mostly-Green Halloween, part five (updated)

Stop!

Don’t you dare throw those Halloween candy wrappers in the trash.  Oh no, no, no.  Keep all those colorful, shiny papers and transform them into art materials for your kiddo!  Yup, art materials, baby.

Let me introduce you to candy wrapper art.  The first two ideas are do-it-together kind of projects that are as much about the final products as they are about putting a spin on recycling with your kiddo.  The second two are for you to oooo and ahhh over, at least I did.  Who knew candy wrappers could be so chic?  So come, take a lookey look…

photo by whimsystitch @ etsy.com

Decoupage

Turns out, with candy wrappers, you can decoupage just about anything.  Decoupage is the fancy French way of saying, to decorate with paper and glue.  For decoupage’ing, you’ll need: a surface to cover, something to cover it with and Mod Podge to make it stick.   Mod Podge is to decoupage what candy is to Halloween.  Put it this way, any craft store that doesn’t carry Mod Podge is not a real craft store.  Whimsystitch’s headband is by far, the best candy wrapper decoupage project I’ve come across. For a basic tutorial, click here.  Challenge yourself to create interesting, repeating patterns with the wrappers like Martha did here.

Beads

I got a little help for this one from a very good -and- very creative friend.  Here goes:  ”kidHaven, knowing how much I love making beads out of recycled magazines, challenged me to do something similar with Halloween candy wrappers. What a great excuse to break into our candy stash early!  The results are super cute.  Now, they don’t produce nearly as shapely beads as long strips of magazine paper does.  Still, candy wrapper colors are really vibrant and shiny and produce a very stylish and youthful bead.  Because there are scissors and needles involved, you should only do this project with children who know how to handle those materials. (But you could use toothpicks instead of needles, I suppose.) What you’ll need: Candy wrappers, scissors, scotch tape, needles, and string (I prefer fishing line). Step 1: Cut the candy wrapper into a tall, isosceles triangle. Step 2: Holding the needle with one hand, fold the bottom of the triangle over the needle.  By bottom, I mean the flat, straight edge opposite the point of the triangle. Step 3: Wrap the triangle around the needle tightly. Step 4: Cut off an itsy bitsy piece of scotch tape and tape it shut. Step 5: String it on the fishing line.  Keep adding more beads ’til you have enough for a necklace or bracelet. Try experimenting with long and short triangles, wide and skinny, and different parts of the wrapper. If you’re really into this, skip the scotch tape and try coating the beads with Mod Podge to deepen the color and make them last longer.  Happy Recycling!” ~Sarah

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Ecoist

Let the oooo’ing and ahhh’ing begin, ’cause this is a FIND folks!  Ecoist is candy wrapper art at its finest, handbags, to be exact.  I’m going to talk less and show more, because their eco-friendly fashion accessories speak for themselves.  But I feel obligated to tell you one thing:  Ecoist was founded “not to eliminate the products and luxuries that are apart of our lifestyles, but to seek alternatives that satisfy our needs in a healthy and ecologically sound manner.”  I’m thinking an Ecoist wristlet would make a pretty snazzy gift…

'barcode clutch' by ecoist

'luna bar wristlet' by ecoist

Eye Candy

'upcycled candy bracelet' by butterfly gem on etsy.com

'upcycled gum wrapper ring' by funky egg art on etsy.com

Happy mostly-Green Halloween!

It’s so wonderful to have good friends, and it’s a bonus to have good friends that take a simple question and turn it into a personal challenge.  Sarah, the coordinator of the One World Community Playgroup, enthusiastically contributed to this post by sharing her expertise in paper bead making.  Endless thanks to Sarah for your energy, friendship and wonderfully creative brain.