6 Tips for saving upcycled materials (without turning into a hoarder!)

When I tell people I save lids or jars or whatever... I get strange looks.

 Like, why on EARTH would you save such GARBAGE??

Well, that's one reason.

To prevent more GARBAGE going into the EARTH.

But there's also creative potential in re-using this stuff.

Exhibit A: Dollhouse.
Exhibit B: Lid Tree Ornaments.
Exhibit C: Junk Art.

Maybe I don't need to be explaining this to you. Why else would you be here if you weren't already on board?

Anyway, I have gotten some interest in knowing how I save things, and how I prevent stuff from multiplying and taking over my house. So here they are:

My rules for saving junk

1) Don't save everything. You'll turn into a hoarder.

Watch an episode of a hoarding show once in a while to keep things in check.

2) Only save what you cannot buy (or cannot buy cheaply).

Time and storage space is money too.

3) Only save something when you have a specific purpose in mind. (See #1.)

You can't make every craft or project. If you don't have a plan for something, just recycle it.

4) Save things in a central location

I actually have a two-part system. For example, I'm continuing to save lids to make more tree ornaments. I run them through the dishwasher in one of those baskets along with the rest of our dishes. When they're out and dry, I throw them in a glass jar on the counter. They collect here, contained. Then when that's full, I'll move them to my "junk box" in the basement, which is just a large plastic container with a lid. Give things a home: the prevailing organization principle of all time.

5) But keep 'like' with 'like'

There are a few things not contained in the junk box, like a handful of glass jars and things that belong more appropriately somewhere else (scraps of fabric, paper, wood). My junk box is full of random bits that don't belong anywhere else. Keep ribbon scraps with other ribbon scraps. Fabric with other fabric. Paper with paper. You get the idea.

6) Put a cap on it.

The "junk box" is not allowed to grow. When it's full, it's time to purge something or use it up.

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What are you saving? More importantly, what are you going to make? Let me know in the comments!

Upcycled lid Christmas tree ornaments

Christmas ornaments in January? Who wants to see that? Yeah, I know, I know. But if you're like me, you're filing these sorts of ideas away all year. And this one takes a bit of pre-planning to save all those lids. So here goes.

I actually ran across this idea years ago here, and have been saving bottle caps and jar lids for a long time, because I knew it would be a perfect activity for Elise and I to do together.

I drilled holes in all of the lids from the underside. (I used a 5/16" bit.) Many of the plastic lids have a small indentation in the center so you don't even have to eyeball it. The metal lids are a bit tougher, but really, this is all pretty easy to do. Just make sure you're drilling on a surface that you don't mind messing up (like a thick scrap of wood).

This should all be pretty self-explanatory, but I lined up a selection of lids from smallest to largest and Elise strung them on pieces of jute twine. We finished off the bottoms with chunky wood beads I bought at the craft store to resemble the tree trunk.

We also made some in bright colors and the ever-popular black and gold. That one's mine!

Kid craft: Bubble wrap mosaic paintings

This is an idea that's been floating in my head for a while, turning leftover bubble wrap into kind of a faux stained glass. We receive more packages than we send, and I can't bear to throw the extra packaging away. Plus painting on something other than paper is kind of a novelty for kids. That is, if you can stop them from popping the bubbles!

I quickly painted the backs of each bubble with acrylic craft paint, making a sort of mosaic effect. I also experimented with using markers, but the colors were much less vibrant.

These hearts are for Valentine's Day (obviously), but you could adapt this activity to any time of year. I'd love to see one with all of the circles painted a rainbow of colors.

And I'm describing to you what I did because the concept of painting the circles was a little beyond my two year old, even after explaining and coaching. 

She still had fun with it and kept declaring, "It's perrrfect! It's perrrfect!," but maybe this is one for the older kids. We will tuck the idea away for another time.

Guest post at White House, Black Shutters

Today, I'm guest posting over at one of my favorite blogs, White House, Black Shutters! 

Drop by to see these No-Cost Paper Grocery Bag Valentines!

Creatively repurposed gift #3: Rusty junk art

Inside of my handmade gift challenge, I secretly challenged myself to make my brother a bunch of gifts re-purposing odd stuff I found in my basement. Fun, right? This is one of the gifts.

Find: I have a bad habit of picking up rusty pieces of metal and other random objects in parking lots, etc. and bringing them home thinking that I'm going to do something with them. After years of accumulation, I decided it was finally time to make something.

I started with a piece of plywood and mixed a deep blue with some artist acrylics. I painted over a bad painting from my college days. Plenty of those available.

Then I arranged my metal pieces and flipped them around until I liked the way they looked. Staring at them helps. In general, they move from rusty in the bottom left corner and progress to super shiny in the upper right. Once I was for sure truly happy with them, I used some strong E-6000 adhesive to stick them down and let them dry flat overnight.

I ended up finding a few more pieces in my stash after the rest were glued down, so I worked those in as well. And done! Not for all tastes, I'm sure, but I like the way it turned out. Part of me loves that rusty industrial decay look.

Do you have something you want to repurpose but don't quite know what to do? E-mail me at lansdownelifeblog (at) gmail.com. I'd love to help!

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This is part of my 2011 Handmade Gift Challenge.

Creatively repurposed gift #2: Countertop sample wall art

Inside of my handmade gift challenge, I secretly challenged myself to make my brother a bunch of gifts re-purposing odd stuff I found in my basement. Fun, right? This is one of the gifts.

Find: Dan's mom gave me these countertop samples from (I'm guessing) the 70s or early 80s. She was (of course) totally correct in thinking I would be interested in junk like this. (p.s. Can you imagine an oil company putting their name on a consumer product like this now? Crazy.)

All that faux woodgrain was just begging to be showcased, so I decided to tile the samples on a piece of scrap wood and hot glued them all in place. I had more samples than I needed to fill the surface of the wood, so I will save them for a future project.

I had visions of a line drawing on top of the samples. My brother's a long-time fan of The Simpsons, so I sifted through the wide world of Simpsons characters before settling on Mr. Burns. But not just the regular "excellent" Mr. Burns. I wanted the Mr. Burns from that X-Files parody when everyone thought he was an alien. And he was nice and saying things like, "I bring you love." (I searched for a video to show you, but can you believe there's not one out there? Not in English, anyway. So hey, you either remember it, or it doesn't matter.)

I found an image online, printed it out at the dimensions I needed and did the pencil transfer method onto my countertop canvas. I did the whole thing in graphite and sprayed it with a clear sealer to protect it, but it was still a bit faint. So I went over the graphite with a fine-tip Sharpie to give it a little bit more presence.

It's still a bit hard to see, but I like how subtle it is. You really have to get close to see what's going on. From far away, it just looks like a bunch of squares.

Do you have something you want to repurpose but don't quite know what to do? E-mail me at lansdownelifeblog (at) gmail.com. I'd love to help!

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This is part of my 2011 Handmade Gift Challenge.

Creatively repurposed gift #1: Personalized iron-on label pillow

Inside of my handmade gift challenge, I secretly challenged myself to make my brother a bunch of gifts re-purposing odd stuff I found in my basement. Fun, right? This is one of the gifts.

Find: I remember pretty clearly talking my mom into ordering these iron-on name labels like 20 years ago before the first time I went to sleep-away camp. I guess weirdo younger me just had to have them. I don't even remember if we used them or not.

A lot of my brother's friends call him by his last name, so when I re-discovered the labels, I knew I had to make him something.

I pulled a couple of squares of home dec weight fabric (again from my crazy clearance haul - I will be so sad when the pile is gone!) and ironed on the strips onto one of the squares for my pillow front.

But of course, that wasn't enough. I was a little worried the iron-on stickiness wouldn't hold up long-term, so I sewed straight along the edges, even when the strips overlapped.

After that, I cut down the fabric a bit to a rectangle shape and sewed a simple pillow. The whole thing didn't take more than an hour. Honest!

Do you have something you want to repurpose but don't quite know what to do? E-mail me at lansdownelifeblog (at) gmail.com. I'd love to help!

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This is part of my 2011 Handmade Gift Challenge.

Upcycled baby food jar ornaments: 12 ideas to try

If you're a crafty hoarder like me, it's possible you have a few baby food jars stowed away (even if your "baby" isn't a baby anymore). They are just too cute to recycle! They beg to be used for something awesome. (If you don't have baby food jars, you might have other small glass jars from spices or condiments that would work too.)

You've probably seen those clear glass ball ornaments that you can fill with whatever. Well, consider these clear ornaments you don't have to buy. Plus, they have much wider mouths than the glass bulbs so you can fit all sorts of things inside.

I had a couple of different sizes of baby food jars plus a lone glass spice jar in my stash. To prep them, I soaked off the labels, removed any residual glue and cleaned and dried the glass really well, scrubbing off any printed-on numbers that might be on the outside.

Next, I painted the lids. Spray paint is probably the best option here for good coverage. I used a champagne/gold color, but you could use whatever you might have.

Then the hunt was on to find things to fill the jars. I scrounged the house and found lots of options. Here are some ideas!

Scraps of wrapping paper, scrapbook paper or bits of old Christmas cards

Ribbons, yarn or fabric scraps

Jingle bells or snippets of garlands

Mini ball ornaments (how meta)

Elements of nature (twigs, acorns, pine cones, etc.)

Craft supplies (beads, small wood cutouts, foam shapes)

Photos or other keepsakes (wedding invites, baby announcements like I made here)

When you're done filling, pop the lid back on and tie a ribbon or piece of string around the neck of the jar and you're done! Easy!

You can fill them with anything, but I urge you to poke around your house before buying fillers. Just make sure it's nothing too heavy; the glass jars are semi-heavy already (though no heavier than many store-bought ornaments) and you probably don't want to weigh them down too much if you're going to hang them on the tree.

It's inexplicable, but sometimes things just look cooler in jars. I loved a couple of them so much, they made it into my current mantel display. 

But the very best thing about this idea? Nothing is permanent! You can take everything apart when Christmas is over or if you're tired of it. Love that.