Happy Halloween, all! After the trick-or-treating or party is over, there will inevitably be loads of leftover candy wrappers. Here are some fun ideas for reusing them.
All of the above use Starburst wrappers, but of course you can use others. You'll quickly figure out which ones best hold a crease, can be glued, etc.
- Top left, I've wrapped them around the plastic tubes we discussed way back when. At first it seemed that no glue would let the wrapper stick to itself, but holding everything in place for a few seconds teaches the paper to stay put.
- For the technique used to make the little wreath, top right, the best illustrated how-to I've found is at the "fluffyland" blog -- which actually shows how to make a bracelet. Tucking the two ends into each other is a little tricky, but you could also tie them together with a bow.
- Bottom right is my attempt at a pinwheel, which tweaks the above method a bit. A flat foam disk glued to the center (next photo) might keep the slippery pieces from separating. We'll see!
- The flower, bottom left, is made of wrappers whose centers I scrunched and then secured with wire. I also mixed in thin strips that I'd cut away while wrapping the tube beads. Once done, I thought it could use a button, but when that also looked kind of bare, I glued on a little bead as seen below.
Feeling inspired? Come to our booth and share your ideas at Trash to Treasure: A Green Craft Fair, this Saturday at PG County's Watkins Nature Center. This year we're offering a Make-it Take-it that uses -- what else? -- empty (but clean and dry) candy wrappers! We should have plenty, but plan to add yours; those we can't use for crafting, we'll send in to TerraCycle. Awesome!
[See what else we collect for them at this link.]
Be safe tonight while trick-or-treating! And check back later this week for more about the pinwheel.
