdose for basically forever (learn more about medical use of activated charcoal here).

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The Best Homemade Body Scrub Recipes to Make at Home!

Have you been wanting to learn how to make sugar scrub? It's so easy to make a great homemade sugar scrub with ingredients you already have in your cabinet. 

Making your own scrubs also lets you avoid the sketchy ingredients in some store bought body care products (parabens and phthalates and synthetic fragrances, oh my!).

Try making your own DIY sugar scrub, salt scrub or coffee scrub with this collection of homemade recipes. Or try all three! 

Body scrubs are super easy to make and make great gifts. I've collected more than 20 tried-and-true body scrub recipes from my favorite bloggers to share with you here - including my own peppermint sugar scrub recipe that went viral last Christmas!

If you are looking for high quality essential oils to use in your scrubs, be sure to check out Rocky Mountain Oils - their oils are high quality, reasonably priced and you always get free shipping (even if you just buy one bottle!). 

I also love that they release the GCMS test results for every batch of oil they produce - this is something that DoTerra and YoungLiving consider proprietary information!

But now what you came here for!

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Christmas Cake Mix Bath Bomb Recipe

Bath bombs make a wonderful Christmas gift! Luckily, learning how to make bath bombs at home isn't hard!

This Christmas bath bomb recipe features some yummy smelling essential oils. It might just end up becoming your favorite bath bomb recipe yet!

These DIY bath bombs smell like a vanilla cake topped with candy canes! Of course, you can use whichever essential oils you prefer for your homemade bath bombs but I especially love how these smell together!

You could even make this a family project. Make some bath bombs with your kids for winter break. They make lovely gifts and will make you kids look forward to bath time!

Tell the Lush bath bomb recipes to move over - this yummy cake mix inspired bath bomb recipe is the bomb!

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12 Days of Christmas Gift Ideas for 2018: Seven Swans-a-Swimming Succulent Planter

A partridge in a pear tree? Four calling birds? Seven swans-a-swimming?

Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to give all the gifts from the 12 Days of Christmas?

Today I am partnering with PNC to bring you this post and the 2018 PNC Christmas Price Index® to help you find out!

This year, PNC is also partnering with bloggers to bring you modern takes on the classic 12 Days of Christmas gifts.

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How to Make DIY Unicorn Pumpkins with No Carving Mess!

If you love all things unicorn, you will absolutely love this DIY pumpkin craft that is perfect for Halloween!

Hi Creative friends, it's Natalie from Doodlecraft sharing a fun no carve pumpkin craft featuring everyone's favorite animal: unicorns!

I have two different ways you can make this easy unicorn craft for Halloween:

You can make a cute unicorn girl pumpkin or a cool unicorn boy pumpkin with sunglasses. Easy and adorable!

If you hate the mess of carving pumpkins, this is an especially wonderful solution to decorating pumpkins. No sharp tools or goopy mess required!

I made these with fresh white pumpkins but if you want them to last forever, you can buy convincing looking fake pumpkins online.

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How to Make a Unicorn Christmas Ornament

If you are obsessed with unicorn crafts like I am, it only makes sense to carry that obsession over into Christmas!

This easy unicorn DIY project lets you turn a humble wood slice into a unicorn Christmas ornament.

This unicorn craft is super easy and perfect for kids to make. You could even personalize the unicorns by painting the back and then writing the creator's name (or a gift recipient's name).

You can make your own wood cookies from trees that fall down during storms or buy them online.

Besides the wood cookies, If you are crafty at all, you likely have all the craft supplies you need to make these easy unicorn Christmas ornaments.

Ready to get started on this fun unicorn Christmas craft? 

Let's do it!

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