REMAKE IT!

Re-using and recycling can be productive. This timely how-to book offers instructions for 95 projects using old papers, plastic bags and containers, retired clothes and pieces of fabric, bits of metal, jars and jar lids and other finds from the junk pile. From scrap paper picture frames to a purse made from an old hardcover book, the environmentally conscious author provides a wide variety of projects for young crafters. There are bags and boxes and storage bins, planters and lampshades, bracelets and even a T-shirt rug. Organized into chapters by basic material, the projects are labeled easy, medium and hard, and the amount of time they might require is shown with one to three clock faces. Each finished product is clearly pictured. Instructions are presented like recipes, beginning with the necessary materials and equipment, and going on with step-by-step instructions and clearly drawn diagrams. Procedures range from simple paper folding to complex ones requiring hand sewing (an introduction shows basic stitchery), use of a glue gun, cutting difficult materials and very careful measurements. Occasionally the author suggests adult supervision. Like many “green” suggestions, some projects may use more energy than they save. Hot water and a dryer are used to felt old wool sweaters. A long period of hot ironing fuses plastic bags. Handy preteens and teens looking for new ideas for old stuff may find just what they need, but they’ll have to flip through—there’s no index. (Handicrafts. 10-16)