6 Creative Ways to Repurpose Old Items in Your Home and Garden

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There are so many ways to reduce the things we use and repurpose old items into new items and ideas. There are certainly creative ways we can repurpose items and things that we might otherwise throw out into something new and exciting and practical.

The more use we get out of items, the more we save money and reduce our footprint on the earth. Less garbage, less energy when getting new items, less waste. All these things go hand-in-hand.

Junk Into Craft Supplies

Do you have old papers, leaflets, boxes, etc., that somehow end up in your house?

Do you have extra plastic packaging, things that we get in the mail, or toilet paper rolls?

All of these get dumped into a craft box that my kids use to create whatever they want.

My kids can sit and create tons of stuff from all the “junk” in there. They rarely get new, white paper to color with. If I have to print out papers for something, the extras and mess-ups also get put in. Think school notices, old worksheets, etc. They have nice, empty backs for the kids to color and stick stickers on. The papers from the stickers get colored on or cut when the stickers are gone as well. While many of these will still end up in the trash eventually, it still gives us a whole new use for them.

Old Crayons Into New

Speaking of crafts, are my kids the only ones who destroy crayons constantly?

Occasionally, I go through the crayons and collect all the small and broken pieces. These get saved until we have a nice amount. We then put them into muffin tins and melt them to create new crayons. It gives them a new life and is an exciting activity as well. Even when things seem to have finished their usefulness, you can still do something with them!

Old Clothes for Someone New

I save my kid’s clothes and try to use them as hand-me-downs as much as possible. Even if you are very particular about dressing your kids nicely or following strict gender norms out of the house, there is no reason why pajamas or play clothes can’t be the “wrong color” or a little faded or out of date. Many of the clothes remain in great condition, so they can be used from kid to kid. White shirts can be passed down as they are easy to bleach and keep clean.

Old Clothes Into Rags

Clothes that are beyond repair, ripped, or otherwise dead get cut into rags. I have a drawer full of rags of various sizes and materials. Using the rags I have in my house, I can significantly reduce my paper towel supply. Old undershirts and pajamas, as do kids’ t-shirts, work particularly well for this.

Plastic Containers for New Purpose

Since many spices and other items come in plastic jars, I reuse them as much as possible. I use them for food and toys or for organizing the junk drawer. If I can’t find a good use for them, I give them to my kids to play with. They can play kitchen or use them for dirt or for water pouring activities. I also sometimes give them old shampoo bottles to use as bath toys.

Vegetable Scraps for Broth

I wrote about this before, but it’s worth re-mentioning. I freeze fruits and vegetables that are going bad for smoothies, pies, or stock. If you save vegetable scraps, like peels or the tops and bottoms of vegetables, you can combine them with chicken bones and scraps to make a delicious chicken stock to be used as a base for chicken soup or for other chicken recipes.