recycled button coasters

Buttons are something kelly and I just seem to gather, from extras that come with new jackets/pants to random garage sale finds. We have always wanted to use them for some form of craftiness but could never quite figure it out.  Then yesterday it just hit us...how cool would it be to create a cup coaster out of old buttons woven together?

These coasters are the perfect gift for a friend's birthday, father's day (which is just around the corner) or just to add a little handmade touch to your home!  So start scouring for old buttons and get to craftin'! All the how tos after the jump...

Recycled Magnets!

Now that Earth Day and Mother's Day are just around the corner we thought we should bring you some nifty ways to use recycled goods for a crafty gift!  Besides, what is more fun then gluing stuff together?

Benny and I are reluctant to throw out anything. So when we first sat down to decide what gifts to create, we really wanted to use up some of our stock piles.  Our first thought was of our growing collection of used spray tips from our spray paints.  They have a nice multicolor quality that we love and we have a ton of them!  So after a little deliberation we settled on a gift that is simple, quick and totally customizable....RECYCLED MAGNETS!

All the how tos after the jump...

Homemade Cardstock!

Kelly and I were recently brainstorming on ways to incorporate more recycled products in the overall makeup of our line, while cutting costs everywhere we can (usually these two ideas don't go hand in hand...).  In our brainstorming process we decided to do a housewide craft supply/material inventory to see what we already had.  We ran around the house gathering anything and everything that could be used to create something, which rules out very little.  Once we gathered our overwhelming pile, we soon realized we had an ungodly amount of old paper bags from all the different sorts of shopping we do.

Looking at all these bags, we just had to figure a way to use them.  One of our biggest cost here at bennykelly is cardstock.  We use it not only for all our tags and marketing fliers, but also as stencil paper.  And as of recently we've been having difficulty finding cost effective cardstock made from 100% recycled paper.  So to end our paper woos and bring more sustainability to our line, we decided to create some HOMEMADE CARDSTOCK!!

Make your own cardstock...all the how tos after the jump!

show & tell: WhatTheCraft

WhatTheCraft.com is the ultimate resource guide for the DIY fashion obsessed!  Started in 2005 by an aspiring fashion designer named Alexis, this site is a forum for fashion tutorials, resources and promotion!  One of the reasons we love WhatTheCraft is their great selection of sewing and craft tutorials, useful for the beginner to the advanced.  You can also find guides to learn what is needed to find success in selling your designs.  The site even has a sewing machine troubleshooting guide and reviews of select sewing machines/accessories!!  What crafter would not find that useful?

Stop on by the site...share a tutorial, learn a new pleating technique, or show off  your own creations in one of WhatTheCraft's frequent contests!  You might even get the itch to bookmark this one.  We did!!

Candy Heart Tea Bags

Our Next Valentine's Day gift is what we personally gave out to our friends this lovely holiday, custom  heart tea bags!  They are super easy way to create a custom gift and sure to please any tea lover.  They can be made in no time, with little need in the way of supplies!

So invite your "hot momma" over for a cup of tea in this rainy weather.  We are sure they will find you irresistible!! How tos after the jump...

Craft us some love!

Valentine's Day is soon upon us and nothing tells your honey "i think your awesome!" more than a sweet handmade gift of love.  To help guide you on your crafting way, Benny and I have gathered a few v-day gift tutorials.  We will be sharing these sweet ideas with you over the next few days, so start gathering those supplies!

First off we have beaded keychains!!  This is a simple project that can give you results that will stun your love! And the best part of this whole projects is you probably have most of the supplies lying around the house.   Overall a low cost, fashionable way to show you care!



All the how tos after the jump...

trade recycled plastic for leather...

As you know we love textiles and reusing anything we can, so when a friend suggested that we try substituting leather with recycled fused plastic we were intrigued.  We then learned that this "substitution" was a textile fabric you could easily make at home and we just fell in love!!

This fabric you can create is extremely versatile, being relatively strong (dependent on the # of plastic layers you fuse) and weather resistant.  You can take a sewing machine to it with no problem and we have even been contemplating making a full blow rain coat!  So in the true spirit of how we learned, here are the how tos to make this fantastically versatile homemade fabric...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="483" caption="here is a sweet 100% recycled envelope we created with this lovely fabric!"][/caption]

tutorial after the jump...