Used Coffee Grounds Converted Into Crafty Fossilized Kiddie Project

Greenwala peeps sure do love repurposing things that are traditionally relegated to the garbage bin, and as you surf through page after page of user tips on what to do with this and that, you soon realize that it's all fair game...

Perhaps we should rally together and eliminate the word "waste" from our vocabulary since it's quite possible (with a little careful consideration) to give life to myriad items until the cows come home!

Coffee grounds are one of the most commonly recycled materials (with Starbucks' composting program galloping to the forefront many years ago), but so many of us know by now that enriching the soil in your organic garden isn't its sole application.

These two previous Greenwala articles -- "Old Coffee Grounds Are Good For More Than Fertilizing Your Veggie Garden!" and "Coffee Grounds Redux -- Home Made Container Possibilities" address other interesting uses for the granular brown stuff, but did you know that you can also let your kiddies go to town by using it in a fun craft project?

I discovered this idea on the Whole Foods website while searching for holiday recipes the other day, so hopefully someone out there will benefit.

Kiddie Fossil Craft Project Using Recycled Coffee Grounds

Materials

1. 1 cup of used coffee grounds
2. 1/2 cup of cold coffee
3. 1 cup of flour
4. 1/2 cup of salt
5. wax paper
6. mixing bowl
7. some small objects to make impressions in the dough such as sea shells
8. an empty can of cookie cutter
9. small take-away container

Directions

1. Stir together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed. Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the wax paper.

2. Use the empty can to cut out a circle in the dough. Press the objects firmly into the dough. Remove the object to see it's impression. Place the fossil in the take-away container to allow for overnight drying.