Luminations Festival at the Wildflower Center

The Teenage Eco Warriors recently participated in the Luminations Festival at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, and had a blast with recycled crafts!

At our craft station, we transformed scraps of used plastic and fabric into festive wreaths.

        

Katya helping a young festival-goer

     

Circe giving instructions               

Kids and grown-ups who came by could grab a wire hoop to use as a frame, then choose scraps in colors of their choice to tie around the hoop until they ended up with something like this:

                            

                                      

Over the two evenings of the festival, we recycled over 30 pounds of fabric and 100-200 plastic bags!

Want to make this cool craft at home? Its not too hard, and you'll be recycling materials in the process!

Step 1: Find something you can use as a frame. We used thin aluminum wire bent into a circle and secured with tape. Another good option would be to bend a coat hanger into a rounded shape, and use the hook at the top to hang the wreath when you are done.

Step 2: Gather some old rags, scraps, clothes, socks (try to avoid the ones in the dirty laundry bin), plastic bags, or anything else that you can cut into strips or tie onto your wreath. This is the step where you can really get creative (twist-ties? old gift ribbons?).

Step 3: Cut your materials into scraps that are roughly 4 inches by 1 inch. 

Step 4: Tie a scrap in a single knot around your frame so that both ends are left hanging loose at approximately even lengths. 

Step 5: Tie another one, and another, and another, and another and another andanotherandanotheraaannndd..........you get the picture. Keep tying on your scraps until the wreath is as packed as you want it! 

Step 6: Just kidding, you're done! Now you have a beautiful wreath for your house!