Something Marketable?

Yesterday I started working with some of the older students at the College of Vocational Training. I was asked to bring small, marketable craft ideas for these students to create, and then sell at a store they run. I loved this idea! The only problem is there aren’t many materials to work with, and we can’t just sell fine art we need to sell functional art. With that, as I don’t know the students well yet, I was unsure of what they would be capable of making. So I started with some collage work, using recycled materials of course, and made a sample card with a fish on it. There was of course no cardstock at CVT, and I’m pretty sure we used up their small supply of white paper. Our results were ok, but that was as far as I could take the project. I need to be creating ideas that will last. I’m not being hard on my self, I’m just realizing that I really need to think this through. As a working artist I’m use to thinking about art as a career, but I’m also able to take out loans to get materials and get a small business started. Although there are some resources here, I really need to figure out some materials that these kids will always have easy access to, and are capable of doing after they leave the school. Art as a livelihood with no financial support…… this is tricky.

I have lots of crafty friends. Post any ideas using these materials:
-Fabric scraps (mostly from old clothes)
-Recycled paper (newspaper and old print shop scraps)
-Leaves, sticks etc.

Thanks!