I don’t do yoga.

Before you throw your yoga blocks at me, let me tell you why: I look like an arthritic 100lb frog trying to fit into a breadbox when I do yoga.

Unless you trick me into thinking I can eat a whole loaf of bread if I can do a pose (See? I can’t even name a simple pose to pretend I know the lingo), I’m not getting down on a yoga mat with a skimpy clothing, unless I can meditate for two hours, uninterrupted.

But, I can upcycle a yoga mat like nobody’s business. In fact, while my son wasn’t looking, I chopped up his old yoga mat into a wreath the other day!

(What’s with kids who don’t throw away old raggedy t-shirts and yoga mats? It stunk like a NFL locker room and I blame my floor smelling like a jock strap on his yoga mat).

So, a covert upcycling rescue mission commenced while he was away. I followed my friend Ronnie’s instructions from Econesting and it was a cinch.

And trust me; you’ll appreciate all those vinyasas you have been doing because you’ll need your hand strength to cut the wires. Wire hangers are not as thin as they look! (Ok, maybe I’ll need to explore vinyasas if I’m going to continue to use pliers and such for crafting).

You’ll need:

* yoga mat

* four wire hangers

* floral wire

* pliers

* wire cutter

1. For this wreath, you’ll need to cut three 3 ½” wide and two 2 ½” strips along the length of the mat.

2. Cut one hanger and make a circle.

3. Cut the second hanger and make the inner circle. Then, cut the other two hangers and make the peace symbol for the middle. Make hooks at the junctions and secure them tight with the pliers. Use those gripping muscles!

4. Secure the two circles with the floral wire and make a hanging loop on top.

5. Take the wide strips and wrap around the bigger circle with the floral wire. Then, take the narrow strips and wrap the peace sign part with the floral wire. You’ll need to adjust the spacing as you wrap. If you want to create tighter spacing, you’ll need more strips.

This wreath measure about 14” wide in diameter. If you want to make a larger wreath, use a heavy gauge wire; coat wire hangers are not long enough to make a bigger wreath than a 14” wreath.

8. I kept the wreath simple and plain but if you want, you can decorate it anything you want! I think a simple peace sign is beautiful and meaningful. Don’t you?

P.S. You’ll have most of the mat still leftover. You can use it as a rug pad or give it to your pooch. Maybe she’ll do downward dog with you. Or use it as a mat to play dead, like mine does.What do they say? A dog looks and acts like its owner? Yeah. That’s us—we rock at Dead Man’s pose.

Karen Lee (a.k.a.ecokaren) is a yogi wannabe who sees the benefit of flexing her muscles in every sense of the word, being the chiropractor-turned-green-blogger that she is. When she is not trying to figure out  the difference between a dead man’s pose and sleeping man’s pose, she’s an eco-handmade crafter and ethical foodie, herding her greenagers and an accidental recycling hubby to a greener pasture.

 

 

 

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Ed: Bryonie Wise

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