Beautiful Bench from Reclaimed Materials

Over at My Love 2 Create, Mindi has been sharing projects from the laundry room redo she helped her sister with. Since Sis was on a tight budget, most of the projects they worked on had to involve free or low-cost materials. This bench for the mudroom section of the laundry area repurposed not one, but two items!

It all started with a pile of free pallets. The pallet wood was perfect for constructing a bench that had a rustic feel. Mindy designed the bench not just for sitting but for storage, too, so she built the bench with room for baskets underneath. For the upholstery, the sisters took apart an old crib mattress and reconstructed it to be the size needed for the bench. Topped with pretty floral fabric, this bench is gorgeous!

Visit My Love 2 Create to get more details on how Mindi built this bench.

By Kimm | Filed under Benches, Furniture | Tags: bench, crib mattress, DIY, free, laundry room, mudroom, multi-use, pallet, reclaimed, repurposed, reused, rustic, salvaged, storage, upholstered, wood

April 30, 2014April 27, 2014

Making a Mason Jar Vase

Here’s a great idea for turning a mason jar into a cute vase from Shanna at Restoration Redoux. Shanna made this one for Spring (and especially Easter), but you could adapt her directions for any season or holiday.

Shanna started with a regular ol’ glass canning jar. She cut out a cute bunny silhouette from contact paper and afixed it to the jar. Next, she painted the entire jar with aqua blue craft paint, completely covering the sticker. When the paint dried, Shanna peeled off the sticker reveal a sweet bunny silhouette on the glass. Too cute!

Visit Restoration Redoux to see the step by step process for making this cute mason jar vase.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor | Tags: bunny, canning, decor, easter, glass, jar, Mason, repurposed, reused, seasonal, silhouette, spring, upcycled

April 29, 2014April 28, 2014

Trashed Headboard Becomes a Corner Bench

“Last Spring I got a call from a friend to alert me that there was a headboard out to the garbage on her street,” tells Gail at My Repurposed Life. “I borrowed a truck and hurried right over to scoop it up.”

Delighted with her find, Gail decided to turn the headboard into a bench. Not just any bench, however. She cut the free headboard almost in half to build a corner bench. The headboard served as the back of the bench and legs. Gail used a scrap piece of plywood to build the seat. Once constructed, she painted it and made a tufted cushion for the new bench. Awesome!

Visit My Repurposed Life to view a tutorial for this corner bench from a headboard.

By Kimm | Filed under Benches, Furniture | Tags: bench, built, corner, cushion, DIY, headboard, recycled, redo, reused, tufted, upcycled

April 29, 2014April 27, 2014

The Gift That Gives Even More Than Twice

At Elizabeth Joan Designs, Emily’s son received a present inside a cute polka dotted gift box. It was too cute to just throw away, so Emily decided to think of something to make using the box.

Her idea? Note cards! After deconstructing the box, Emily was able to cut rectangular pieces out of the box, which she folded into simple cards. Now, instead of just being used once, the gift box will continue to spread joy when she gives it away in card form! Simple ideas like this are fun ways to extend our resources!

Get the scoop on how Emily made these cards from a box at Elizabeth Joan Designs.

By Kimm | Filed under Recycled | Tags: card, cardboard, gift box, lightweight, note card, polka dots, recycle, repurpose, reuse, upcycle

April 28, 2014April 28, 2014

From the Closet to the Table

Over at her blog, Joyful Daisy, Amy came up with a cute (and useful) way to reuse old pairs of jeans. She created durable placemats!

For this project, Amy collected some of the old pairs of denim jeans at her house. She did a bit of deconstructing, so that she’d be able to use the pockets and some of the larger pieces of denim. Amy used scraps of fabric from her stash to supplement the worn denim in putting together the placemats. She added embroidery and other embellishments to the old jeans’ pockets, before sewing them onto the placemats to serve as utensil holders. These will be perfect for summertime picnics!

Visit Joyful Daisy for a tutorial on making placemats from old jeans.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor, Recycled | Tags: denim, embellished, embroidered, fabric, jeans, picnic, placemats, pockets, recycled, repurposed, reused, scraps, sewing, upcycled

April 28, 2014April 27, 2014

Time for a Change

“My granddaughter found this side table in the neighbor’s trash,” says Deb at Lake Girl Paints. “She loaded it up in her golf cart and brought it to my garage.” Sounds like they are raising her right, doesn’t it?

Despite her granddaughter’s good intentions, Deb wasn’t sure even she could salvage a piece as ugly as this multi-level side table was. Before she gave it the boot, though, Deb decided that she could use the two circular wooden table tops. She had her husband cut off the table tops. At that point, inspiration struck, and Deb realized that one of those circles could make a great wall clock! She painted it, stenciled on the roman numerals, and added clock parts. It looks great!

Click over to Lake Girl Paints to get the details on this DIYed wall clock.

By Kimm | Filed under Wall Decor | Tags: circular, clock, DIY, large, painted, recycled, redo, roman numerals, side table, stenciled, upcycled, wall, wood

April 27, 2014April 27, 2014

Free Chandelier Gets an Easy New Look

Over at My Fabuless Life, Jenn explains, “My sister had no use for this light, which she got from a friend who cleans out foreclosed houses. When I looked at it, I knew that with a tiny bit of work, it could be something awesome that mimicked lighting sold at high end retailers for hundreds of dollars.”

Despite the ugly plastic candlesticks, Jenn was pretty sure this light fixture had potential. She removed the plastic candlesticks and covered the metal forms underneath by wrapping them with jute rope. The rope is a nice change of color and texture that really works well on this light. Doesn’t it look great it Jenn’s dining room?

Find out more about this free chandelier fix up at My Fabuless Lfe.

By Kimm | Filed under Lamps | Tags: black, candles, chandelier, cord, dining, jute, lamp, makeover, plastic, redo, refabbed, rope, sisal, wrapped

April 27, 2014April 27, 2014

A Photo Frame Does Double Duty

“We’ve owned this basic collage frame for several years,” says Lora at Craftivity Designs. “We picked it up on clearance and for such a substantial frame it was a great price.”

Recently, Lora decided that it was time for this collage frame to do more than look pretty. She needed it to be functional, too. Instead of hanging it vertically, Lora switched things around so that the frame would hang horizontally. She intentionally left some of the photo squares blank, replacing them with plain paper, so that they could serve as miniature dry erase message boards. Lora attached coat hooks to the bottom of the frame, providing a spot to hang jackets and bags. How useful!

Visit Craftivity Designs to learn more about this repurposed collage frame.

By Kimm | Filed under Decor, Wall Decor | Tags: coat hooks, collage, dry erase, entry, frame, message board, photos, pictures, redo, reimagined, repurposed, reused, storage