Top Ten Reuses for Magazines.
My cool older brother has been sending me magazines by the truck load for the last few months. I like the idea of sharing your subscription. I will admit, it is nice to be on the receiving end rather than the sending. But, my brother has always been nice to me when it comes to sharing. He is also very supportive of my reuse it campaign and my artwork, so I have a feeling he knew I would find a better place for a stack of magazines instead of just the same old recycling bin. So, that is my quest for the day. What are the 10 best reuses, in my humble opinion, for magazines?
Sharing means caring. Be cool like my bro and send them off to friends after you are done reading them. Then they can send them to their friends and then so on and so forth.
Make more paper. If the sun would ever come out in the Bay Area this summer, I would be making piles of new paper in my backyard. Alas, the fog has taken over, so I will have to wait. If you are feeling the heat of the sun in your neighborhood, shred those old rags and make some new handmade paper! I will give credit where credit is due. I was first inspired to make paper by this Instructables tutorial.
Decorate photo albums. When I was younger my friends and I used to cut old magazines apart and tape cool quotes and images we found to shoe boxes and plain photo albums to hold all of our keepsakes and memories. I still have them!
Keep Wet Shoes in Shape. If you have to run in the rain and you come home with soggy shoes, stuff them with magazines so they keep their shape as they dry. Magazines make cheap shoe and boot trees.
Never buy gift wrap again! Save those magazines for Christmas time or a birthday party or whatever and wrap your gifts in them. A cheap and fun alternative. You can also shred the pages to use as filler for a gift bag or box.
Make a dozen. The next time you think of buying your sweet someone a dozen roses, make them instead!
Here is a wonderfully easy to follow tutorial for one version of a magazine flower done by alamodestuff
And here another version of a paper flower
Save a place for everybody. How about turning old magazines into placemats for your next themed party? I just got the idea while I was blazing through my Entertainment Weekly magazine. James bond is on this week’s cover. Just cut out your favorite images, take an old manila folder (or something sturdy), glue the images on top, and there you go!
Make some accesories. You can turn old magazines into beads to make necklaces, earrings and bracelets. I think I just figured out what you can make all, or atleast most, of your friends for the Holidays!
I found a great tutorial from Sweet Tea Please from making a bead bracelet.
Hold some stuff. Make a bowl out of your pile of magazines. Found a tutorial on IndiePublic.com
Make Art! I recently discovered artist Derek Gores and his magazine art.
There you have it, the Top Ten Reuses for Magazines. The great thing about magazines is that there are so many more uses for them. Make a flower vase, a card, decorate a wall, a photo frame, a mirror frame. What do you do with your old magazines?
Top Ten Reuses for Dryer Sheets.
In February of this year, Dutch designers SpaceOperaForm used the technology behind fabric softener sheets/dryer sheets for an art installation. When a person would walk through two sheets they would react to that person’s presence because of the static electricity. Those large scale dryer sheets created a beautiful experience for viewers.
Dryer sheets seem to have endless possibilities. I have collected 10 amazing ways to REUSE a dryer sheet. Yes, this is AFTER you have used it to soften your clothes and get rid of that annoying static cling. Amazing!
*When you are baking bread and you spill a little flour, reuse an old dryer sheet to clean up your mess.
*If you are like me and love to buy old books at random book stores, then you will love this one. Stick your new old smelling books, stick them in a plastic bag that seals with some used dryer sheets and leave them there for a few days. They will come out smelling fresh and new.
*Keep mice from coming into your house by stuffing any open spaces in your walls with used dryer sheets. Mice will steer clear of chewing through them.
*If you have flyaway hairs, wipe them down with a dryer sheet and watch your hair relax.
*If your scissors feel a little dull wipe the blades down with a dryer sheet to make them smooth and sharp.
From http://blog.thereusesite.com
*Keep your luggage smelling fresh. Just toss a few dryer sheets in when you pack.
*If you suffer from smelly feet and, therefore, smelly shoes them stuff them with a dryer sheet.
*Keep a dryer sheet at the bottom of your trash can (before your stick your bag in) t keep the odor from your trash filling up your house.
From Reader’s Digest
*Wipe your shower doors down with a dryer sheet to get rid of soap scum.
*If you just baked some lasagna and have some of it burned into your casserole pan, no worries. Just fill the dish with hot water and stick a dryer sheet in the water. Let it do its thing overnight. The dish will be easy to clean in the morning.
Top Ten Reuses for Film Canisters.
I majored in photography for my under gradutate degree, so I have collected a great many film canisters. They make great containers for miscellaneous small items that you need to keep close. I use them when I go camping and to keep mints or coins in my purse. Here are a few more of my favorite reuses for film canisters.
1. Carry sugar and spice and everything nice. The next time you go camping or have a BBQ at a park, take your spices in a film canister.
2. Light your fire. (From ehow.com) Keep your matches dry and neatly contained in a film canister.
photo courtesy of replayground.com
3. Film screening. I love this idea for a screen! This would take a while, but just glue your film canisters together and wha-laa.
4. Curl your hair. Yep, just take the top off of the canister and wrap your hair around it. Clip it to your hair by the open end.
5. Jewelry box on the go. Film canisters make a great traveling jewelry box. Put your earrings and necklace in a safe and secure place when you are at the gym or going for a swim, etc.
6. Mix your paints. Create your favorite colors and paint away.
7. Protect your toothbrush. (via www.sageandsassy.com) Cut a hole in the cap that is large enough to fit your toothbrush. Every time you travel, just push your toothbrush into its traveling case.
8. See things a little differently. Incredible Art Lessons gives a tutorial on how to make a Film Canister Kaleidescope.
9. Keep your pills safe. Film Canisters make great cases for pills. You can use them in your first aid kit for aspirin and the like, or when you travel to take your prescription pills with you.
10. Keep your cats entertained. Put some dried beans or rice in a container and watch your cats go wild.
11. Bonus! Season your stuff. Make yourself some super cheap salt and pepper shakers.
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photo courtesy of www.livegreatonless.com
Top Ten Reuses for Wine Corks.
Wine corks aren’t just for keeping your wine tasty and fresh. You can reuse wine corks in almost every room of the house. A cork board in your kitchen, a coaster in your living room, a pin cushion in your sewing studio, and perhaps a
Here are ten ideas on how to reuse a wine cork!
Start a fire. Wikihow.com suggests that you keep old corks in a sealed jar filled with alcohol. When you are ready to light a fire, place a cork or two underneath your kindling and newspaper and light them with a match.
Cushion your pins. Wine corks make an easy pin cushion. The next time you finish that bottle of wine keep the cork near your sewing machine for your pins.
Let people know their place. Corks make super cute and cheap place markers for a dinner party and wedding reception. Just slice part of one of the sides of the cork to create a flat bottom. On the opposite side slice a small sliver into the cork to hold your name card.
Here is a great sample from Savvy Housekeeping
Keep your pictures straight. Keep your frames balanced when you hang them on the wall. Just slice two small pieces from a wine cork (the same size) and glue them to the left and right bottom corners of your photo frames.
Sow a seed. Keep your green thumb clean and have even sowing holes and the same time. The next time you are sowing seeds in the garden use a wine cork to create your small holes. If you want to be faster attach several wine corks to a board spaced out according to your planting preferences. Just flip the board over and press the corks lightly into the ground; lift and pop your seeds in all of your new holes.
Make a Picture Pretty. Wine corks make wonderful photo backgrounds. I have a tutorial on this site; check it out HERE.
The Obvious Cork Board. A cork board seems to be an awesome suggestion, but I had to share this cool version of one. I will have to make one when I collect enough corks. Thanks CraftingaGreenWorld.com
Stamps! Carve shapes from your wine cork to make unique and personlized stamps.
Give a bird a home. Another great idea from WikiHow.com is to reuse old wine corks to build a bird house. The birds will love their new hip home.
Carry them with you. My all time FAVORITE! Make a wine cork purse. I have to figure out how to do this. And when I do I you will be the first to know. I love it! Check out an example on www.alittlebit2.com
Ten ways to Reuse a 2 Liter Bottle.
Plastic Bottle Elephant! courtesy of http://declubz.com/
Here are a few plastic bottle statistics via Earth911.com:
- When just one plastic bottle is recycled enough energy is conserved to light a 60-wat light bulb.
- Making a plastic bottle from recycled materials uses 2/3 less energy than when it is made from new material.
So, on those notes, here are TEN ways to Reuse a 2-Liter Bottle:
Give your good dog a treat. My dog’s tale goes crazy when she sees that I have just cleaned out a new 2-liter bottle. It is entertainment for all when she tries to put the whole bottle in her mouth and carry it around.
No gym membership needed here. Just take two 2-liter bottles and fill them with water and you get a new cheap weight set.
Use less water. Fill an empty 2-liter bottle with water. Flush your toilet and place the bottle in the back of the toilet. Now, every time you flush the toilet you will be using about 2 liters less water! Now, just imagine if EVERYONE did that. What a difference a small change can make.
Homemade Ice Pack. Fill the 2 liter bottle with water and stick it in the freezer. The next time you go camping or on a picnic, stick the “ice pack” in your cooler and no need to buy ice or worry about a cooler full of water at the end of the day.
This video is full of some great ideas. Check out the tip on turning a 2-Liter bottle into a tripod for your camera!
MarthaStewart.com has an easy to follow tutorial on making a Piggy Bank from and old soda bottle.
Hold on to those Plastic Bags. Cut off the top and bottom of a bottle. Turn the bottle upside down and mount it to the wall. Stuff it full of plastic bags and keep them organized and easy to grab.
Feed the Birds. I found an easy tutorial on making a bird feeder from an old 2 liter bottle. Check it out HERE.
Plant some Flowers. The bottoms of 2-liter bottles make excellent flower pots. Just cut off the top, decorate the bottom and plant your flowers!
And, last but not least, if you aren’t feeling creative, at least recycle the darn thing. Encourage your family and friends to do the same. Future generations say Thanks!
Top Ten List: Reuse That One Lonely Sock.
Okay, so I always thought that the dryer was the culprit when it came to stealing my socks. But, I only have a washer and I still lose socks. What is the deal with that? I am not in the mood to wear mismatched socks so I decided to look for fun and creative ways to reuse those lonely unmatched socks in my drawers.
Here are my 10 Favorite Ways to Reuse a Sock:
- eHow.com has some great ideas for reuse including tying a bunch of old socks together to make a super cheap doggy toy.
- Use socks to wrap fragile items you are storing.
- Make yourself a Sock Monkey!
- Make a blanket.
- Cover your hand and dust your house! Socks make a great rag for dusting; you can get to those hard to reach corners too.
- Frugal.families.com has some great suggestions including using them as mitten liners to make mittens even cozier and warmer.
- Use them to hold your panties, bras, and other fragile lingerie when you throw them in the washing machine.
- Storage for your glasses. Socks make great impromptu cases for shop glasses, sun glasses, and regular glasses.
- Protect your floors. Place socks over your table/dresser/book shelf legs when you move the furniture across a wood floor.
- MAKE ART!
photo courtesty of http://www.walyou.com
Recently, NPR wrote about an Exhibition where SOCKS where the subject matter.
What do you do with your lonely socks?
Top Ten List: How to Reuse Expired Credit Cards.
The advise I have always followed when getting rid of an expired credit card was to cut it up into itty bitty pieces and throw half of it away one week and the other half of it away the next week. This is to avoid identity theft and such. But, I thought that this time around I would find fun and creative projects and uses for my old expired credit card.
Here are a few ideas:
- Replace a lost collar stay in a dress t-shirt.
- craftstylish.com gives a great tutorial on how to turn a bunch of old credit cards into a mosaic picture frame.
- Make a guitar pick.
- Mark your books. Credit cards make super simple bookmarks that won’t fall apart on you quickly like some of the paper ones sometimes do. And, if you get the itch, you can decorate them (:
- Use it as your “razor” when you use a cream based hair removal like, Nair. They usually provide a sponge in the box, but a credit card seems to work much better.
- Use them to mark your flowers and veggies in the garden.
(photo provided by green-talk.com)
- Make jewelry! I love that a site called creditcardfinder.com has a post about credit card jewelry. Here is my favorite from their post.
There are some great credit card jewelers out there.
Prized Possessions / Camila Blue / Edith M Designs
- Credit cards make excellent shoe horns!
- Make a small Magnetic Flower Box. So cute! Thanks instructables.com
- Make art! I am such a fan of reusing material for artmaking as opposed to buying new. Everything starts to look like art because everything becomes a potential material. It puts a new perspective on what materials can be used to make art (:
Last summer, the Graphic Design Museum in Breda, Netherlands had an exhibition entitled Credit on Color. There was a large scale work of art made soley from credit cards. My favorite piece of credit card art that I have discovered so far.
And, last but not least, I am a bit weirded out and totally intrigued by these Rat Pins made out of credit cards.
Check out the artist, Maureen Duffy, and her shop on etsy HERE.
I am sure there are many more creative reuses for a credit card. If you have any, leave a comment. I would love to read any new ideas for upcycling, recycling and reusing expired credit cards.
10 New Uses for a Shower Curtain.
I was surprised at how many ideas I came up with when I sat down to jot notes on ways to reuse an old shower curtain. I cannot take credit for all of these ideas and want to extend a thank you to Reader’s Digest, wikihow.com, and PlanetGreen.com for providing some wonderful tips and ideas on How to Reuse a Shower Curtain.
1. Keep a shower curtain in your car and use it anytime you want to sit on the ground for a picnic, concert, star gazing, etc.
2. Make a pancho! Fold the shower curtain in half and cut a semi circle out in the center. Keep it in your camping gear or your car for unexpected rains.
3. Protect your goods. Put the shower curtain under a high chair when the baby’s eating, use it as a drop cloth when you paint the walls, put it on the kitchen table for arts and crafts day.
4. Homemade Slip n’ Slide. Give the kids a fun summer afternoon with the shower curtain and water hose.
5. Go Fly a Kite. Cut a diamond shape from your shower curtain. Glue to sticks in a cross shape to one side of the diamond. Tie a string to the bottom of the diamond.
6. Use it on your next camping trip. You can use an old shower curtain as a tarp to create shade during a sunny day or under your tent to protect it.
7. Protect your cabinets. Line your cabinets with your shower curtain; when they need a cleaning, wipe it down with a sponge.
8. Garden goodness. Use the shower curtain as a liner in your garden. Put it over the dirt and under the mulch to prevent weeds from sprouting.
9. Make a rain coat for your outdoor furniture. Cover your BBQ and patio furniture with a shower curtain during the rainy months to keep them nice and dry.
10. Take it on a picnic. You can turn a shower curtain into an easy to clean and reuseable outdoor picnic table cloth.
10 Ways to Reuse a Banana Peel.
Wow, I thought I was some cool reuser when I started adding my banana peels to the compost bin. Apparently there are way cooler folks out there doing some extraordinary things with their leftovers. I have compiled my favorite 10 re-uses for a banana peel below.
10 ReUses for a Banana Peel:
Make a Face Mask: This is not a use for a banana peel, but a banana. I wanted to include it anyway because I love making homemade face masks! So, next time you aren’t hungry and feel your skin needs a little pick me up mix one banana with 2 Tablespoons of honey and 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. Mash it all together and apply it to your lovely face and wait 10-20 minutes for it to set. Wash it with warm water and admire the results.
Stop the itch: I think there are two people out there, the one’s that walk away from a camping trip with 1 bug bite and the one’s that walk away with 35 bug bites. I am in the party of the latter. I do not enjoy getting bit by bugs, but I do enjoy camping, so I was happy to see that you can use the inside of a banana peel to ail any itching those pesky bites cause.
Polish: Banana peels are a cheap way to polish silverware and leather shoes.
Keep Aphids Away: If you are a rose gardener and you want to keep your roses safe, bury a couple of chopped up banana peels below your rose bushes. Those aphids will move out in a matter of minutes! Be warned, make sure you don’t use whole banana peels or you will find that your rose bush has new friends like raccoons and squirrels.
Add It To Your Compost Pile: Banana peels are loaded with potassium and phosphorus which your garden will find delicious and nutrient. So, add all the banana peels you want to your bin.
Use as a Fertilizer for your Spring Garden: Rather than tossing the banana peels straight into the compost bin, you can save them and dry them out on a screen during the winter months. When your garden is ready to be fertilized, grind up the dried banana peels in a blender and sprinkle them over your soil.
Cure a Cut: If you have a small scrap or cut, rub the inside of a banana peel on it to speed up the healing process.
Say Good-bye to Warts: Rub the inside of a banana peel on a wart for a couple of nights before bed and get rid of it!
Brighten Your Smile: Rub your pearly whites with a banana peel once a day and see results in two weeks.
Clean your Leaves: If you have houseplants that need a little pick me up, polish them with banana peels. Just wipe each leaf with the inside of the peel and watch them shine!
Let me note that there have been several back and forth conversations on using banana peels as a home remedy for cuts and bug bites. I suggest you do what everyone should do and research it and make sure you are comfortable with it before you try it!
Any other reuses for a banana peel you want to share? Please leave a comment.
Thanks to for modbee.com, renest.com and Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things for helping me compile this list!