Recycled trash gift crafts for kids to make for Earth Day

Hello my friends of the Omschool! Do your students hate to write? That might be because they've not had enough practice. Writing skills are so important and yet often overlooked in curriculum given our digital communication age. One way I found to encourage writing is to help kids write with a flourish, so it becomes a treat instead of a chore. Today in the Omschool, we're making flower and feather pens! 

Now you know Teacher Omi, she always designs lesson plans with an eye toward eco-friendly and penny pinching. So we'll make our craft projects from reused, repurposed and recycled trash as much as possible. And just in time for Earth Day, Wednesday April 22, 2026, we'll weave these weave these activities into ecology lesson plans based. AND, with special holidays nearly upon us, these recycled trash crafts for kids make excellent gift crafts. Use this guide to design lovely flower pens, feather pens and decorated vases. Give gift crafts for Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, birthdays, Grandparents Day (hint, teacher Omi would love one!) and any holiday that involves gift-giving. You could even make them as baby or bridal shower, wedding or graduation open house party favors. 

Recycled trash crafts for kids: Flower pens and feather pens (called quills) 

It's more fun to write when you have a fancy flower or feather pen! These make great gift crafts for loved ones. And they do double duty as interactive crafts for kids. Best of all trash crafts are cheap or free and lots of fun to make! Even the youngest can have success making recycled trash crafts for kids. You will need only three things: 

• a new pen or pencil
• a silk blossom or large plume feather (available from discount, dollar or craft stores). Or, save flowers from old floral arrangements for recycled trash crafts. Silk roses, carnations, daffodils and tulips are nice large single blossom flowers. Choose an ostrich feather or large plume for the feather pen. 
• strong tape. Floral tape works best for this craft project as is is both sturdy and easy to tear. . 

How to make feather or flower pens

• Trim blossoms and feathers to a point on one end so they will attach more smoothly to the pen or pencil.
• Attach flower or feather to the upper quarter of the pen or pencil, by winding tape around both. Begin just below the bottom of the flower (feather) and continue overlapping around for about two inches up the stem. You can leave the eraser exposed.

 Create a bouquet of flower pens using several different kinds of silk flowers. 

Recycled trash crafts for kids: Decorated vases 

Create decorated vases from recycled trash to place flower or feather pens in. Find any recycled trash glass jar or bottle. Remove label and scrub clean. To make decorated vases, paint jar with stained glass or window cling paint. Both of these dry clear bright colors!

❁ Omi (Grandma) Tip

You can also use paint pens. Kids love to color with these! My grandson Moses adores the set he received from us. You can even get paint pens designed specifically for very young children (sometimes called paint sticks). Our granddaughter Juno received some for her 3rd birthday and they've made craft projects so much more user-friendly for her age!

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Here's a link to some paint pens I bought from Amazon for Moses (10). Here are the paint sticks  designed specifically for very young children, like we got Juno.  

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Make your own window cling paint by mixing tempera paint and school glue or by adding food coloring to glue. Then water it down a little if it's too tacky. 

Decoupage decorated vases for kids to make as gift crafts

Decoupage was popular when I was young (a lot time ago). This craft involves painting a glue wash over paper scraps and applying them to recycled trash containers. Clear plastic or glass jars work best. You can try it on a sturdy cardboard container too. Just don't let it get too wet. 

• You can buy a special product called Mod Poge (boy does that take me back!) Or you can just water down white school glue, with half water and half glue. 
• Place glue in a recycled trash aluminum pie plate. 
• Tear recycled trash wrapping paper, tissue paper or any lightweight paper scraps into inch square pieces. Or you can cut out individual images and affix those. 
• Dip paint brush in glue wash and brush it on the back of a scrap of paper. Attach to jar. Apply another layer of glue wash over the paper. Continue doing this over the entire jar, overlapping edges to cover jar.
• Create different colors by overlapping primary colors. Layer red, blue and yellow to make the secondary colors - purple, orange and green. As your decorated vases dry, the tissue paper will become more transparent and the glue will give it some shine. It takes on a sort of stained glass window look.

Decorated glass jar vases. 

Here's a link to an article I wrote with instructions on how to make other recycled trash vases from glass jars. You can use these crafts projects for kids as ecology science lesson plans. They are just the ticket for Earth Day activities. Or have children make these crafts to give as Mother's Day gift.