Day 6 - Crafty Reuse

Snow Day! A perfect day to tackle a bigger project. These old boxes were my father-in-law's. He used them to store his oil paints, so the insides were really icky and gummy (note the before picture). I had always wanted to transform them into cool art supply boxes, but was continually discouraged by the total disgusting-ness of the interior. So, today, armed with Mod Podge, glue, and wallpaper scraps (Holly Hobbie from the 70's, how fun) I finally did the transformation. Everything in the box is an example of reuse: the metal magnet board in back is from an old computer monitor, the tins are (obviously) old Altoid tins, the little boxes next to the magnet board are empty match boxes (which slide out to hold little treasures), and the wallpaper scraps are left over from the creation of my dollhouse when I was a kid (pack rat, anyone?).

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.

Day 4 - Crafty Reuse

I know, I know, I'm cheating by posting two Crafty Reuse items on one day, but, alas, yesterday slipped away from me without a post. So, you get two today! This project has been in my brain for a really, really long time. Years ago my mother-in-law (one of my craft and sewing heroes) made a blanket for me out of old sweaters that she had attached together with crochet between each of the squares. It is, hands down, the cuddliest blanket ever... stretchy and warm and soft and fun. However, my cats love it, too, especially to burrow under so there are now holes in the crocheted part where their little noses have poked through (I have never stopped this activity as it is too cute to watch them under the blanket, nosing around like a blanket alien, snorting all the while). Anyway, I have been saving sweaters to make a similar blanket for the baby's room and have finally tackled the project. It turned out better then I had expected and so, so soft as many of the sweaters were cashmere. There are many places on the internet to find basic instructions on how to make one, but really it is an extremely easy project. Just felt the sweaters, cut out squares and sew 'em together. A Friend to Knit With has an example on her blog, as does Danny Seo (a very cool green site... if you haven't checked out his blog you should). I followed the instructions in Alterknits, a fun knitting book. My blanket in the photo above is hanging on another fun reuse project, a wooden ladder (a major score one trash day) that I painted white and am using as a display rack in the baby's room (secured to the wall, of course).

Day 3 - Crafty Reuse

Thanks to Queen B for her suggestion/query about frames (Queen B also happens to be my lovely sister) as it inspired today's crafty reuse. Way back this summer (remember summer?) I bought a bunch of frames at St. Vincent de Paul in Oconomowoc to make a photo collage in our dining room. Months later, most of the frames were still unused so I decided to finish off that project as part of my February crafty challenge. I had bought frames that were all basically the same type of wood and then cut white mats for all the photos so that, while the frames were all different shapes, styles, and sizes, the mats would be the unifying theme. Finally, all the photos are framed, matted and put up on the shelf. I'm really happy with how they turned out... especially considering each frame was, oh, like, two dollars. Note the other crafty reuse in the picture, my ongoing collection of sand from various places we've visited. The sand is housed in little bottles that once held wine (I'm a sucker for those cute little bottles, partly because they are fun to drink from and partly because they make the perfect receptacles for the sand). I'm realizing now that we are so not little globe-trotters as there are only 18 bottles up there and most of those are from exotic places like Delafield, Madison, or Kohler. Alas, that is the beauty of a lifetime collection, right? Gives it time to grow.

Day 2 - Crafty Reuse

Day 2 of my personal crafty reuse challenge brings one of my all-time favorite projects - turning old, felted sweaters into fun bags. Today I made two bags out of one sweater, matching bags for my sister-in-law and my niece (the one pictured is the little one for my niece). They are knitting bags, so I put a liner on the inside with lots of pockets. Actually, a liner made from a medium-heavy weight cotton is a must with these bags as it prevents the bag from getting stretched out of shape when you actually use it. I also added a fun little flower as a detail, made from a scrap piece of suede (I used a pattern for the flower from Simple Gifts to Stitch by Jocelyn Worral, a fabulous book). There are many tutorials out there for sweater bags, one good one can be found here.

My Personal Purge Challenge

My husband and I live in a fairly small house, less then 1000 square feet, and as a result we have to be pretty good about not taking in too much stuff, if, you know, we want to be able to walk around in our house. However, we have a baby on the way and as a result there is a large pipeline of baby gear that has started heading our way. We are the major beneficiaries of some serious amounts of hand-me-downs, which is awesome. To make room for all the baby stuff, it is time to do a major whole-house purge. Over the course of the month I will be taking a critical eye to every last item that thinks itself worthy to sit on our storage shelves or clutter our linen closet. Items will have to prove themselves, I may assign five-paragraph essays to items in question. If they can’t explain to me exactly why they deserve to stay, out they will go, into hands that will love and appreciate them more then I can right now. At this point, the cats and my husband are really the only things in the house that are safe from my scrutiny.

To make things fun, I’m also going to take the crafty challenge and try to find a new use for 29 things for every day in February. This was inspired by the ‘thing a day’ group, which is a cool concept, and Bella Dia’s thoughts on repurposing. I will be sharing my ideas with you, my fellow purgers. I say, what fun is a challenge without a crafty clause?

So, here is today's entry for the first of February. A new use for old CD cases. I actually started this a while back, but continue to add to it as more pictures come in. I asked all my friends and family (especially the kids) to contribute a picture they drew of a frog or a bug (which is the theme in the baby's room). I supplied the paper so they would all be the right size. Then I put all the pictures into old CD cases, which serve as perfect little frames. I used the back side of each case, popping out the piece of plastic that holds the actual CD, putting in the picture and then popping the plastic bit back in. I then attached them to the wall with that foamy, double-stick, mounting tape. Assembled together they make a cute collage of kids drawings. This could be a fun thing to do in any kids room as it is a cheap (free!) way to frame art, and it is easy to swap out the pictures when you get tired of them (or when the new batch of art comes home with your kids from school). I've seen lots of variations on this theme, here is one tutorial on how to make a mural, and here is another on making basic frames (goes into more depth than I have here). Many more uses for how to reuse old CD cases can be found at Planet Green.

February Challenge - Purge! Reuse and Repurpose your way to a Clean Slate

It’s cold outside, spring seems far away, and winter has begun to overstay its welcome. What to do? Take our challenge and spend the month of February cozied up inside assessing what you have in your house, what could be put to better use in someone else’s hands, and what items really want to be something else. By taking our challenge you will benefit others, find things more easily, have a cleaner house (and the sanity that comes with it), and you’ll help the environment.

Wait. Hold on. How does purging - the time honored tradition of getting rid of all that stuff that clogs the arteries of your house – benefit the environment? Aren’t you just sending all those unwanted goods off to a landfill somewhere? Not so fast. Our purge style focuses on reuse and repurposing. Over the course of the month you will learn of so many reuse and donation avenues here in Lake Country that it will make your head spin. We’ll go into more detail on the environmental benefits of purging in a future blog post, but simply put, when you choose to donate usable goods or decide to turn an unused item into something you would use (what I like to call ‘repurpose’, some people call it ‘reuse’) then you are helping by not buying a new item and by allowing someone else to buy used. Another side effect of purging? You will be able to find all the things that you do have in your house so much easier. So you won’t go out and buy another pair of scissors because you couldn’t find the other four that you already own. Funny, it seems that purging might also save you some money.

Ready to take the purge plunge? Here’s what to do. Decide how you want to tackle the challenge, whether you want to dive in and scour the whole house or if you want to focus just on the kitchen. Maybe you want to take the crafty route and choose to find a brilliant reuse for 29 things in your house for each day of the month (hmm, I think I’ll do that). Or maybe you simply want to use the challenge as motivation to finally bring that box of stuff that’s been sitting in your garage for months to a donation center (we’ll highlight lots of places in the area that will welcome your used goods). Whatever you decide to do, comment about it on our blog so we can cheer you on. Share your ideas, share what works for you, and share how your purging is helping others and the earth. Welcome to February! Let the purging begin!