Melrose Public Library

Celebrate Earth Day all month long through Creativebug!

Using your library card and PIN, create your own account for free and nurture your creative side with 1000+ video classes in painting, knitting, crafting, sewing & more!

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Turn a T-Shirt into a Trivet – Faith Hale shows you how to knit a sturdy and stylish trivet out of yarn upcycled from a T-shirt. Learn these simple steps to turn an old t-shirt into “yarn” and you can create all sorts of knitted or crocheted creations!

Crochet a Rag Rug – Learn how to make a traditional crocheted rag rug with Cal Patch. Rag rugs are a great opportunity to use up recycled fabrics like old bed sheets and T-shirts. In this class, Cal shares expert tips on how to shred the fabric intro strips and connect them to make one continuous “yarn” for crocheting. Once you’ve learned the chain stitch and single crochet stitch, you’ll work in spirals to create a round or oval rug.

Seed Bombs – Liana of Creativebug shows you how to make self-planting seed bombs, just in time for spring!

DIY Cleaning Products and Craft Organization – Learn how to make your own cleaning products, start seeds for your garden, and organize your craft space. This tutorial is packed with a variety of ideas!

Make Plarn for Earth Day – Do you still have a stash of plastic grocery store bags? Learn how to make “plarn” out of plastic grocery bags and give them a new use.

Eco-Friendly Gift Wrap – Any gift can be elevated with a thoughtful presentation. Artist, educator, and gift-wrap authority Courtney Cerruti share some of her favorite wrapping and trimming techniques with an eye on eco-friendly combinations and elements. Learn furoshiki-inspired ways to enclose presents with fabrics, and use and reuse things you have at home to create beautifully wrapped gifts that are nearly too pretty to open.

How to Knit Dishcloths – A dishcloth knitted with pure linen transforms an ordinary rag into a luxurious textile. Wendy Bernard demonstrates how to work with linen yarn to create a washcloth with an i-cord loop for hanging. The linen fiber resists mildew, is great for scrubbing, and gets softer with every use. This quick knitting project is a fun way to try out new stitch patterns—several of which are included in the PDF. Make a stack to give as a gift, or keep them for your own daily use in place of disposable sponges.

Make Soap Three Ways – Brighten your day by and bring a glow to your skin when you use soaps made from natural ingredients. Arina Soler of BellaCreme teaches three different processes for making soaps that cleanse and nourish skin without the drying and irritation that can occur from repeated hand-washing. You’ll use specialty ingredients like lye, glycerine, and soap molds, plus botanicals and essential oils in order to make a scent profile that’s customized to you.

Upcycled Pouch – Make a durable and surprisingly sophisticated pouch from the most humble of materials: a discarded mailer. Maya shows you how to dissect a Tyvek® envelope and paint it for charming, distressed effect. You can add designs with hand-carved or store-bought stamps and install a zipper to finish. All the stitching is done by hand with the running stitch so there is no machine needed. You’ll have endless ways to organize all your bits and pieces, as well as a go-to handmade gift for any occasion.

No-Sew T-Shirt Totes – Don’t sew? No problem! Faith shows you how to whip up these quick and easy totes, made out of a T-shirt, in next to no time.