Meet Clairemont’s Trashy Crafter!

I'm Kim Franklin from Clairemont and I'm on a mission to re-define "trash" one craft at a time.  I love hanging out in dumpsters and local San Diego thrift stores to find items I can repurpose into functional and beautiful crafts.  I am currently working on 365 days of recycled crafts, and I post a brand new project on my blog, www.TrashyCrafter.com, each day. Often the posts are step-by-step tutorials so you can get some wonderful home decor DIY(Do It Yourself) ideas and re-use items in your own home!


It all started when I was with my mom at a local thrift shop and I noticed they were throwing away hundreds of ripped and damaged books.  I have always been very much into being eco-friendly, so my mom and I ran over and grabbed as many as we could hold.

I remembered learning how to make paper beads in 3rd grade so I used some of the books to make beads. I made some recycled book paper bead bracelets and that lead to paper book flowers, recycled art using decoupage and more.  People loved how my items were both handmade and eco-friendly, so I started selling at local San Diego craft shows and started my blog.

On my recycled craft blog thus far I have turned dictionary pages into flowers, golf tees into art, books into bead jewelry, and fabric scraps into banners. If you are in need of some DIY recycled inspiration or want to support a local artist that is eco-friendly check out my blog or follow me on Facebook . If you are in need of a gift for someone who has everything be sure to check out my Etsy shop, and give them a locally handmade eco-friendly gift they will treasure forever!