Puzzles from the Past: An Upcycle Tutorial

This past holiday break, I reinvigorated my love of puzzles, and to my delight, my three year old son caught the bug too. We’re now ploughing our way through puzzles of all shapes and sizes and I’ll certainly go broke feeding this hobby. Did you know The Reuse Centre has puzzles for every ability level? Not only that, but the Centre offers many materials to get crafty and personalize some puzzles for a special event or person!

The Reuse Centre's typical stock of calendars. Availability may change but it's a safe bet that you'll have lots of calendars and old puzzles to take home after a visit to the Reuse Centre. Image Source: Ellen

With this in mind, I’ll show you how to transform an outdated calendar into several puzzles. I’ll be using a Cricut cutting machine (similar to a Silhouette) but will give you steps to complete the puzzle with scissors and some determination (See Scissors Approach section at the end). Let’s begin.

Puzzles from the Past: An Upcycle Tutorial

Materials:

• Cricut and accessories
• .svg file of puzzle outlines (try this free option from Bird’s Cards) 
• Old calendar images 
• Large, thin cardboard similar to cereal box (not too thick!)
• Craft glue or glue stick 
• Mod Podge (optional) 

Approach:

1. Download an .svg file of the puzzle cuts, upload it into your Cricut Design Space, and prepare the image to be cut. 

   

   I chose 8" x 8" as dictated by my largest piece of cardboard. If you need help with your Cricut or Silhouette, visit the many online resources available. Image Source: Ellen

2. Separate the calendar pages and select an image you’d like to use. Don't neglect the back cover of your calendar where you'll often find thumbnail sized photos of all 12 images. These tiny versions of your photos are helpful while assembling your puzzle. 

   

   These tiny photos of each month provide a nice sneak peak of the final puzzle once completed! Image Source: Ellen

3. Place the desired puzzle image on the cutting mat and let your machine do the work. 

   

   Cricut Machine cutting the calendar image. Image Source: Ellen

4. Cut a thin piece of cardboard to your puzzle’s size. A regular cereal box worked well for this puzzle. Anything thicker might not cut properly by your machine.  
5. Place the cardboard on the mat and cut the same puzzle pieces using your cutting machine.  
6. Match the cardboard puzzle pieces to the image pieces and glue together. 

   

   I simply used a homemade Mod Podge mixture to glue the calendar image to the cardboard, then coated the final piece with the mixture. If you're skipping step #7, you can use craft glue with a paint brush, or your finger or a glue stick to fix the pieces together.

7. (Optional) Use Mod Podge to cover each piece for rigidity and longevity. I used a homemade mix of white craft glue and water (1/3 cup water to 1 cup glue). Cover the pieces with the mixture on both sides then set to dry. I used a wire basket placed upside down and let my space heater help the process! 

   

   Glued and Mod Podged puzzle pieces drying on a wire rack. Image Source: Ellen

8. After the drying process, the pieces may bow slightly. I put my puzzle together loosely, covered with a large book, then weighted the book with soup cans. Make sure your pieces are completely dry before this flattening process! 

Scissors Approach without Cricut Cutting Machine:

If you do not have a cutting machine, first glue your cardboard and calendar image together, then simply print your blank puzzle outline at your desired size and loosely tape it to your glued calendar image. It’s best to use large puzzle pieces when cutting by hand as the curves and edges are tedious to manage. Use your sharpest scissors or X-acto knife to cut along the lines of the blank puzzle image. As you cut, the blank puzzle sheet should fall away. Optional: Mod Podge for strength and durability.

I accidentally cut my cardboard piece backwards so that the cereal box image was facing outward and the blank, brown side was glued to my calendar image. This turned out to be a very happy accident since the cereal box was coincidentally cut to display a race car making my puzzle reversible—not to mention highly desirable to a car-loving three year old! Two-for-one! 

Backside of my puzzle: Accidentally awesome! Image Source: Ellen

The puzzle doesn't click into place the way a commercially-built puzzle does, but the customization possibilities make this upcycle craft well worth the effort! When you're done making all 12 of your calendar images, look around your house for other puzzle upcycle possibilities!

- Ellen (Volunteer)

Featured Reuse-It Item - Envelopes

Envelopes are one of those everyday mundane items that many of us quickly dismiss and toss in the recycling as soon as we've taken out the important, or sometimes not so important, contents that they hold. However, as it turns out, envelopes can be reused and repurposed in a wide variety of ways. Here are all the ideas that our blog team found. Who would have thought that envelopes could be so versatile?

Lana

An old envelope is great to have on hand - they're fabulous for collecting and saving seeds! Penn and Cord's Garden talks about how paper envelopes allow seeds to breathe and describes how to create envelope seed packets. I like envelopes with plastic windows as it's easy to see the seeds that I've collected. It's also a good idea to add a photo of the plant into the envelope for easy identification.

Tamara

Though mail by post is on the decline, you likely still accumulate a number of envelopes. Some mail comes with a return envelope that is meant for you to send your payment back. These are ideal for reusing. To reuse envelopes, you can turn them inside out to make new envelopes. Essentially, you slice open all the sides with a letter opener or knife, fold it inside out, glue it back together, and voila, a new envelope. It is always a great feeling to save paper, not to mention money that would have been spent on new envelopes.

For a step by step tutorial on this useful idea visit Thrifty Jinxy

Mallory

What can you find in any household that is more common than envelopes? Everyone receives mail! With all of that paper that's used for envelopes, it's never a bad idea to have some crafty upcycling options at your fingertips.

Being an avid reader myself, I know that I'm always looking for something to use as a bookmark, spoons, receipts, cloth scraps, and anything else that would possibly fit the bill. After stumbling upon this brilliant idea from d. Sharp journal to use the corner of an envelope as a corner bookmark, I just may never need to hunt for a bookmark again!

Sarah J.

Use old envelopes as a scrap notepad. I remember my mom always did this. In her purse, she always had an envelope with scribbling on the back. 

Envelopes are also great for storing  miscellaneous items around the house. Here are some ways that I use old envelopes for keeping my things tidy:

• Use old envelopes to manage your money. Some people use cash, and this can be a very effective way to organize money into budget categories. This idea also works well for organizing receipts.
• Use an old envelope to organize puzzles -  the larger the puzzle, the larger the envelope you'll need. 
• I have started using brown envelopes in my filing drawer instead of folders to keep documents together. 
• Store paper napkins in them. My paper napkins are always getting everywhere in my cupboard or drawer, making a mess. 

In general, old envelopes are very handy for organizing!

Vanessa

Ellen mentioned that the inside of many envelopes have pretty and unique patterns and Sarah J. described how envelopes are great to use for scrap paper. Both of these points got me thinking about envelope notebooks. I found this tutorial on Crafting a Green World and was so impressed with how nice and pretty an envelope notebook can turn out. 

I love carrying a small notebook in my purse. They're usually filled with "To Do" lists and important reminders. Instead of buying a new notebook once my current one is filled, I'm definitely going to try to make one out of old envelopes.

How do you reuse old envelopes? Share your ideas in the comments section.

Foreign Coins: DIY Projects

I don’t know about you but I love travelling – I can’t get enough of it. It’s always exhilarating to go to a brand new, exotic place, and take in all the local culture. This includes using foreign currency.

Although it can be difficult at times to mentally figure out the approximate conversion to Canadian dollars, it’s also lots of fun to use fascinating looking coins of all different shapes, weights, colours, and sizes. The only problem when coming home is that you usually end up with a handful of coins in small denominations that you simply couldn’t use up. So what do you do with these unusual coins?

Mine have been sitting in a jar, out of sight. I’ve always been intrigued by decorations that display aspects of travelling, and thought that perhaps I could make something out of all the extra change I collected throughout my travels.

Recently, I created magnets using some of my foreign coins. This was pretty easy.

If you have old magnets, for example one with an expired calendar on it, you can cut it up into small pieces so they fit onto the back of the coin. Then you just glue the magnet to the coin. I used a hot glue gun but other craft glues may also work. You can also use inexpensive magnetic tape, instead of glue. This might be a good idea if the magnets you currently have are not very strong or the coins you’re using are heavy. The hardest part about this little craft is selecting which side of the coin you’d like to display! My magnets look something like this:

Photo Credit: Tamara

Another idea that I recently found and am really excited to try, is to use an old vase and decorate it completely with foreign coins. This example from Bob Vila shows what the vase looks like with only pennies but you could easily replicate the idea with foreign coins. A great thing about this craft is it is not very complicated, and the result looks fantastic. Depending on what background you want, you can spray paint the vase to a different colour before gluing the coins. In this example, the vase was spray painted black, which contrasts nicely with the pennies and gives it an elegant, modern look. This is a superb idea especially for those Canadians who may have a surplus of pennies lying around since the cent was phased out. 

Do you have any craft ideas to use extra foreign coins? Share them in the comments section.

                                                                                                                                 -Tamara (Volunteer)

Featured Reuse-It Item - Neckties

Here at the Reuse Centre we usually have a few neckties kicking around waiting for someone to pick them up and give them a second life. Neckties can be reworn over and over again but they can also be repurposed and upcycled into numerous creative things. Our blog team has put together a number of great ideas to upcycle old and unwanted neckties. Check out what we came up with.

Ellen & Tamara

The best thing about crafting with preloved neckties is that the best patterns are often the ones rejected by current fashion trends. What no longer works with a crisp, professional suit, will look lovely cut to bits on a crafting table!

Using Sadie Seasongoods' tutorial as a guideline, I started with a plain vibrant blue necktie and roughly measured the circumference of a typical to-go coffee cup then snipped the end of the tie to accommodate the circumference. I sewed along the cut line to prevent any unwanted fraying from occurring. The cut line would be hidden by the tip of the tie overlapping, so the seam didn’t need to be fancy. I decided to use adhesive-backed hook and loop Velcro strips. I fixed the loop side of the Velcro fastener to the backside of the tip of the tie and the hook end of the Velcro strip to the other side of the tie. Once the Velcro was attached all I had to do was wrap my necktie cozy around my beverage cup or bottle. Super easy!

Photo Credits: Ellen

With summer just a couple of months away, these drink cozies will be perfect for enjoying a cold beverage out in the sun. What a "cool" idea for keeping your drinks from getting warm this summer!

Vanessa

What better way to repurpose an old necktie than to use it to add a little extra flare and adornment to an existing shirt. I love the contrast of blue with the yellow on this tee shirt created by McKell's Closet. There are unlimited possibilities to create one of a kind ruffled necktie tees.

Mallory

Neckties are easy to find stuffed in the back corners of closets, hanging untouched on hangers, and drooping in second-hand stores. It's also hard to find a use for them once the crazy prints are obscenely out of style.

Good thing there's an upcycle option for everything, including your old ties! A great example for those who are handy with a sewing machine is to use the bright, vibrant colours and interesting prints as focal points in quilts. Your tie quilt will continue to draw attention in a beautifully eye-catching way. See Anita's Piecing and Quilting for a tutorial. 

Sarah

I am always looking for ways to better organize my things, so I'm not always digging for something in my cavernous purse. I love this idea for a pouch made out of an old tie! I have a collection of ties in cool prints that I've been trying to use up, and I think I'll be whipping one of these up over the weekend! See Snapguide for detailed instructions.

 

   

Happy Crafting!

October Reuse-It Item - Favourite DIY Halloween Decorations

With Halloween just under a week away, we thought that it's only fitting for this month's Reuse-it item to be our favourite DIY Halloween decorations. 

These DIY projects are easy to make and are great for all ages. Check out our favourite ideas and try some of these on your own, or with friends and family!

Vanessa

Pine cone bats are simple to make and are a great way to use up pine cones laying around your yard before winter starts. All you need is some felt, glue, paper, and googly eyes. Instructions can be found at Fireflies + Mud Pies.

Creating a monster door is a fun way to add lots of character to the exterior of your house, when you're short on time or have limited supplies. These doors use coloured paper, paper plates, tape, and party streamers. Find out more details on how to create a monster door at GoodtoKnow.

Sarah

These DIY jar lanterns from Adventure in a Box are gorgeous, and you don't need to be a great artist to make them! Crafters have the option of making their own designs, or using the printable ones from the website. This is a great all-ages craft that looks classy!

Tamara & Lana

Ghost jugs are a simple Halloween decoration that both adults and kids can create. Grab a few 4L empty milk jugs, draw faces on them using permanent markers, and then cut a hole in the back to insert a light. You can find the tutorial at eighteen 25.

A fun variation of this project is to print large letters on each jug to spell out a message or spooky phrase. Another alternative is to add a bit of colour by using coloured permanent markers or a string of coloured lights.

What's your favourite DIY Halloween decoration? Share your favourites in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Canada Day DIY Ideas

Happy Canada Day! Why not celebrate Canada's 149th birthday this year by exercising your DIY skills? Create some holiday decor to celebrate the national holiday in style. Check out these simple reuse craft ideas to try out with your family!

Canada Day Wind Sock

A great backyard decoration that shows your pride for Canada! Upcycle a tin can and decorate with red and white paint, ribbon, and a maple leaf stencil. Add some old keys or cutlery to turn it into a patriotic wind chime. Learn how on Creative Mama on a Dime

Canada Day Jar Centerpiece

Make a statement on your table. Create a charming patriotic centerpiece by upcycling a mason jar! Don’t forget your red and white paint with a signature maple leaf on the front. Read more at Love Create Celebrate

Canada Day Bunting

You cannot decorate a party without some bunting! Try this Canada Day themed bunting using upcycled books. Add some flair by decorating with red and white buttons. Find out more at Simple As That Blog

Happy Canada Day Crafting!

Jenny (Staff)