Some great gift ideas that allow you to Reuse unwanted items:
1. T - Shirt Blanket
Great for: friends with lots of T-shirts, grandmothers
Materials:
a minimum of 5 rarely-used T-shirts
clean old blanket (stains ok but permanent wet dog smell is not)
scissors
needle and thread or sewing machine
ruler
Use the ruler to mark squares on the T-shirts or draw shapes that fit the shirt design. Cut out the parts you plan to use. Lay the blanket out on the floor. Arrange the T-shirt squares to cover holes, stains, or ugly patterns. If the blanket is a mess, you can use extra fabric to sandwich it, thus creating a quilt. Pin or baste the squares to the background. T-shirt fabric doesn't easily unravel, so a simple blanket or zig-zag stitch is ok to sew them on. Sew additional fabric or a pretty ribbon around the edges to add a polished touch.
2. CD Tree Ornaments
Great for: music lovers, shiny-object enthusiasts, grandmothers
Materials:
old cds and dvds that no longer play or skip too much
glitter, stickers, ribbon, construction paper, old christmas cards, googly eyes, etc...
scissors
glue
Spit-shine the cds. Use your creativity to decorate them. To make a snowflake, take a white piece of paper. Fold it in half, then fold that in half. Then fold at a 45 degree angle, so that if you unfolded your paper it would be sectioned into 8 triangles. Cut out simple shapes from this triangle. Unfold to see your symmetrical snowflake design. Glue this to the unshiny side so that the spokes of the snowflake stick out and frame the cd. You can also glue a picture of a loved one in the clear center of the cd. Stick a magnet to the back to make a fridge ornament.
3. Grocery Bag Bag
Great for: pet owners, grocery shoppers, grandmothers
Materials:
handfuls of plastic bags (people with pets always save these to clean up their pets' emissions)
knitting needles, crochet hook, or loom
scissors
Arrange a bag so that it is flat on the table. Cut off 1'' from the bottom and the handles, so that basically you're left with a tube top. Try it on (this will help stretch out the plastic). Now put the bag flat back on the table. Cut it into 1'' inch strips. Because these strips are from a bag, they should be circles when you pick them up. Loop one circle to the next to create a chain. Stretch the plastic in the chain to make it thinner and longer. Now you have something like yarn that you can knit, crochet, or weave into a more durable, reusable shopping bag. The tan bags look like twine in the end.
4. Cardboard Soup Maker
Great for: people who rarely pay their utility bills, outdoorsmen, hoboes, grandmothers
Materials
medium-size cardboard box that still has its top flaps
pane of glass that can fit into the box (check abandoned homes)
aluminum foil
metal pot, smaller than box
Line box with foil, taking care not to wrinkle it. Tilt flaps so they are angled to reflect the sun's rays onto pot. Make sure the edges of the glass are either sanded smooth or covered with masking tape so no one will get hurt. Insert pot into box and cover with glass pane. The box can be folded in and placed with the glass pane into a Grocery Bag Bag for easy portability. To make soup, place water and vegetables into pot. Leave outside during daylight for 7+ hours, and Presto!
This post was inspired by my two heroes: my crafty Ukranian mother and Amy Sedaris.
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