Ten Ways to Reuse Clothes

photo by Fleur Suijten

You finally cleaned out your closet and drawers and discovered you have a pile of clothes you never wear or are worn out. Instead of throwing them away, try the following ideas to reuse your clothes.

1. Remove shirt buttons to use as replacement buttons for other clothes or to use for crafts. Sort them by size and color to make finding a match easy or store them all in jar for crafts.
2. Tear up stained and holey clothes to use as cleaning rags. Test different fabrics; some leave lots of lint and others are not good for cleaning. Regular cotton works best.
3. Use quality fabrics and patterned clothes for craft projects.
4. Cut cotton t-shirts into strips to turn into upcycled headbands, infinity scarves, or bracelets.
5. If you are good at sewing, use clothes that no longer fit to make clothes for small children or dolls. You can also use old baby clothes to dress stuffed animals.
6. Sew old ties together to make a skirt or use a tie as a fashionable belt, headband, or other accessory.
7. Make a costume box for Halloween, costume parties, and playing dress up. Add in clothes, shoes, hats, jewelry, and other accessories.
8. Put clothes you never wear but that still fit you in an emergency kit. Be sure to include clothes for different seasons and weather conditions.
9. Wear stained and holey clothes for painting, gardening, and other dirty work. Keep reusing them or throw them away afterward.
10. Donate to charity, sell, or pass along whatever clothes you can’t reuse but can still be worn.

Opposites

Mini golfing in St. George, January 2008.

When I think of lovers meeting for the first time, I imagine them at a mutually enjoyed activity, such as a concert or art fair, or being introduced by mutual friends dying to get them together. They hit it off and walk off into the sunset doing those hobbies and hanging out with their friends together.

That's not quite how it went down for me and my hubby. My husband and I are the epitome of opposites attracting. He grew up in the boonies of Wisconsin, outside of Green Bay. He's a jock and huge Packers fan. He likes punk rock and rap, junk food, and action movies, and his friends are usually jocks and their cheerleader wives. I, on the other hand, grew up in the suburbs of San Diego, raised by parents from New York but influenced by California life. I love watching plays and ballets, reading books, exercising, and generally eating healthy. I'm not into team sports, and my friends are usually more academic and creative.

Sometimes I wonder how in the world we got married and have stayed married. It has been a challenge finding things to do that we both enjoy. (At first it was a lot of movies, bowling, and miniature golfing.) But it has been a challenge that has brought us together and expanded our interests. For example, our first Valentine's Day as a married couple my husband bought us tickets to a ballet. He also took ballroom dance classes when we first started dating so he wouldn't have to watch me dance with other guys, and he discovered he was good at and enjoyed it. I took a beginning golf class, found out I liked it, and played and practiced golf with my husband.

I still don't like football and Justin probably won't watch ballet again (unless it's our daughters dancing), but that's ok. We've found plenty of things to do together and with other couples we both like--now if only we can find the money to do them!

Save Money on Trash Bags

Trash bags are usually not seen as an expense to worry about, but why not save money wherever you can? Pennies add up, so follow these tips to save money on trash bags.

The best thing to do is save plastic bags from shopping to use as trash bags. Grocery ones work well for small trash cans in bedrooms and bathrooms. The bigger ones, like from Target when you buy large items, can replace kitchen trash bags. You can use small ones too if you are willing to take out the trash more often, which helps with the smell anyway.

If you still want to use regular trash bags, at least throw away raw meat, rotten foods, and dairy products in a small grocery bag and immediately take it to the dumpster or garbage can outside. When possible, use your garbage disposal to get rid of food waste, which accounts for a lot of trash and odors. Food makes your kitchen smell bad quickly and attracts bugs, making you have to take out the trash perhaps before the bag is completely full.

Other ways to increase room in your trash bags are to recycle what you can, flatten or crush large items before throwing them away, and press down paper products. If trash cans are mostly filled with harmless items (such as paper, plastic, and other non-germy junk), then empty the trash cans into one bag or straight into the dumpster/outside garbage can and reuse the bags until they need to be thrown away.

Featured Seller: Leigh Ann from Lime Green Lemon

I found the shop Lime Green Lemon through a deal site. I immediately fell in love with the featured item: upcycled t-shirt cuff bracelets. I'm not a die-hard green person, but I love upcycling and recycling.

I bought every single color (there are even more colors in her shop). When I had a special request, Leigh Ann was very accommodating and friendly. I got the bracelets Monday and yesterday I wore yellow and dark grey. Today:

I love how versatile they are! I can wear one, two, or three in any color combination. I also love how casual and cute they are. Most jewelry and accessories I feel I have to dress up for, but these are great for a mom on the go. And they're kid proof. What is there not to love?

Check out Lime Green Lemon for more upcycled goodies!

Ideas for Reusing Ribbon

Between birthdays and holidays, you may end up with a lot of ribbons of all different colors and sizes. Instead of throwing them away, save them to use for the following ideas.

• The most obvious thing to do with ribbon is to reuse it next time you wrap a present. This works really well with family because you can keep using the same ribbons over and over, whereas if you give it to a friend you’ll need to buy more ribbon for future presents.
• Use ribbons as fashion accessories. Tie or braid small ribbons in your little girl’s hair; tie large ribbons around her dress like a sash; replace your belt with a long, fancy ribbon; add ribbon to purses and shoes for pizzazz.
• Give small ribbons to your little girls to use as accessories for their dolls or to tie to their bikes.
• Use ribbons for crafts, such as ornaments, homemade cards, jewelry, bookmarks, scrapbooks, and key chains.
• Ribbons also work as holiday and wedding decorations. For example, tie ribbons in your wedding color to the cake knife and server and to champagne glasses. Or wrap ribbons around stair rails and tie them around candles.
• Tie small ribbons around napkins for a simple but elegant napkin ring. Switch the colors every now and then for a quick decoration change.

More Baby Shower on a Budget

This afternoon I hosted my second baby shower--and on a budget (though I admit it was easier this time because it was very small and my sister-in-law helped). The theme was baby Winnie-the-Pooh. I got a banner and balloons on clearance at Party City. I found a baby shower bingo game at the thrift store and a free printable online for a memory game, and we used the back side for a drawing game.

I also made a Winnie-the-Pooh diaper cake. It's a lot easier than it looks! Just tedious. I bought a gift set at Walmart, took out the diapers for the diaper cake, and used the rest of the contents plus some more goodies for the memory game (you show the guests everything in the box/bag, they have to write down everything in it from memory, and the mother-to-be gets to keep it all).

The favors were large baby jars filled with gummy bears. The Pooh die cuts on them and the diaper cake my sister-in-law made with the baby Pooh Cricut cartridge I got really cheap on ebay.

All in all a very easy and inexpensive baby shower! For more ideas, read about the first baby shower I hosted on a budget.

Frozen Vegetables

A few days ago while preparing lunch, my son didn't want to wait any longer and reached for the bag of frozen vegetables. I gave him some, thinking he would make a face and spit them out. Quite the opposite happened: he made a cheesy smile and asked for more! He has been eating them that way for the past few days now. What a weird child. I think he likes them because the cold feels good on his gums and teeth. But whatever the reason, I'm just glad we found a way for him to eat his vegetables!