In these days of sustainability, climate change and avoiding SUPs (Single Use Plastics), it seemed wise if you have to choose crackers to recycle as much as you can of what is left “after the bang”.
Good modellers are scrap recyclers, looking at objects and wondering what they can be recycled into.
Loo roll type cardboard inners and jokes go into household recycling. The shiny red and gold textured foil outers go into the scraps box for household crafts.
Paper hats (tissue paper) of all colours go into the conversions box – a coating of PVA makes for a cloak, robe, skirt or turban to convert a modern figure into something for historical or fantasy gaming.
Ribbons? Good for fabric flags.
Plastic fir trees and berries? Potential trees or bushes. Cannonballs?
The plastic berries had two crafty claimants – me to use them as buffers or edgers for my milk carton conversions to Landing craft and somebody else claimed them for making plastic jewellery!
A bizarre fish skeleton keyring? Not sure yet.
A small silvered plastic picture frame? Obviously awaiting the portrait of The Queen, Empress, King or military hero etc for some ImagiNation.
The odd old pirate joke?
To me, used party poppers have the potential look of storage silos or gas tanks at different scales.
Christmas cards usually end up cut up into gift tags for next year’s presents, the rest recycled.
This odd gift tag caught my eye as a possible flag or symbol for a Bronte ImagiNations country or as a 1930s ImagiNations / VBCW type movement. It has a stylised new dawn, sunrise or tropical palm tree look to it.
Previously on the Christmas Cracker Recycling section of Man of TIN blog:
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/christmas-cracker-air-force-defence-cuts-2018/
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/peter-laing-15mm-crackers-air-capability/
Other useful Christmas recycling includes the old Christmas satsuma box into a fort.
Obviously the best way to make SUP Single Use Plastic sustainable is to recycle and reuse it like my small joy in restoring vintage Airfix, something that Alan Gruber (Duchy of Tradgardland) is up to as well.
Christmas decorations furnish lots of possible alternative modelling uses, as I mentioned in my most recent post:
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2019/12/28/clipping-the-fir-trees-for-christmas/
I would be interested to hear what other favourite Christmas recycling tips for our varied gaming hobby that my blog readers and fellow bloggers have.
Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN 28 / 29th December 2019
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