Don't Throw Out The Trash!
Wait, before you throw out all those paper towel rolls, popsicle sticks, old broken crayons, unwanted towels, holey jeans and t-shirts and plastic shopping bags...did you know that they can be reused to make other fun things?
There's a really fun movement growing to repurpose (yes, that's a new term) items rather than just toss them in the trash. And that's right up this old crafter's alley, let me tell you!
How Can I Reuse Or Repurpose My Unwanted Household Items?
uh-oh...
Yep, I was doing one of my FlyLady 27 Fling Boogies, when the packrat overwhelmed the declutterer in me. LOL
I came up with a plastic storage bin of worn towels, unused sheets (don't fit my bed), old t-shirts and blue jeans that didn't fit that I felt I couldn't *quite* part with. Yes, I had quite the decluttering vs crafter argument with myself deciding whether to toss or keep. LOL
So, I fired up my trusty Google search for reusing old towels and reusing old sheets and WOW! My inner crafter was JAZZED! And that's where it all started for me.
I'm finding all sorts of fun ways to reuse & repurpose lots of things! Just knowing I've kept something out of the landfill is rewarding, but I love seeing an item have new life as something else!
Some examples? here goes:
Old Towels: lining for potholders, re-hemmed to wash cloths, reusable Swiffer cloths, doggie pillows. You can also donate your old towels to animal shelters, they always need them.
Old or unused sheets: curtains, pillows, clothing, Cool Ties For Soldiers' Angels! (I had some tan 100% cotton sheets).
Old jeans (these are pretty well known ideas): tote bags, purses, aprons. I'm dying to make a gardening apron when my husband tosses some worn out jeans!
Got you going yet? I have lots of resource links, pictures and books listed here. I'll be back with more links to patterns and videos periodically - this is a favorite topic of mine!
Make Pretty Handmade Paper!
Want To Know More?
Hundreds of Great Ideas For Recycling Household Items
Big Green Book of Recycled Crafts ( Leisure Arts #4802)
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 12/31/2009) 
Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/31/2009)
Green Crafts for Children: 35 Step-by-Step Projects Using Natural, Recycled, And Found Materials
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/31/2009)
Gorgeous Gifts: Use recycled materials to make cool crafts (Ecocrafts)
Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 12/31/2009)
Plarn - Make Yarn From Plastic Trash Bags!
How to make Plarn!
A quick little tutorial on making "plarn" - plastic yarn made from grocery bags. You can crochet or knit with it to make environmentally responsible upcycled trashion items. Woohoo! Visit http://www.aephemera.net to check out the blog that this video is to be featured in.
Runtime: 150
29917 views
11 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Recycled Blue Jean Apron
I Love To Reuse Items For Crafts!
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How To Reuse Used Sheets
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What to do with bed sheets when it's time to replace them? Reuse them, of course! No need to trash them when they can continue enjoy a useful life as something 'new'! Anyone can use the ideas here, but if you're a bit crafty and like to sew - so muc...
Great Ideas For Recycled Crafts
It's fun to reuse your household items for new crafts
Recycled Crafts Box
Amazon Price: $8.76 (as of 12/31/2009)
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Look What You Can Make With Dozens of Household Items!: Over 500 Pictured Crafts and Dozens of More Ideas!
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Dream Bedroom: Use recycled materials to make cool crafts (Ecocrafts)
Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 12/31/2009)
Awesome Things to Make with Recycled Stuff
Amazon Price: (as of 12/31/2009)
Recycled Crafts Are Cool!
Recycled Craft Links
These are some of my favorite links for ideas.
- Craft Projects - Recycled - ThriftyFun
- Hundreds of free craft projects. Many using recycled or inexpensive material. Most craft recipes have photos.
- GreenUpgrader - Upgrade to a Greener LifeStyle
- DIY instructions, craft contest news and lots of interesting articles for the green crafter!
- MyRecycledBags
- Come Learn and Share Information about Recycling, Crocheting & Green Crafting
- Make It Green | Yahoo! Green
- Make It Green; Dream up ideas that will green up our planet; check out the idea gallery.
- ThreadBanger - D.I.Y Fashion & Style
- The first network for people who make their own fashion.
Even More Ways to Craft Green With Recycled Items
Fun Felt Crafts: Penny Rugs and Pretty Things from Recycled Wool
Amazon Price: $11.04 (as of 12/31/2009)
How To Make Crafts Using Recycled Materials
Amazon Price: $16.00 (as of 12/31/2009)
The Big-Ass Book of Crafts
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/31/2009)
Rubbish!: Reuse Your Refuse
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 12/31/2009)
Craft Star: Green Crafts: Become an earth-friendly craft star, step by easy step!
Amazon Price: $8.95 (as of 12/31/2009)
My Favorite Green Living Lenses
by fellow squids! ;)
There are some wonderfully bright and creative people here on Squidoo. Here are some of my favorite green living lenses that spotlight hundreds of ideas for reusing and repurposing items.-
50 Things You Can Recycle
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You've heard of people recycling everything from printer paper to your old jeans, but you can recycle nearly everything in your life. If it can't be reused, then it most likely can be recycled instead. Car batteries and tires? Yes, those can be recyc...
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How to Reuse Popsicle Sticks?
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Your kid just love to eat popsicles? Can't get out of the store without buying some? Who can blame them - I love them too! This page is a collection of possible uses for popsicle sticks and here you'll find how it can be reused in house, garden and...
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How to Reuse Paper Rolls
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Before you throw away a paper roll, do you consider what it can be used for? Never thought of that? Or you already reuse them? Although our society urges people not to throw out but recycle and reuse as many common household items as possible, we st...
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50 Things you can Reuse
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Recycling is very important, but even better is reusing. Recycling actually uses energy and transport time and fuel to get the items to where they need to go. If you can reuse an item yourself, that's more energy, time and fuel saved, as well as...
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How to Reuse Old CD or DVD
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Do you burn CD-ROMs on your computer and get errors, where you have to toss the CD-ROM? Do you get tons of CD-ROMs in the mail from Internet providers and trial programs? I do and all these unwanted CD-ROMs are piling up. You can recycle them but it...
Repurposed Vinyl Records
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Green & Recycled Crafts In The Blogosphere!
- Recycled Green Craft Projects: Original Creations Made with ...
- Art supplies do not always need to be purchased at craft stores. Many amazing crafts can be created by recycling common everyday materials.
- Recycled Autumn Kid Crafts : Tree Hugging Family - Family Life On ...
- Trackbacks. Check out what others are saying about this post... 9 Ways to Go Green & Save Money says: October 17, 2008 at 1:45 pm. [...] Recycled Autumn Kid Crafts [...] Reply. Speak Your Mind. Tell us what you're thinking. ...
- Recycled Thanksgiving Crafts : Tree Hugging Family - Family Life ...
- Put the children to work making recycled Thanksgiving crafts. [...] Reply · Changing the Clocks : Tree Hugging Family - Family Life On The Green Side says: November 1, 2009 at 1:34 pm. [...] November, we'll focus on green Thanksgiving ...
- Oodles of Free Recycled Halloween Craft Ideas : Tree Hugging ...
- Visit to see all the fun recycled crafts. Also, don't forget, even if a Halloween craft is not noted as being recycled or earth friendly, you can always take an idea, run with it, and see how you can make it more green. ...
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Lensmaster boutiqueshops has been a member since April 29 2006, has rated 1,045 lenses, favorited 409, and has created 115 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Organizing With Binders, A Household Notebook". See all my lenses
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Cheer For The Green!
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Reply
- Todd D Todd D Nov 11, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
- Your recycled crafts rock. Actually my parents came back from Korea and had a similar bag made from juice boxes in the Philippines. Keep on spreading the word. You may want to consider http://www.leededu.com for free practice test and exams for the LEED accredited Professional Exam from the US Green building council. All free info like your site. I will add you to my bookmarks
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- SoyCandleLover-Maker SoyCandleLover-Maker Nov 11, 2009 @ 8:51 am
- The green in me love this lens from top to bottom. 5 stars and lenrolled. Thanks! Btw- love FlyLady, too.
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- KooKooCowgirl101 KooKooCowgirl101 Oct 12, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
- This website is soooooo cool the video especially on how to make YARN out of PLASTIC BAGS!!!!!!!!!!
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Reply
- paperfacets paperfacets Oct 1, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
- I go through the mail everyday to hunt for good paper for reusing in my cards. My daughter's makeup boxes are good to use also. Make up for young people is packaged to the tee and usually very cool. Thanks for some good ideas.
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- crushwb crushwb Sep 21, 2009 @ 2:18 am
- hI ITS "lAMMER" from PSU , Im rating your lenses ! Keep up the good work !
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by boutiqueshops
Hi! My name is Sylvia! I'm retired & doing what I love--selling online, crafting and gardening, reading, watching movies, crochet, learning to knit... (more)
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