Happy Belated Earth Day!

Earth Day was yesterday so I wanted to share a few projects I have designed which reuse/repurpose items that would normally be thrown out. I am in the process of moving my scrapbook room to the lower level of our home. I am also rethinking some of my storage and organization. I am trying very hard to stay on a budget for reorganizing and decorating my new space. Recycling a few items that would have been thrown away is definitely progress in maintaining my self-imposed budget! {smile}

One thing I had to change was the way I stored my pattern paper and cardstock. My previous method was not working for me. Rather than spend way too much on paper holders, I repurposed old shipping boxes from an online scrapbook orders. I traced the shape of a plastic paper holder than I had for magazines and trimmed the shipping box with a craft knife. Next, I spray painted the box using Krylon's Paper Finishes (Make it Suede) and allowed it to dry. I then trimmed the paper to fit each side & the front, then glued the paper in place. The "cardstock" label on the front is printed from a battery operated label maker/printer. I just inked the white label tape to coordinate. I have MANY more of these to paint and cover but I'm delighted with how this turned out.

The next recycled item I used were Crystal Light containers. I just tore off the labels, cut the paper to size, inked the edges and glued the paper in place. I want to add onto my pen storage so this is a perfect solution to keep adding on in a pyramid sort-of method. I just used glue dots to hold them together.

Here are both items:

This past weekend I was browsing Etsy and discovered a really cool Etsy store where she repurposes old rubber into pretty rings made with zip ties! I'd love to see any eco-friendly/recylcing type of crafts you've created! Just post a link in the comments!