by Angi Grantham

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: July 28, 2008

Re-purposing For the Family

Actually as a mother of two and a home schooler I have been re purposing for years not only to be green and recycle, but to make ends meet. In our home we call it recycling the crafty way. I started looking at everything in my home differently about 8 years ago when I became a full time stay at home mom. Lots of little things I learned from my own mother (yes,craftiness and thriftiness run in this family)

The first big step for me was reusing old worn out clothing. I love looking at an item and wondering what I can make of it. Holy jeans are the best. My children and I make our own specialty out of these - We call them Mama's butt bags. These creations are simply the top half of the jeans sewn into a carry all bag. I use one whole leg of the jeans cut into strips and then triple sewn for sturdy handles. We get a lot of compliments on our bags. We use them for everything from grocery bags to carry alls for school books. So much cheaper then those expensive messenger bags that are the big thing this year.

The list goes on and on with what you can do with clothing. It is always amazing to me what we can create: everything from throw pillows and quilts and even Halloween costumes. And for the non-sewer out there, scrap cloth can always become rags. Why purchase when you probably have lots of mismatched socks or torn up towels that can be reused?

For all of you do it your-selfers out there old sheets or blankets can become new curtains or even furniture covers. There are so many ways to turn these products into something beautiful as well as new. Staple guns and hot glue guns can go a long way with re purposing these items and the beauty of using an old sheet or blanket is that it does not need hemming. The hard part has already been done for you.

I find that alot of plastics build up in our home that cannot be put in the recycle bin. For instance those little yogurt containers. What a waste to throw out perfectly good organizers like these- they even have lids. Yogurt containers are great for holding beads and paint brushes for childrens art projects. My daughter even discovered that paint will stick to most of these plastics. Our art containers became an art project of it's own. So now we have multi-colored organizers that are functional and free!

My favorite recycling projects are gardening projects. The clothing and interior design sort of fall to me for the most part. Now outdoor activities, this is where the whole family can shine. We

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>