The 3 R's - Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle

I have always been one to try to at least reuse and repurpose things.  I have always been a "trash to treasure" type of crafter, even as a child. Unfortunately, I didn't become aware of recycling until I was an adult, but better late than never, as they say.

Besides making the world a greener, better place to live, Reusing, Repurposing and Recycling also save money. With my budget, or lack thereof, that's very important.

I often shop second hand stores, yard sale and such in order to find great deals on things I can reuse or repurpose. One of the tings I bought at a local Salvation Army store is a plastic shoe hanger. I use it to store my stabilizers, interfacing, cross stitch fabric, etc.

I labeled each section so that I can easily find things. I only paid a few dollars for it and it offers me lots of storage in a small amount of space.

Another reused and repurposed item that I did for my sewing room uses these little jams jars that often come in those holiday food sets.

I added fabric yo yos to the tops to make them cute and I use them to store small things like buttons. If you would like to use fabric scraps to make yo yos, there is a great tutorial here: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/how_to_make_a_yoyo/hbyoyotutorial1.html

I also repurposed a glass candle jar. The lid had the company name embossed in it, so to cover it, I traced the lid on some vinyl, cut it out and glued it to the lid and added a 3D sticker that I had bought on clearance.

My embroidery machine uses USB flash drives. I did a "trash to treasure" project to keep those on my sewing table. I took the cardboard core from a roll of shipping tape and traced the outline on to a piece of cardboard. I cut out the circle and glued it to the end of the core. I covered the whole thing in fabric and glued ribbon to the top and bottom. Instant storage from trash and a few scraps.

I recycle plastic grocery bags to line the small trash cans in our home and also to put patterns, fabric and such for projects in. I made a fabric holder for the bags and embroidered a sewing motif on it. I have one in different fabric and with different embroidery in my kitchen. 

If you are interested in purchasing a holder for your plastic bags, they are available on my web site: Colleen's Cottage Crafts. I can make them in just about any color or theme you'd like.

For my last idea of the day, don't overlook the simple things. I use the cover to a jar of spaghetti sauce to catch any glue dripping from my hot glue gun. I have also used jar lids as a mini paint pallet when working on craft projects.

 

 Future blog post will contain more ideas using the 3 R's. Feel free to comment and share any of your ideas to go green and save some green too. Happy Crafting!