September Reuse-It Item: Trophies

When customers first learn we take trophies, they are always thrilled. Nobody likes to throw out a reminder of an important moment or great achievement, but what do you do when your shelves get cluttered with awards?

If you're not ready to part with your trophies, but hate all that extra dusting they create, we have some great ideas for you. It's time to turn those old awards into something new and functional!

Michelle

Using old trophies and a bit of spray paint, repurpose those old trophies into flower pots in 5 easy steps! 

This would be a lovely idea for small herbs and plants.

Get the tutorial here.

Emma


My favourite idea would be to soak up the last of the Summer sun by getting out in the back yard and making a fairground style ring toss game for kids. Get some Hula hoops, line up the trophies in a giant size, bowling pin triangle formation and see who wins!

The heavy marble or concrete bases also make great pattern weights for sewing!

If you're feeling more ambitious, I came across this amazing arbor made of 300 trophies on Green Eco Services' Top 12 Ways to Recycle Trophies

Sarah

I love these display stands made from old trophies! They would be great for themed birthday parties, Oscars or award show parties, or season-end celebrations for any kind of team.

Check out the tutorial at Just Something I Made to learn how to make these cute cupcake stands from trophies and pie tins.

You could also make a really cute display shelf for a themed room if you used something a little sturdier than pie tins, like wood or plexiglass.

Tamara

Do you have items that are sitting gathering dust but you can never seem to allow yourself to discard because they carry some sentimental value with them? Perhaps yours or your children's old trophies is an example of such an item. Here's a great idea of what to do with them: turn the tops of them into a unique coat rack! How cool does this look?

See the tutorial on Design Sponge.

Do you have an interesting and innovative way to reuse old trophies? Share with us in the comments below!

August Reuse-It Item: Paint Swatches

Anyone who's ever done a big painting project knows that it's easy to accumulate a ton of those paper swatches, fast! Ecru vs. Eggshell, and oh, this brand's Forest Green looks just a tad darker than that brand's Evergreen. Whether your project is big or small, it's important to get the colour just right, so those little swatches come in handy! There's no denying that they're useful, but what do you do with them after you've made your choices?

If you're like many Edmontonians, you bring them to the Reuse Centre! This month, our blog team has put together a list of our favourite ways to reuse paint swatches.

Michelle

Paint Swatch Collage

Using cut out circles of paint swatches, create a stunning effect of ombre colors. I have also seen triangle cut outs attached side by side.

Don’t forget to frame your art work!

Sarah

I always have a book on the go, (sometimes two or three at a time!) but I don't actually own any bookmarks. I resort to using receipts, scrap pieces of paper, and the torn-off ends of opened mail.

I really love this simple and cute idea for reusing paint swatches and personalizing them with permanent ink or paint. This a great all-ages craft and perfect for back-to-school.

Nichole

There are so many cool and beautiful ways that paint swatches can be repurposed that it makes me want to take a cloth bag to Home Depot and clean them out. For instance, while I've always thought that mosaics are an interesting way to tszuj up a table top, the idea of smashing up ceramics for it seemed messy and slightly dangerous. But this doesn't have to stop me anymore now that I've found this awesome idea for creating a mosaic look with paint swatches! Just secure the paint chips to the wood top and cover with a piece of glass, and you have a gorgeous work of art that you can tailor for any room.

Lana

While the pretty colours of paint swatches make them perfect to incorporate into parts of a scrapbook page or a handmade card, the paper is generally not acid-free or of archival quality.

"Hey Gorgeous", takes advantage of the perfectly matching colours and light weight to create a customized chandelier that's full of movement. Check out the tutorial here. The same technique can be used for a lampshade or a mobile.


Emma

Visit Poppytalk to see how this amazing feature wall was made over the course of a weekend!

Like cleaner lines and a little more order? Design Sponge also has a great example of a paint chip wall

Or if you don't have half of Home Depot's supply of paint chips, a handy dandy calendar, could totally be made from a Reuse Centre picture frame!

Visit DIY Projects for instructions on how to make this cute, custom calendar.

Do you have a great idea that we missed? Add your paint-swatch reuse ideas in the comments below!