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42 Clever Crafts From Household Waste Material

Inside: Tutorials and ideas of all the beautiful things you can craft from everyday household waste material that you’ll want to make.

I don’t know if you are like us, but the family’s budget has tightened. I can’t afford a trip to the craft store, but I still need to craft for my sanity. Lucky for me, I have found some cool ideas for adult crafts from waste materials.

One of the reasons I’m so passionate about upcycling is that I hate waste! I’m reluctant to throw away lots of household rubbish/garbage. I’m always looking for new ways to repurpose waste materials.

Crafting is cheap therapy. You can make many amazing things from discarded household waste with a few basic crafting essentials, such as adhesive and paint.

A visit to the craft store can be expensive. But looking around, you can find many free crafting materials in your kitchen bin. It saves you some money and is a very eco-friendly green way to craft.

I already have a list of A to Z of upcycling resources and natural resource craft ideas; this post focuses on the rubbish/garbage in your household bin.

household waste craft ideas

List of Household Waste Materials To Craft With

A list of 20 things in your kitchen bin which can be used as crafting materials. Let me know if you have anything to add to the list.

  1. Tin cans – cans of all sizes and shapes. Check out these Christmas tin cans.
  2. Soda cans – can be cut with scissors
  3. Egg cartons
  4. Cardboard packaging – Check out these repurposed cardboard Christmas crafts.
  5. Cardboard tubes, toilet rolls, gift wrap tubes, and packaging tape rolls
  6. Shoe boxes
  7. Milk and Juice Cartons
  8. Plastic bottles, soda bottles and pots
  9. Wooden and plastic cutlery
  10. Plastic and paper cups
  11. Plastic bags – can be turned into yarn.
  12. Paper bags – from the humble brown paper bag to a designer shop bag.
  13. Newspapers and magazines – For paper mache and rolled papercrafts.
  14. Glass bottles and jars
  15. Candy / sweet wrappers
  16. Eggshells
  17. Bottle caps and bottle tops
  18. Jar lids
  19. Wine and champagne corks
  20. Plastic packaging – some grades can be used, like shrink plastic.
general household waste

Amazing Crafts From Household Waste Material

No need to spend a fortune at the craft store, there are so many amazing things that you can craft from household waste, such as egg cartons, plastic bottles, cardboard packaging and bottles. It saves you money, but it's very green and eco too!

42 waste material crafts

Here you will find many ideas for the different types of crafts using waste materials.

I also have some upcycled Halloween decoration ideas you might want to check out.

Carol

Friday 3rd of June 2022

Wow! These are wonderfully creative ideas for up-cycling materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Pinned to my crafts board. Carol

Claire Armstrong

Saturday 4th of June 2022

Thank you, hopefully, there is something in the collection you feel inspired to make.

Kathy A

Wednesday 1st of June 2022

What a great list of ideas; will give moms with kids home for the summer some great ideas, too. Currently isolating with Covid--ambition is finally picking up enough to do a bit of crafting--not ambition enough for lots of housework yet! SO just came home from 6 days in the hospital!

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 1st of June 2022

Oh I’m sorry to hear that, I hope you feel better soon. Maybe when you’re up to it a bit of crafting will help lift you up a bit, I believe it’s good for the soul.😊