Paper Garbage Liners

There is nothing too crafty about today's post. It is something I happened upon while browsing. 

I am not very fond of composting at home owing to the space constraints and my apprehensions about the process. 

We all have garbage bins and perhaps two or three nowadays, owing to the waste segregation to be done at source. The wet waste needs to go out daily and hence a garbage liner each day. I usually used to use the bags in which grocery came or buy the garbage bags. 

One particular day, when I became a little too environment conscious, I browsed online for garbage liner alternatives and learned that newspapers could be used. I had to try it out to see how effective it was. But I had to have an easy bag tutorial, which would take probably just a few minutes. And my search landed me here - thealternative.in. 

The page has clear instructions on how to create the bags. To circulate to our ladies in my apartment, I compiled all the pics into one. 

I just improvised a bit on it by stapling the two triangles being folded in (step 7). And I fold the bottom corners to give it a flat base.

Now coming to using it, it was tough initially. Somedays it would become soggy and I had to put in it plastic bags before taking it out of the house. Now gradually I have become used to the method. I would add one more sheet of newspaper, or add a folded sheet at the base. 

While disposing of the very wet waste, I try to wrap it in paper or trap it in the vegetable waste so that the water content does not touch the newspaper liner. 

Give it a try and it hardly takes 1 minute. Our little bit to the environment.

Cute little Envelopes

Recently when I was in office, I had to make an envelope to put in some delicate stuff. I made the envelope in about 5 minutes from printer paper and stapler pins. Since it was too quick and easy, I felt I should just mention it out on the blog though there might be a lot better envelope ideas out there on the Internet.

Step 1. Gather any paper of your choice to make the envelope (I had some papers remaining from my Paper Mobile project. These were colorful and gave me pleasure at the thought of being able to recycle them.)


Any size would be fine - rectangle or square. As you can see in the picture, the papers are of varying sizes. Towards the end you can see the sizes of the envelopes also, so that you get an idea of the size to be used for your project.

Step 2. Make a fold from one side as shown. It should be a little more than 1/3rd and little less than half of the length of the paper. Let us call this as First Flap.

Step 3. Now fold in the other flap. The newly folded flap overlaps the older flap. Let us call this the Second Flap.


The other side looks like this now.


Step 4. Draw a thin line on the Second flap.


Make sure that the line is well before the edge of the First flap.


Step 5. Cut along the line and let the center portion remain as shown in the picture. The uncut portion will serve as an insert to keep the envelope flap in place. Let us call the uncut portion as the Insert.


Step 6. Now press the Second flap against the First flap and mark the corners of the Insert.


Step 7. Open the flaps and make a cut within the marks on the First flap as shown.


To make the cut you can use a retractable safety blade. You can alternatively use a pin also. Make holes very close to each other using the pin along line you want to cut and then move the pin horizontally to tear along the perforation. Or you can even use a ruler and draw on the line using the pin back and forth. A neat cut will appear after a few drawings.

Step 8. Now fold the First flap back in place and staple along the edges. Alternatively, you can also use gum/glue, tapes, or even sew along the edges.


Step 9. Fold the Second flap and slide the Insert into the cut made at Step 7.


Your envelope is now ready! Put in whatever you want - your bills, earrings, hair clips, pins, and any knick-knacks.

You can also sneak in love-notes for your beloved ones.


And make labels for the envelopes. Love the colorful splash of envelopes I have now.

Notice board

I always wanted to create a small notice board for self. I often write down tasks for my day, reminders, list of things to buy, and even the menu for the day.
For a long time I kept writing down the tasks on post-its and kept pasting and kept pasting it on the walls and cupboards. Last week, I finally made a small board for myself.

I used a cardboard piece, covered it with a silver sheet. Then I hung it on the wall.


Now I can write on the sheet using a marker and wipe it off using a cotton cloth or tissue. And stick post-its on it as well.

I have kept the markers and pens in a glass just below the board.

I used this to hang the board. Cute right? :-)

Making a customized board for self is very easy and consumes less than half an hour. You can add your personal touch to it by covering the board with gift wrapper, fabric, or even newspaper.

Repurposing - Pair of gloves from old T-shirt

I have been thinking from a long time to buy a pair of gloves. Reason is that I drive my two wheeler to office and it is too hot in the mornings. I have started getting tans on my fingers. Though I am not a too fair person, it is easy to make out the tan now. Funny part is that I wear a jacket and so only the fingers look too dark. Earlier I did make an attempt at crocheting a pair of gloves. I worked on my own pattern and it did turn out fine. But the unfortunate part was that it got worn out too soon due to holding the brakes, accelerating, and more rough use. So for my use, cloth gloves was the best I understood. And luckily I got this idea - make use of the long sleeves of my t-shirt. I chose one of the t-shirts which I loved due to its stretchy comfortable fabric.

It was quite and easy project. Don't believe me? Let's see how to do it.

1. Pull out an old t-shirt.

2. Trace your palm outline onto the innerside of the sleeve.

3. Cut the sleeves in the required length and along the outline.

4. Now sew along the outline with inside out. I handstitched it and used blanket stitch for the edges and backstitch for the firm hold of the fabric together.

5. Now turn the glove out correctly and try it on. If you find that the wrist portion is loose fitting, you can sew a small elastic strip or create a button hole and sew a button on it. I used a press-button as that was what I had handy and was easy to finish off the project.

If you want you can embellish it with flowers, fancy buttons, ribbons, and laces. I left mine plain.

We have to do a lot of sunny business together now.