New Uses for Old Maps

Don’t throw out old maps, give them new lease of life.

Colourful book covers

Placemats: Glue on to poster board or coloured cardboard a little larger than the map. This will leave a coloured border on the map side, and a plain reverse side. Cover the map side with clear contact paper.

Decoupage on trays, cans, wooden boxes, etc

Collage: Paste map on thin cardboard along with other objects from the map region. Personalise by circling meaningful areas with broad markers.

These activities and many more are taught and demonstrated by Jules Simmons is an environmental artist based in West Sussex.  She designs and creates lots of environmental art and recycling displays using non-traditional art materials creatively. Find out more about her work.

 

Egg Cup Creatures

These are really easy to make!

Age: 5 and up

 

 

 

 

 

Let your imagination run wild when making these cute little egg cup creatures. Children can use whatever colours they like to create their own fun designs!

This green art is free and upcycles egg boxes.

What you’ll need:

  • Cardboard egg box
  • Scissors
  • Paints
  • Pipe cleaners, any colours will do
  • Craft knife, small scissor, or sharp pencil
  • White craft glue
  • Medium and large pom-poms
  • Wiggle eyes

How to make it:

  1. Have an adult cut egg cups out of egg carton. Paint in various colours of your choice and let dry, see photo.
  2. While egg cups are drying, create insect wings by cutting and bending pipe cleaners into various different shapes, see photo.
  3. Have an adult use a small scissor, sharp pencil, or craft knife to poke a hole in each side of the egg cup, insert wings into the holes. If you want the wings farther back on the body, poke the holes closer together, see photo.
  4. Turn egg cup upside down and bend ends of pip cleaners against the side of the cup to help hold them in place, see photo.
  5. Using two large pom-poms for heads or one medium pom-pom for bulging eyes, glue them to the fronts of the egg cups, see photo.
  6. Use pipe cleaners for legs and antennae. Antennae can be glued right to the pom-pom head. Legs can be inserted in the sides of the egg cup in the same fashion as the wings.
  7. Glue on wiggle eyes on the pom-poms to complete the face.

Tips:

  1. You can decorate your insects even more by adding polka dots. Just dip the handle end of a paintbrush into a contrasting colour of paint and dot on.
  2. Foam egg cups can be used as well, but the cardboard soaks up the paint better though.
  3. Coloured wiggle eyes are available at your local craft supply store.

Have fun, enjoy!

 

Preparing for Earth Hour!

Preparing for Earth Hour!

Tonight hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year to support the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour.

More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. It also ushered in a new era with members going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action for the planet. Without a doubt, it’s shown how great things can be achieved when people come together for a common cause.  You can learn more about Earth Hour here. There are loads of fun games for children here too.

Here at Sussex Green Living HQ we are having a candlelit fondue with friends to mark the occasion.

We are currently recycling old candles and making some Earth candles to mark the occasion. All you need to do is:

Find a container which some food came in from the supermarket or an old flower pot.

Fill it with soil and push a tennis ball into the soil to make a round indentation.  Using a stick make 3 little channels in the bottom which will act as feet to your Earth candle.

Met down old candles and try to recover the old wicks or make or buy some new wick.

Then pour your liquid wax into the Earth indentation putting the wick in the middle.  You might need to top up the wax as it seeps into the surrounding Earth.

Leave it to dry and firm up, then remove the new Earth candle from the soil, give it a little dust off but making sure some Earth is still left on.  And hey presto you have yourself some lovely recycled Earth candles.

Turn off all your lights to mark Earth Hour and commit to lasting action for the planet to turn around climate change.   Enjoy.  Photos to follow tomorrow!

Hello it is Spring

 

Out of his shell into the light,

Bright yellow chicken chirps with delight.

‘Hello, it’s Spring, Life’s just begun,

Let’s all wake up, time to have fun!’

Get outdoors everyone

The natural world wakes up from a long sleep with buds bursting into leaf, flowers blooming and animals waking from hibernation.

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