Here is a lamp made from 300 coffee cups. It kind of looks like a honeycomb. You can learn how to make it from Instructables. The cups are attached to an energy efficient lamp, like so:
What an interesting re-use for that Starbuck’s habit. (Although, if you’re collecting that many cups, you really should look into getting a mug.) (Via Re-Nest)
It’s spring. The birds are so active that they wake me up every morning with their chatters (much nicer than an alarm). If you want to start feeding your birds, there’s no need to buy a bird feeder when you can make one from things around the house. For example, Family Fun Go suggests you make a bird feeder from a recycled soda bottle and old wooden spoons:
And A Home For Wild Birds suggest a bird feeder from a milk jug:
Both projects are easy and look pretty cool. And it’s a great way to re-use trash to enhance the natural world.
Country Living has a how-to on making a Victorian-looking glass terrarium from picture frames. So it is a matter of screwing the frames together, like so:
And then painting it white. The best part is that the picture frames already come with the glass panels you need for the terrarium. Very smart. (Via Re-Nest)
Here’s something I haven’t seen before–a bathmat made out of wine corks. Craftynest saved 175 corks and hot glued them to a non-adhesive shelf liner. It looks pretty good!
Here’s a good use for plastic grocery bags: make them into a baby bib. First Homemade Mamas fused the bags together by sandwiching them under parchment paper and ironing. Then they cut a template of the bib from another plastic bib, sewed bias tape around it, and added velcro to the end. You can read more about the project here.
As Homemade Mamas points out, these bibs “are practically free to make, and would be great to throw in your diaper bag. And if you accidentally leave it somewhere, no big deal!” (Via Recycled Crafts)
Here’s a skirt made from a 1970s pillowcase from the Miz Mitten. Adorable. I love the rainbow. (Via ReadyMade)
My Little Gems took a $6.50 nightstand:
And turned it into a spiffy kitchen for the kids to play with:
Sharla, who made the play kitchen, says the “sink faucet is an upside down wooden “J” and the hot and cold knobs are little wooden people you can buy from a craft store-painted silver and screwed in so they turn.” She put the curtains on with velcro, got the silver bowel from a thrift store, made the salt and pepper by gluing pieces together from the craft store… lots of clever ideas here.
This is a great use for one of those old ugly nightstands. Every thrift store is full of them.
When we moved in to this house, we pulled a white cabinet from the bathroom that we didn’t want anymore. I was going to sell it on Craigslist, but then we had a better idea. With a few alterations, we turned the bathroom cabinet into a brooder for my baby chickens.
First, my husband put in a removable floor on the cabinet. It can be popped out of the brooder for easy cleaning. Then he made a window for the chicks by cutting a square rectangle in one wall and attaching a 4″ roll of hardware cloth (the screen) to it with a staple gun.
That was all there was to it. We added newspaper to the bottom as lining, a water bottle, and baby chick mash that we bought at the feedstore. And finally, we put in our two baby chicks, Lucy and Penny.
Baby chickens need warmth. According to this site, you “start with 90-100 degrees F the first week. Then, lower down temperature by 5 degrees every week until the chicks have feathers that will protect them.” We tried putting a light bulb in the brooder, but it seemed unsafe, so we decided to use a space heater to heat the room to the temperature they need. The heater’s thermostat keeps the room from getting too cold. We also put the heater beside the brooder so that some of the heat goes into the box with the chicks.
So far, the chicks seem happy. We got them on Friday and they have already grown about a half inch and are starting to develop pin feathers on their wings. We must be doing something right.
After the chickens outgrow the brooder, we will recycle the cabinet again by turning it into a seed starter for next year’s plants. I guess I want to see how many babies can I put inside of one old bathroom cabinet.
Lucy
Penny
I always like the old suitcases I see in thrift stores, but they aren’t practical for today’s traveling needs. Well, here’s a great way to re-use them–turn them into a pet bed.
The idea comes from this Etsy site, Vintage Renaissance, where you can buy a pet bed just like the above for $70. It looks like they split the suitcase in half, glued stool legs to them (you can buy the legs in a hardware/craft store or take apart an old stool), and put a nice fluffy pillow inside for your cat or dog. What a great way to recycle.
As you can see, my Valentine’s Day roses are getting a bit peaked. I could throw them out, of course, but why would I do that when rose petals are so useful? So I will try rooting one of the white roses and then I will turn the rest of the roses into rose water.
Rose water is an insanely simple thing to make, and a great way to recycle the Valentine’s bouquet when it’s done. You end up with a great smelling, edible, soothing liquid that has all kinds of great uses. For example, you rose water can be used:
1. As A Skin Toner. Rose water is a natural, gentle, and free skin toner, great for sensitive skin.
2. To Make Linens Smell Nice. A spritz of rose water on lingerie, sheets, etc. can add an extra sweet-smelling touch. I have also heard of people ironing with rose water, although I have never tried it.
3. In The Bath. Put rose water directly in the bath or add it to bath salts.
4. In Desserts. Rose water is used in a lot of different desserts, from Rose Water Panna Cotta to Poached Pears in Rose Water to ice cream.
5. As A Drink. You can put it in cocktails (recipe coming soon) or put it in non-alcoholic drinks like lemonade.
OK, so how do you make rose water? Here’s the recipe:
Rose Water:
Ingredients:
Directions:
Put water and petals in a pot. Turn the stovetop to medium low heat and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer the water on low heat, making sure to keep it under a boil, until the water has reduced by half and ther is a sweet rosey smell coming from the water.
Strain the petals from the water. Let the rose water cool and then transfer to an appropriate bottle for safe keeping. That’s it!
How do you use rose water?
ETA: It is possible there are pesticides on the roses, especially if they come from a florist. If this concerns you, do not eat the rose water.