NEW Handmade Etsy Shop 🎉

I am super excited to share that I have opened a brand NEW Etsy shop called Esselle Crafts Makes!

Continuing my lifelong passion for papercraft and upcycling, I am making good use of any scrap paper materials that I find and turning them into beautiful, upcycled art ♻️

Some of my zero waste, eco-friendly greeting cards are already in the shop, including these that I made out of old wall calendars.

I also have several greeting cards featuring colourful mosaic designs. I originally made each of the mosaics out of upcycled cardboard packaging, then scanned them and had them printed onto high quality 300gsm card.

Tropical Handbag Gift Bag

Hello, and welcome to another upcycling tutorial! This time I will be showing you how to transform an ordinary, cheap gift bag into a fabulous, designer-worthy handbag gift bag!

Over the years, I've been given so many of these gift bags, and I've saved them, thinking that one day I will be inspired to create something new out of them. Now I can't wait to share with you what I've made, and show you how to make one for yourself!

Doesn't it look amazing! 😍

This is the gift bag that I started off with. The label on the base showed that it came from Tesco and was called T.Tropical Gift Bag, but as I was given it so long ago, I doubt if it's still available.

Take a look at my video tutorial below showing how I made the handbag!

Here's a close up view of the rosette on the front. The button was also repurposed from an old cardigan.

Here's a view of the handbag from the back.

It's still very roomy inside, and still folds flat!

I just love how the pattern on the two handles matches up perfectly!

I am so pleased with how this bag has turned out, and can't wait to get started on another one!

Revolving Desk Tidy

Time for another upcycling project! ♻️

This amazing desk tidy is easily made using some basic materials, but the best thing about it, is that it turns around! It gives you 360° access to all of your bits and bobs! No more cluttered workspaces!

DIY Christmas Cards - Easy Upcycling

In my previous post, I showed you how to make an upcycled mosaic desk tidy from used greeting cards. I had lots of those little punched squares left over, so I decided to use them to create my own little Christmas cards!

DIY Upcycled Hanging Star Decorations

For the last few weeks I've been sorting through my huge pile of used Christmas cards, wondering what I could possibly do with them...

Most of them had glitter on them and were donated to me last year because they couldn't be recycled. So I started to come up with some ideas of how to upcycle them into new creations. The first of which is these fabulous hanging star decorations!

Memory Baubles

Following on from my Christmas memory bauble tutorial, where I upcycled my old Christmas cards and Advent calendar, I have started to create lots of memory baubles based on different themes!

Pringles Tube Lighthouse

In previous posts, I showed you how to create a postbox and a mailbox out of an empty Pringles tube. I seem to be finding more and more ways of upcycling these versatile cardboard tubes, and so this time, I am going to show you how to turn one into a lighthouse.

DIY Upcycled Love Heart Gift Box

Welcome to another upcycling project! This time I am going to show you how to turn an empty cheese triangle box into a super cute love heart gift box, perfect for Valentine's Day! ❤️

You can include your own personal message inside, then fill the box with chocolates or other small treats and present it to that special someone in your life! ❤️

DIY Woven Paper Heart

In this tutorial, you will discover how to turn an old envelope, or some scraps of paper, into a gorgeous woven paper heart! Perfect for Valentine's Day, they are easy to make, and would look adorable attached to a card or gift for that special someone in your life!

Upcycled Christmas Card Baubles

Happy New Year!

My first upcycling project of 2020 has begun, and I am using all of my old Christmas cards, and a used Advent calendar, to create some super cute Christmas card baubles!

Aren't they fabulous!?

They are so easy to make, and the best thing is you can use any materials left over from Christmas to decorate them.

To make one, you will need:

• used Christmas cards / old Advent calendar / glittery card crackers
• circle punch (I used a 1.5" scalloped edge craft punch)
• pencil
• ruler
• scissors
• strong craft glue
• thread, string, ribbon or wool for hanging

Pringles Tube Mailbox

Following on from my previous post, where I showed you how to create a UK postbox out of a Pringles tube, this time I am making one into a US mailbox! As before, it can be used as a money box, a worry box, a message box or just for somewhere to store things in.

Pringles Tube Postbox

I am so excited to share my latest upcycling project with you! This tutorial will show you how to make a UK postbox out of an empty Pringles tube. It can be used as a money box, a worry box, a message box or just for somewhere to keep your ideas in.

Envelope Tote Bag

There are so many different tutorials showing how to make a paper tote bag, but I am going to show you how to make one using an old envelope. As you know, I love to upcycle whenever I can, and these little bags are so cute and so easy to make, they are perfect for last minute favour bags!

DIY YouTube Play Button

Time for another upcycling tutorial! This time, I will be showing you how to turn an empty pastille tin into a YouTube play button.