rePURPOSING Things: Instruments of Violence into Instruments of Beauty

I've posted photos of jewelry made from foreign coins and other unusual materials but this is by far the most hopeful rePurposing I've ever seen.

To know what these anklets are made from you will have to click here and read the post by my friend, Sister Marilyn Lacey. While you are at it, nose around her blog a little and get a sense of the great work she is doing.

A New View

Talk about rePurposing! Look at this table and guess what it is made from...

...broken car windows! Encased in whole glass are shards from Ford escorts, a Taurus and a 63 Buick Riviera rear window.

The creator is in the media and entertainment industry so using stage truss for the legs was a stroke of genius.

He is wants to fill it up with more broken glass but I think it is brilliant - in all definitions of the word - just the way it is.

Craft Corner Clean-up

Oooh this challenge is really FUN!  This woman has her own craft room filled with lots of fun.. and lots of goodies that she needs to sort, purge and organize:

She does everything: sewing, scrap booking, jewelry making, paper crafting, flower arranging, wedding planning, you name it. She sells her work and even sells supplies to other crafters. But her sweet little studio was overflowing and she needed to get it under control. Her goal was to create some open space to work on her projects and to have easy access to the supplies and materials she sells.

Our strategy was to tackle it in manageable chunks. So we started with the top half of this corner bookshelf:

It is amazing what a bookshelf can hold. We discarded these piles of recycling, donations, yard sale items - plus another box of things to return to family members.

Then we had the pleasure of emptying another shelf in her bedroom of the supplies it held and moving it here:

Wow. Look at the difference! Room to breathe! Total time: 2 hours.

Stay tuned for solutions for the rest of her sweet craft room.

rePURPOSING Things: Cards

Just in time for gift giving, here is a quick and satisfying rePurpose project that will save money and the environment and make you look very clever indeed.

These gift tags - formerly art announcement cards -  were made with a 2" hole punch. Use a standard hole punch for the ribbon and you are good to go. Personal and classy, the card stock possibilities are limitless: greeting cards, playing cards, old calendars, postcards.

Better yet, make a stack and give the gift cards as a gift themselves!

Kid's Art Gallery and Storage

We want our kids to be creative and proudly display their art work but we may not want it to take over the house. Sometimes sheer quantities turn their art into visual clutter.  And then there is the issue of what to do with each masterpiece when it time to replace or remove it.  It's hard to throw out the first dinosaur drawing they ever did.

Inexpensive acrylic box frames are your answer ($3.99 at Target). Just pop new art into the acrylic display box and rotate the older piece out, storing it inside the paperboard box support. So simple even your child could it. Now you have a neat little family art gallery.

rePURPOSING Things: A New Angle on Your Art

This project was not a true rePURPOSING as the art remained art. I just wanted to show you a different way to look at things.


When the new owner of this condo was moving in she faced a blank wall and didn't know what to do with it. But something on the wall the bookcase loomed over the couch. She wanted this spot to showcase her children's nicely framed art but it was the wrong size and aspect ratio. 

Lucky for her that her children were abstract artists. BY simply rotating the paintings 90 degrees and hanging them side by side they balance out the tall bookcase and add a pop of color to her living room.