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Reuse Before Trashing: A Lesson In Upcycle Crafting

For those items you take or purchase and end up not needing, try to reuse them before trashing them. It's a little hobby I like to call Upcycling.
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A Non-Diet Registered Dietitian and a Health at Every Size® practitioner

A Non-Diet Registered Dietitian and a Health at Every Size® practitioner
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I read an article recently on Huffington Post Parents that aimed at helping bring order to their readers' homes by providing a list of things to throw out. Throw out? No! To be fair to the author, she did put in parentheses that the items could be donated or recycled, but for the most part, it was an article about trashing what you don't need. The lesson of a cluttered home should be to only take only what you need -- be it pens from the bank, bags from the supermarket or duck sauce packets from the Chinese takeout place. And for those items you do take or purchase and end up not needing, try to reuse them before trashing them. It's a little hobby I like to call Upcycling.

Here are the top six items to trash, according to the HuffPost list (quoted directly from the article):
  • The near-empty ice cream carton in the freezer
  • The extra packet of buttons that came with a cardigan that you've since donated
  • Stained t-shirts you've had since college
  • The ratty towel you've been using in lieu of a bath mat
  • Holiday cards
  • The treasure trove of plastic grocery bags under your sink
Okay, I agree with the first one, toss that freezer-burned nastiness (yes, Mom, that means you), but there is so many things to do with the last five. Make art with them!! Let's go through them, one by one.

Extra Buttons

That's an easy one. Glue them on stuff! You can make jewelry and wall art, such as a gift for a new couple. All it takes is a little scrapbook paper (I'm sure you have a stash that you've been saving for the right project), some glue, and your buttons:

Stained T-Shirts

If it's really stained and too gross to wear out in public, it may not be so gross that you can't upcycle it into a bag. Here's how you do it:
  1. Lay the t-shirt out flat.
  2. Cut off the arms and the neck. Use a plate or bowl to trace the curve if you are not comfortable going Kamikaze Crafter on it.
  3. Measure a straight line across the bottom of the shirt, 3" to 4" from the bottom.
  4. Make vertical cuts up to that line about 1" apart. You will now have strips in the front and the back of the shirt.
  5. Tie the front and the back strip together with double knots. Do the same for all of the strips
  6. And now you have a reusable bag to bring to the Farmer's market or craft store to get more stuff!
If a t-shirt bag isn't something you want to make, or there is too much nostalgia attached to it, staple it to a canvas and hang it on the wall. But, if the t-shirt is really ratty, cut it up and use it as a rag to clean your house. Speaking of ratty...

Ratty Towels

These are perfect for an upcycle project you can donate. Take all of your old towels, sheets, and blankets and stuff them into pillow cases and sew them shut to make beds for the dogs at your local animal shelter. Don't have a sewing machine? That's okay! Donate them as-is, your shelter can always use them. What would be considered ratty to you would be a welcomed gift to a dog in need.

Holiday Cards

Holiday cards can be used to make... wait for it... other holiday cards! Use scissors or paper punches to make shapes out of the cards and glue the pieces on to a piece of paper or card stock for a homemade card. Or, just cut the picture into a shape, punch a hole in it and use it as a gift tag.

Plastic Grocery Bags

If you are a reader of my blog then you know I have a special place in my heart for plastic bags. There are so many things you can do with them! I have some great ideas to share with my new class of Upcycled Crafting with kids (and to be shared with you in a future post), but last semester we used bags to make
Parachute People
. You can also use them to stuff your handbags while you store them for the season, or actually reuse them to carry a lunch to work or your sneakers to the gym.

So the next time to make a resolution to de-clutter your home, don't put all of your "trash" in the trash - upcycle it. If you can't think of a project, leave me a comment and I'll help you out!

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