Artist and designer Amalia Versaci loves zippers. She loves zippers so much that she seeks out vintage zippers and spends hours figuring out new ways to use each and every part of it.

And her work is paying off.

Amalia will be offering her unique zipper jewelry and accessories at Crafty Bastards. What is so very neat about Amalia’s designs is that she takes a found and used object, the zipper, and turns it into something fun and new. This is often called upcycling.

The other great green thing about her designs is that she uses every part of the zipper, coming up with new and creative ways to make zipper jewelry and accessories.

Check them out for yourself at booth #10

Have you ever been completely overwhelmed by the amount of t-shirts that are available in thrift stores? Well the Sardine Clothing Company has given this material of the masses a second chance at life as a T-skirt.

Each skirt is 99.9% recyled and 100% unique as no two skirts are alike. They are both fashionable and eco-friendly.

The Sardine Clothing Company offers kids sizes as well as adult mini, regular and long. No matter which length you seek, you’ll have fun finding the perfect T-skirt that represents you at Booth #111 at this year’s Crafty Bastards on Saturday, October 3rd.

Steampunk jewelry has never been my style, but I still respect people making things in this currently popular style. So I often find myself searching for Steampunk stuffs on Etsy.

I recently found and can’t stop thinking about these awesome converted toy guns by River Wraith.

Can you believe this is a converted Nerf gun, made of plastic? It has been painted, aged, and sealed with a gloss. The gun no longer fires Nerf bullets. It is strictly a prop or costume gun. For just $28.00, this gun makes me want to write and film my own little space opera.

And look at this one!

Seriously, these are amazing. Check out River Wraith for even more.

Got old sweaters? Make some seahorses!

These lovely seahorses ($40 for the set) by Snaulkter are made from 99% recycled materials; old (washed) sweaters and plastic shopping bags in the fins to make them crinkle. Not only do I love these guys because they are upcycled, but they are totally kid friendly. I could see my kids spending hours making up stories about the Papa Seahorse and his babies. What an awesome use for an old sweater!

My favorite upcycled products are those that are made from actual trash picked up off the ground. That’s why these rings from Metals And Thread made out of used cigarette lighters are just awesome.

In the listing for this ring, they write:

A sustainable and artistic approach was used to make these pop art jewelry pieces. The lighters were found on the street and were carved, sanded, shaped and finally filled at the top with acrylic to finish the look. Colors vary depending on what Nate happens to find in the street.

These seem like lots of work and are only $17.50!

I have no nostalgia for listening to cassette tapes. All that rewinding. Fast forwarding, rewinding. But I do have an old picnic basket way back in my closet full of them. Mix tapes, Cindy Lauper, long lost lo-fi projects and me doing a radio show at age 6. What to do with all these tapes?

Librarian Barbarian in Glasgow, Scotland, makes unwanted tapes into the cutest little change purses ($20). These would be even more awesome with a strap to turn them into wristlets.

This one has a cute little strap, making it perfect for a small camera:

Here, Kate Black turns an old tape into a notebook ($20):

And this rad necklace ($155) from Goblingblinggo has a tape as it’s focal point.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com.