August Reuse-it Item: Playing Cards

Ever went to play a card game, only to realize you're missing part of your deck? Here at the Reuse Centre, we take full and partial decks of playing cards, and even those singles you find under the couch.

What can you do with part of a deck of cards? Check out these great ideas.

Michelle

Here is a way to keep necklaces from tangling up in a box. Reuse playing cards by cutting 2 slits into the top of the cards, and slipping necklace chains into the slits. This would be a great way to display jewelry if you're a seller at a market. It is an easy way to show off your work without having to hang everything individually.

Check out this idea, and more great jewelry organization tips, at TheGloss.com

Emma

Sometimes reusing is less about cutting, sewing or changing the look of the item, and more about just finding a new place to use it.

This light fixture, part of Nick Sayers' "Spheres" exhibition, is easily identified as a recycled playing cards project. So simple, but really effective. I'd love to see if the light bounces off the cards to create shadows, or if the fixture gives off a glow.

Check out more of Nick Sayers' work with upcycled materials on his Flickr page!


Lana

Be an ace and declare someone the king of your heart! Re-purpose old playing cards into valentines like Thrifty Jinxy, by gluing the card to a colourful paper and adding a "punny" phrase.  Or go a bit more polished with Martha Stewart's project, which embellishes using printed glassine or parchment paper envelopes.  

At first I thought this project would be limited to the "hearts" cards, but both give ideas on how to use the full deck with phrases like "We are two of a kind".  Simply 2 sweet!

Sarah

Growing up, we always seemed to have a pack or two of cards in the junk drawer. We didn't actually play a lot of card games, but I do remember one summer where my brothers and I made approximately one billion card houses. (Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it was a lot!)

You don't need a full deck to build a card house. Your cards don't even need to match! And the best part is you can knock them down and rebuild them as many times as you like.


Do you have any other great ideas for reusing old playing cards? Share with us in the comments!

June Reuse-it Item: Home Décor

The Reuse Centre takes a wide variety of Home Décor items including carpet samples, tiles and paint swatches. Our bloggers have compiled some fun and easy ways to reuse these items to brighten up your home!

Tamara

For reusing carpet scraps, there are many cool DIY doormats you can do that are relatively simple - check out this unique one out with this full tutorial.

Essentially, it just requires some washing and cleaning, some cutting, and latex paint. You can paint your own pattern on, or if you're in need of inspiration, check out more ideas for different patterns courtesy of JenTaterTots. Guests will enjoy these interesting doormats being the first thing they see when they come visit you!

Lana

Tabletops get a lot of abuse from cold dripping drinks and hot serving dishes. A little protection from a coaster or trivet can make all the difference and you can make one from leftover (or Reuse Centre) tiles. It can be as simple as attaching cork, felt or rubber pads to the bottom of one tile (like Tanya at Dans le Lakehouse or creating a mosaic and special wooden frame (à la Mandy of Sugar Bee Crafts or xNerdiusMaximusx. Either way, your tables are saved!

Sarah

The Reuse Centre gets so many tiles of all different colours, shapes, and sizes, but rarely enough at a time to complete a major project. If a mismatched backsplash isn't your thing, why not try making ceramic tile coasters? They make great gifts! You can pick up some plain tiles, and customize them any way you like, with scrapbook paper, photos, paint or stickers. It's just a bonus that all of these decorating materials can also be found at the Reuse Centre! Check out this tutorial at Homemade Gifts Made Easy for instructions and lots of great photos for inspiration!

Emma

Sometimes tile samples can be reused and still maintain their original function. Whilst it's unlikely to find enough tile samples to finish your own kitchen floor, small projects are a great fit for using them. I found some rainbow coloured tile samples in amongst other colours and thought they would be perfect for decorating a dollshouse for my little girl.

Source: Ruby Murray Musings 

I cut them into quarters, making them 1.5" square and used them to tile the kitchen floor, I alternated colours and made them in a rainbow colour scheme. I even grouted them so they'll stay the course.


Nichole
I can't decide if this craft idea is super obvious or super genius, but I kind of love the idea of patching together an area rug from a large collection of carpet samples. I saw examples of these kinds of rugs that were a delightful mess of colour and texture, but the project I liked the best (from ColOrs-Of-ReUsing) showcases a colour gradient from dark to light that looks surprisingly flawless for being made from tiny carpet scraps. You could use carpet samples to make any size rug, and either sew the patches together or join them with good quality fabric tape.

- Reuse Centre Volunteers

Homegrown Reuser: Kersti

This is the third installment of our Homegrown Reuser series. Let me introduce you to Kersti from Bramble Handmade; she love to recycle, repurpose, and redesign! It's her motto!

Who are you? 

Hi, my name is Kersti, from Bramble Handmade. I am a local artist from Calgary who recycles, repurposes, recreates and redeems old items into happy, new loves. I strive to give old and unappreciated pieces new life through changing their looks and updating their uses.
I love to take old (usually ugly!) picture frames, and recreating them into lovely practical earring display frames, chalk boards, or white boards.

Where do you get them?

I get all my various frames, furniture, tins, buttons everywhere, literally, from back alleys. To the dump!

What is your favorite piece of work you have done and why?

I don't know if I have a favorite piece to be honest. I really love that every piece I make is different and I try to pull the unique features out of each piece, because we are all different. Similar, yet different. 

Vintage Button Bobby Pins

What inspired you to do this?

I have always been able to create and use recycled products, so it just made sense! There is so much in the world that we think is useless,but it isn't. It just needs to be recycled, redesigned, repurposed, and finally redeemed!

Do you have any tips/ inspiring words to share with newbie reusers?

Just have fun, get dirty, and challenge yourself! 

What are your goals for the future, both with work and life?

My greatest goal for my life is to love Jesus, live with passion and love others fiercely. How that works itself out I am very excited to see! With Bramble Handmade, I am just trying to learn as much as I can, help make beautiful useful art for our homes, and completely unique jewelry. I also want to teach others how to look past what is in front of us, and see the beautiful potential in old, used or broken pieces. 

Where can we find you?
I am on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest under Bramble Handmade. I also have a website which is under construction. So very soon you'll be able to see what I do, know where I am going and where to buy my pieces. at www.bramblehandmade.ca. 

Facebook: Bramble Handmade

Instagram: Bramble Handmade

Pinterest: Bramble Handmade


- Michelle (Volunteer)

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!

How do YOU make it REUSABLE contest!

We often wonder what our customers do/make with items they buy in our store. We have a lot of creative, imaginative customers and frankly, we're curious!

So we decided to put together a contest to showcase our customers' reuse creativity! We are asking you to submit your favourite way to Reuse items on the Reuse Centre accepted items list.  We want to see all the wacky, creative, fun, useful or innovative ways you use the items on our list. All entries will be posted on our Facebook page and the winner will get profiled on our Reuse-it Edmonton blog.

Here is how to enter: Submit photos and a short blurb (up to 200 words) of how you have reused the items found on the Reuse Centre accepted items list to hayley.orton@edmonton.ca before the deadline of Friday, August 16th. Please include your name, email address and phone number in your submission (your last name, email address, phone number will not be published).

All entries will judged by our panel of Reuse experts on the entry’s creativity, innovation and reusability. The panel will decide on a winner who will be notified by email or by phone. 

Prize: Our winner will get profiled on our Reuse-it Edmonton Blog and also be awarded a Reuse Centre gift basket (to be picked up at the Centre). The profile about the winner and his/her winning entry will be posted on our blog on Monday, August 26th.

Rules: ALL entries must contain original images taken by the submitter. All photos submitted will be posted on our Facebook account during the contest. All entries must contain items from the Reuse Centre accepted items list. This competition is open to only those living in Edmonton Capital Region. 

If you want a good starting point, scroll down for some inspiration we’ve put together!

Good Luck and Happy Reusing!

Christmas decorations made from frozen juice can lids











Using baskets, coffee cans and shoe boxes for storage

Using various items including magazines, carpet and buttons to make pieces of art

(inspired by the visual artist Lee Gainer)

Little owls made from paper towel rolls, 

monster bookmarks, popsicle stick airplanes 

and fish made from CD's

- Reuse-it Edmonton Blogger team