Upcycling Crafts for Kids: Halloween
We’ve partnered with Tracy Williams from the Howard County Recycling District, on a series of fun crafts that encourage upcycling items that may be recycled or mistakenly thrown away at your house. Here you’ll find photos and step-by-step instructions for a simple craft you can create together with your family. This craft was inspired from an article by Jodie & Jen with Eighteen25 and took us a little under an hour to make these spirit jugs.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Supplies You’ll Need:
3 or more gallon milk jugs (rinsed and dried with labels removed after use)
Utility knife
Permanent markers
String lights of any kind
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Draw faces or designs on the milk jugs
Using your permanent marker, make funny or spooky faces and designs on the milk jugs. Using a dark color will show up well with the light behind it. This is a great chance for children to be creative and have fun. Jugs can be designed by each person in your family or go along with a theme or special idea using words or pictures.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
2. Cut light access in milk jugs
With the help of a grown up, use the utility knife to cut a minimum 4-inch hole in each milk jug. Placement of the hole may vary depending on how you are displaying your spirit jugs, but we choose for ours to sit beside each other with the handles in the back. A hole was placed on each side of the milk jugs so the string lights can pass between them.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
3. Add lights to the milk jugs and enjoy
We purchased a set of battery-operated lights because our display wasn’t near an outlet, but any type of string holiday lights would work for this. You can even experiment with different colors.
Pro Tip: if you choose to use battery-operated lights, be sure you have the correct batteries available to use if they are not included with the light set.
We are excited to turn the lights on in these next few spooky evenings and add more jugs to the display next year.
TKP Photo | Alli Lee
Photo Provided | Howard County Recycling District
Tracy Williams, Education Coordinator of the Howard County Recycling District, said that milk jugs can be upcycled or downcycled.
“Anytime you can find a way to upcycle or reuse a milk jug, you should. There are approximately 1.4 BILLION milk jugs used in the US annually. Although most are not recycled into new milk jugs because of sanitary concerns, milk jugs can be easily "downcycled" into other items such as benches, composite lumber, children's toys, and other items. Unfortunately, fewer than 3 in 10 milk jugs are recycled according to the EPA."
We’d love to see how your spirit jugs turn out! Tag us on Facebook or leave a comment below about your favorite family upcycling crafts. What should we upcycle next?
