Friday, November 16, 2007

Recycle your old Christmas & Greeting Cards!

With Christmas less than 6 weeks away, there's no doubt you will soon be receiving holiday cards and advertising in your mailbox. This got me thinking I should post some ways to recycle your holiday cards.



The first thing that came to mind for me was these cool ornaments. My mom made some of these when I was little, and you may have seen them around the web as well. Since I had already re-purposed my cards from last year, I made this ornament today out of some of the holiday catalogs I've received in the mail recently. Greeting card fronts work best since they are thicker stock, but catalog covers work as well. Check out the Junk Mail Gems DIY page for complete instructions to make your own ornament!

Looking for something less time-consuming? You can also use your cards as gift tags. Simply cut around the image you like with scissors, and use a hole punch in one corner. I like to use craft scissors with a decorative edge...pinking shears also work for a zig-zag. Use the hole to tie ribbon through, and on the back you can write who the gift is for and from!



Another thing I like to do with attractive gift cards is to cut out the images and use them as embellishments in my Christmas photo scrapbook. They cost 100% less than buying expensive scrapbook stickers, and I add to the memory preservation by noting in small writing next to it who sent that particular card. You can even dress the images up further by adding a little glitter, or adding dimension by gluing cardboard squares underneath it to lift it off the page.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Junk Mail Gems on Fox News


Last night Junk Mail Gems was featured as part of a Fox 9 news story about stopping junk mail! Watch the video on their website!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Cardboard Sculpture



My brother sent me this link to some really awesome cardboard sculpture by Chris Gilmour. Pretty cool stuff. Sure, cardboard boxes can be recycled back into more cardboard boxes, but then why not give a box a loftier second life as a work of art?!

Chris creates replicas of everyday objects out of nothing more than cardboard and glue. Seeing these brought back many memories of my college days in Industrial Design. One assignment I had my freshman year was to create a cardboard chair that could support my weight, only we couldn't use any glue. I also still use cardboard as an inexpensive way to create full size models of my product designs to test. Of course, being rough models, these ae not meant to be as beautiful and detailed as Gilmour's work, but it does make me want to go back and explore cardboard more as an end-product medium!

The link is to Reuben and Yael Miller's blog, which is worth exploring if you have a chance! I think I'll add this one to my list of regular places to visit...nice stuff!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Now Available: "Cool Green Stuff!"



Yipeee! My pre-ordered copy of Cool Green Stuff from Amazon arrived today! This is a really cool little book. It's the perfect little size and with large, full-color photos on every page, it's interesting enough to live on your coffee table and frequently be picked up. If you'd like to get one, you'd better order asap or find it in a bookstore, as according to Amazon's site today, they only have 4 left in stock.

Anyway, be sure to check out the front section on fashion, which is where you will find a page featuring Junk Mail Gems' hand-rolled paper beads! Click here to check out our recently expanded selection of loose beads, as well as ready-to-wear necklaces, earrings and bracelets!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Junk Mail Gems Featured in New Green Book


I keep forgetting to post about this but finally getting around to it! Junk Mail Gems is going to be one of the many cool green products featured in this new book, Cool Green Stuff, available in the US at the end of the month! I've already pre-ordered mine on Amazon....check it out here!

The book will be published in Australia and New Zealand under the name "Cool Hunting:Green" as well!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

"PRE-Cycle" Your Computer Printouts!

Ever print an email or something off a website, and get that wasted last page that has like 2 words on it? One thing I do to try to avoid this is to click the "from __ to __" option in my printer dialog box instead of the default "print all pages," and start with 1 to 1 or whatever I think it will take to get what I actually need printed. This helps avoid getting that last page with nothing but "page 2 of 2" and the web url on it. But, sometimes it still does happen.

What I've been doing lately is cutting up my printer mistakes, old mapquest routes, etc and use the backs for notes, phone messages, & shopping lists. The backs of the paper is perfectly good for these little notes, and it enables you to get another use out of this paper before you drop it in the trash, or hopefully, your recycle bin!






Now you can store your own recycled note paper with this cool storage box, just added to the Junk Mail Gems collection! This box is designed to hold scratch paper the size of a letter sized sheet (8.5" x 11") cut into fourths. The box is hand woven entirely out of 7 recycled junk mail catalog pages and is available now on JunkMailGems.com for $15.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Recycled Magazine Stuff

Check out this cool mirror from Urban Outfitters, trimmed with recycled magazines! ($52) Be sure to check out the close-up view (click "more pictures") on their site to see the detail in the individual rolls...pretty time consuming! (although I'm not sure if they are hand made?)


They also have a picture frame for $16.00 made in the same way:
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What's going on in the world of Junk Mail Gems, along with other cool, hand-made "green" products, DIY projects, and more!