Freebies for Art Projects
Today, we produce a lot of waste in our homes and at work from packages, junk mail, as well as products that have served a purpose and are no longer needed.
Many of these used and wasted materials can be used for projects to create practical or decorative items.
In previous posts, I’ve already shown how to make decorative frames and boxes from materials around your home.
If you ever have a project in mind and require materials like cardboard or decorative paper, unless it’s a specialized project, you can use a lot of the free materials that are available.
There are many things we have around the home that can be quite useful.
For example:
Cardboard:
- dried food packages
- old/used notebooks
- product packaging
Paper:
- flyers
- fast food restaurant
- menus
- brochures
- business cards
- wrapping paper
- maps
- holiday cards
- newspapers/magazines
- mail/money envelopes
String:
- packaging string
- sewing thread
- yarn
- shoelaces
- hair ties
- boxer elastics
- old clothes/socks/bag straps
Extras:
- colourful pens
- paints
- markers
- nail polish
- old/broken jewelry
- anything old or torn
- anything with decorative bits and pieces.
Besides our homes, there are many other places that will have freebies.
With many of my eco projects, I use various materials that I have at home, or happen to receive (usually from people who stand outside handing out flyers).
Other places that I’ve noticed for freebies are:
Supermarkets:
newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures, boxes, bags, foam, paper
Banks:
Brochures, envelopes, carbon paper (if you make a mistake on a form)
Train/ Bus Stations:
Flyers, brochures, free magazines & newspapers
Cafes:
Brochures, paper food bags, tissues, wooden stir sticks, mini spoons, sugar packets & mini cream containers (after use), plastic straws
Fast Food Restaurants:
Plastic straws, tissues, paper tray covers, sugar packets and mini cream containers (after use), plastic utensils, wooden stir sticks, brochures, flyers,
Museums and Art Galleries:
Lots of reading materials, advertisements, brochures, free magazines, postcard ads, flyers (all will usually have colourful or interesting images)
Book Shops / Music Shops:
Free magazines, catalogues, flyers, ads
Department Stores/Shopping Malls:
Flyers, free samples, brochures, free magazines, newspapers
