The New Year can be the time to think about projects that can be beneficial to the environment and also help you to save money by repurposing items that can, with a little imagination, be found almost anywhere. Thrift stores, yard sales, rummage sales and even the junk pile can produce items that can be repainted, and reused. Get the children involved and see what kind of imagination they can display. You will not only be helping to save resources but developing the creativity of kids, our most valuable resource.
Here are some common items that can be turned into useful and attractive items for your home or office:
* Office Paper Holders – I’m a frequent reader of Aunt Peaches – marvelous blog with lots of craft ideas. Those upright racks can be painted any color and used for dish drying, plate storage, shopping bag holders, periodical rack and so much more.
* Plastic Bottle Squirrel Guards – eHow has this amazing solution. Hang your bird feeders on a line from one point to another as with a clothes line. On either side thread the pre-drilled bottles and add a clothes pin to keep them from sliding away. When tightrope walking squirrel reach them they spin causing the invaders to fall. They will eventually give up.
* Glass Bottle Light Fixtures – I recently found this on the Oregon Live website. All you need is an interesting bottle and a way to cut off the bottom. You can get a tool for it or try this. Tie a piece of waxed dental floss tightly around the place you want to cut. Light it on fire. Let it burn as long as possible then tap the spot with a metal object like the back of a knife. The bottom should fall right off. Then all you need is to thread a socket and S cord through the bottle and add a canopy. Be sure to use an LED or compact fluorescent lamp to go greener. You can also create ice buckets from larger glass bottles from vodka or other beverages this way by cutting around the upper portion just below the taper.
* Personalized Recyclable iPhone Cases –Tiny Prints, a leading online printing company, offers custom iPhone cases that are made from recyclable material. You and the children can select from countless personal designs, colors, and patterns and even add your own photographs to these environmentally friendly products. I have a case with a photo collage of my two, adorable little girls that they helped create.
* Other Bottle and Jar Uses – Another phenomenal idea from Aunt Peaches. Glass containers that are unusual of antique have more reuse possibilities than any other household item. A jar mason jar can be filled with coarse salt and used to hold a candle. It can also make an interesting and fun way to serve a drink. Old decorative bottles make interesting soap dispensers for the bath. The possibilities are endless try to get the kids to come up with new ideas. There are countless ways to both recycle and save that are available to anyone who looks online. Pinterest members are pinning new possibilities everyday. I recently saw a wine rack made by cutting the end off of a freight pallet and hanging on the wall. In this writers kitchen there is a basket from the handlebar of an old bicycle that is now used to hold fruit on a farm table. With a little thought and the desire to be green anyone can create a new use for an old items.
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