Day 5 - Crafty Reuse

My father-in-law once said something that has become permanently lodged in my brain. He said that items should never have to be stored, that everything you own should be out and used and accessible. This idea is, of course, a bit out there, especially in a climate where keeping your snow boots out in summer and your beach toys out in winter doesn't make sense. But there is a bit of clear, pure truth in the statement. If you live in a small house, as we do, then having a designated storage room is basically robbing yourself of living space. And there is the dirty part to it as well, that if we own so much stuff that we don't use it all, that we have to find places to store it, well, perhaps we simply have too much stuff. Stuff, after all, comes from somewhere. So, today's little crafty reuse (actually, there wasn't much 'craft' involved) stems from the idea that if you own it, use it, and if you can think of more then one use for something then all the better.


My Scrabble reuse #1 is my favorite way to make place cards at the table, especially when there are kids around. The classic little wood tiles look cool and they are fun for the kids to rearrange and play with (you know, instead of actually eating their meal). Simple, fun, reusable.

Scrabble reuse #2 came to be for two reasons. One, I appear to be mouse-challenged as my mouse always ends up falling off of normal sized mouse pads. Two, normal mouse pads sometimes creep me out... what, exactly, are they made of? Some weird sort of foam/plastic composite that seems like it would have been toxic to make and will never break down (this is complete speculation, I have no idea what really goes into the making of a mouse pad, for all I know they are made from trees). Anyway, I started using the Scrabble game board as my mouse pad and it is heaven. No more falling off the edges of the pad. My mouse is free to roam far and wide. And I can play word games in my head while I work.