January Reuse-It Item: Board Games

Have you ever pulled out your favourite game, only to realize a critical piece is missing? Or maybe that well-loved board has fallen apart, and you suddenly have an excess of tiles and tokens.

Nobody could possibly want those, right?

Wrong! Here at the Reuse Centre, we take complete board games, but we also accept all kinds of spare chips, game boards, and cards. This month, our bloggers have put together some of their favourite ideas for reusing those extra bits and pieces.

Michelle

Here is a great way to repurpose an old metal Chinese checker board piece into a clock. You may find parts for the hands online or at watch shops. This would surely make a unique conversation piece for your home.

See the tutorial at Light & Spoon.

Mallory

Do the scattered pieces of old, unused board games litter your house? Do they lurk under couches and in corners, waiting for the chance to find their way under your feet so that they can have one last glorious moment of triumph as you limp away in pain?

Never fear, here is a wonderful tutorial from Living Like the Kings on how to re-purpose those pesky pieces into something a tad less dangerous for your unsuspecting feet. The best part? You can do this with any old board game pieces –  monopoly, clue, scrabble –  the sky is the limit!

Tamara

I saw an excellent idea for reusing old scrabble tiles: make some coasters! They're adorable, plus you get to play the game again and think of clever short words and/or phrases to put on your coasters. This is a great idea for making things like unique wedding favours or just to create a fun accessory for your table. Other than the tiles, you don't need much. All you need are some super glue, scissors, and cork or an old game board. Check out the details at Style & Elegance.

Sarah

These game-board shelves are genius! What a cute way to add a bit of colour and pattern to a room, without a lot of DIY effort. These would be great on any kid's wall, or as part of a household games room or family room.

Got any great ideas for using leftover board game pieces? We want to hear about them! Share with us in the comments.

Take a Tour of the Reuse Centre!

               

Did you know that the Reuse Centre offers tours?

A tour of the Reuse Centre is just one of many ways that we provide an opportunity for residents to learn about the idea and benefits of reuse. Tour participants learn a bit of history about the Reuse Centre, what kinds of items are accepted, and how materials are processed by staff and volunteers. Participants might also discover some new ideas about how to start reusing items at home!

Image Credit: City of Edmonton

Who can take a tour?

We offer tours to groups of 5 or more people, ages 6 and up.

Our most common visitors are schools and summer camps, but we've also hosted seniors' groups, businesses, and many different community and social groups.

Don't have a group? We'll be offering drop in tours during our Family Day Open House on Monday, February 15th, between noon and 3pm! Visit edmonton.ca/reusecentre or our Facebook page in February for more details.

When can we book a tour?

Tour bookings are 1 hour in length. They are available Tues-Fri mornings, starting at 9am (final start time for tours is 10:30am).

The tour itself takes about 30-45 minutes, and the group is welcome to shop for the remainder of their scheduled time. Tour participants shop at the regular rate of $5 for up to 50kg of items.

To learn more or to book a tour, please contact us:

CALL     780-495-9851

EMAIL   reusevolunteers@edmonton.ca

Anything but Christmas Trees

Reuse-friendly Alternatives for a Different Kind of Christmas Tree

'Tis the season for retail marketing to challenge the concept of the traditional evergreen conifer tree. Why must they have all the fun?  Let's do our own mind exercise, and let's rethink and tinker.

In all its essence, the Christmas Tree is roughly triangular, conical, or pyramid shaped and it is meant to bring joy and cheer.  Simple!  This leaves so much opportunity to stretch our creative muscles and make our own beautiful, personal 'tree'.  Not everyone has the space or budget for a large tree, so this is also a nice reminder that there will always be a way to celebrate.

Before we run too wild, there are some key things to note. SAFETY FIRST!  Please make sure bulbs, lights and wires are not frayed and are rated for indoor use.  When designing your new festive tree, please consider fire hazards, weight distribution, load considerations, and the unpredictability/predictability of pets and kids.

You don't necessarily need to buy brand new supplies, but instead you can pull things from around the house to create a festive look and then return them back to their shelves after the holidays.  Consider giving some home staples a second purpose, rather than hiding your decorations away in a box for the rest of the year.  The Reuse Centre also has lots great supplies you could use.

Here are a few ideas I've come across:

- ladder tree

- old books

- 2D wall tree

- cardboard cutout

- wine cork glued into a cone shape

- paper cones

- post its wall tree

- hanging ornaments

- chalkboard drawn wall tree

- yarn and pins wall tree

- decorated tripod

- large green felt cutout tree

- cardboard cone, decorated with pom poms

- triangular stacked shelves/boxes
- CD trees

- Siao (Volunteer)

Reuse Wreath Making Party

A few times a year, our volunteer blog team gets together for a reuse craft night. We've made Easter bonnets, glitter houses, and our awesome We Love YEG sign, originally made for the Green Window City project.

On a chilly evening in late November, we decided to tackle wreaths! First, we grabbed a pile of holiday decorations, garland, ribbon, wreaths, and wreath forms to use. Then, we took a snack break while we waited for the glue guns to heat up!

Part of our wreath-making stash. 

We had pre-made artificial wreaths on hand that we could have decorated, but everyone decided to start from scratch. Some of us jumped in, while others were a little overwhelmed by the possibilities! Nichole hit Pinterest, her favourite craft muse, for some inspiration. Lana tried to choose between the two ideas she'd thought up beforehand.

Soon, even the hesitant among us were off and running! We spent the next two hours crafting, chatting, snacking, and listening to alt rock music because Sarah couldn't find the holiday radio station.

Lana came armed with a great idea to reuse old holiday cards.

If there is anything we've learned through the Reuse Centre, it's that paper towel rolls can be used to make ANYTHING! We were all eager to see what Nichole had up her sleeve.

Sarah began gluing pine cones to a styrofoam circle. After poking herself several times with her spiny material choice, she had a respectable wreath!

Tamara wielded her glue gun like a pro, to secure this string of classic wooden beads.

 With the variety of materials at our disposal, the possibilities really were endless. We all chose really different items and wreath styles, and ended up with 4 unique creations.

Nichole made this minimalist beauty out of paper towel rolls! She cut them up and glued them into 5-pointed flower shapes, then glued all of her flowers together to make a circle. To add a festive touch, she glued on some sprigs of fake red berries.

Sarah finished off her rustic wreath by adding some small ornaments and a bow made from netting.

Tamara made this glittery treasure out of two skinny, willow-twig wreath forms. She tied them together to create a fuller base, and wrapped it with wooden beads and garland. Then she decorated it with bows, fake poinsettias, and gold ornaments.

Lana made this fun, colourful wreath out of old holiday cards! She cut a variety of cards into small squares, and glued them to a large cardboard circle she'd made. The three "photo" frames are made from card stock. They each contain a pretty picture from a card, but the tops are open so the images can be easily changed to other cards, or to family photos.

We can't believe how awesome these turned out, and how easy they all were to make! These projects are just a small sampling of what's possible with some old holiday items and a little creativity. Take a look around your house, and see what you can come up with!

- Sarah (Staff)

-All photos taken by Reuse Centre Staff

Pinterest 101

Pinterest is a well known social media platform that can be used by anybody. You may be an artist trying to showcase your work or looking for new ideas on how to build a business empire. You may be a hobbyist or artist in search of new project ideas or solutions.

Pinterest is mentioned often on this blog. It's a great resource for finding creative reuse ideas, but it can be intimidating for those who've never used it.

Welcome to Pinterest 101!

I should warn you, you may become addicted instantly!

I think of Pinterest like a giant scrapbook that allows me to keep all the ideas, recipes, and DIYs that I want to do in the future, in one place. This virtual scrapbook is easily organized so that with just a few clicks, I can find what I was looking at months ago. 

Pinterest is different from your regular internet bookmarks bar, because it allows you to attach photos and descriptions for quick reference. It is also shared on the internet, so you can see what other people have saved as well.

Did you know that the City of Edmonton is on Pinterest? There's even a Reuse Centre ideas board.

Setting Up Your Account

Your home feed will look something like this.

After you have signed up for an account, you will see a couple of things on the home page. There is a search bar at the top, your profile name to the top right, and tons of 'pins' below. This is called your 'home feed'.

In the top right, beside your name, you will see 2 thumb tacks that are a mirror image inside a grey icon. Click on that and you will find 3 tabs:

Find this icon on the far right, at the top of your page.

News is an update of what the people you follow pin, follow or like.

You updates you if people pinned or liked your pin. 

Messages is where you can view messages and pins that are sent to you from Pinterest friends and followers.

Building Your Pin Collection

Pins are typically made up of an image, captioned with text and linked to a website. The more boards you follow, the more pins will show up on your home feed.

A pin from the Reuse Centre board.

Sometimes you will see pins on your feed that Pinterest picked for you. Pinterest recommends other pins for you to view, based on the types of boards you follow, and the things you pin. You can also use the search bar to find pins related to a particular project or idea.

Clicking the Pinterest logo on the left will refresh your home feed. Clicking the button showing 3 horizontal bars
(on the right of the search bar) will open up a list of popular search options.

You can do 3 things when you hover on top of a pin with your mouse cursor.

1) Pin it. You can pin a pin on any board you have created. Title your boards to help you stay organized by topic. You might want separate boards for art, fashion, holidays or fitness.

2) Like it. You can 'like' by clicking the heart button, before you pin. This is especially handy if you don't have a suitable board to put it on yet, or maybe you didn't have time to fully read the pin. Sometimes the image can be deceiving and the pin's content doesn't match what you expected to see.

Here's a tip: I recommend not pinning everything you see that you kind of like! I often catch myself on Pinterest showing an interest in everything, and I just want to keep all this information forever without hesitation! Being selective with what I actually pin helps me to know that I saved a post with relevant and proper information.

3) Send it. You can share interesting pins with your friends who are on Pinterest, or send an email to those who aren't.

Staying Organized

Boards are where your pins are organized. Pretty simple and realistic! It's just like a virtual bulletin board.

You have the option to create both regular and secret boards. Regular boards can be seen and followed by anyone. Secret boards can be seen only by you and friends you have authorized. You cannot change this preference later on. Once a secret board, always a secret board.

After you title a board, you have the option to give it a description, give it a cover photo/pin (large image on board), categorize the board for others to search it, and even to allow other followers to collaborate with you on the board. This option is great for people who are working on a project together.

View your boards, or create new ones, by clicking on your name at the top right of your screen.

This is a basic tutorial, but you can reference help.pinterest.com for any questions you may have. You can even search for Pinterest tips and tricks in the Pinterest search bar. It sounds silly, but can be really useful!

I use Pinterest to organize ideas from other reusers from all over the world. I have a do-it-yourself (DIY) board, a home inspiration board, and a things to try board. I find myself looking over these ideas all the time and trying them when I feel inspired!

Enjoy Pinterest and all that it has to offer!

- Michelle (Volunteer)
with additional information and edits by staff

Screencaptures of Pinterest.com taken by Michelle and Reuse Centre staff

Novmber Reuse-it Item: Disposable Cutlery

Plastic cutlery: what do you do with it after you've used it? Resist the urge to chuck it in the garbage! Wash and reuse as-is, or try one of the fantastic ideas that our blogger team has gathered from the web.

Mallory

A few years ago I stumbled upon a lampshade made of plastic spoons, and absolutely loved the idea. Here is a way to reuse something designed to be clearly "disposable", and change its purpose entirely so that you could put it up for display in your house. 

As a pineapple fanatic, I am ecstatic about this idea  and can't wait to try it myself! All you need is a mold (balloon, large jar, etc.), plastic disposable spoons, scissors, and a hot glue gun. Then you're good to go!

Nichole
If someone had told me they made a mirror out of hot glue and plastic spoons, this is definitely not what I would have pictured! I am crazy about these chrysanthemum mirrors, which you can paint any colour to suit your needs. I'm in love with the cherry red on white shown in the picture, but I'm envisioning a mirror like this in jewel tones over a bedside table or makeup vanity. You can get free instructions for this particular mirror on UsefulDIY.com, but I also found a wealth of great examples on Pinterest.

Siao

Sculptures don't necessarily need to be heavy or costly to display in your own home. Although the dragon featured by RuthAnn below is indeed intriguing, if you are more like me, there are simpler and still beautiful sculptures to try, such as this pear.

 

RuthAnn

Most of us probably don't have time or the patience to turn our excess plastic cutlery into exotic art such as this dragon, but what a showstopper!

 

One of my favourite uses for disposable cutlery is to reuse them as small garden stakes when I am planting my seedlings. I use the forks to hold the seed packets, and I often just write on the knives and spoons. 

-Reuse Centre Volunteers

Throw a Travel-Themed Party on a Budget with the Reuse Centre

Planning an event and short on cash for decorations? No problem! You can pull together some travel-themed party decorations with a little bit of crafting and some of the awesome resources from the Reuse Centre.

For this event, I decided to make wall decorations, a banner and a travel-themed signpost. I also printed and cut out “passports” that served as the door prize entries. I’ve also seen similar passport-style invitations and place cards for weddings.

The banner:

1.  First, I collected a stack of old maps from the Reuse Centre. These had fallen out of some donated National Geographic magazines. I also grabbed some poster board remnants and some leftover tissue paper (to be used for wall decorations later).
2. Using a standard word processing program, I printed out the letters I would need for my banner—one letter per 8.5x11 page—and cut them out.
3. I traced these letters onto the maps (varying the colours and types of maps) and cut them out.
4. I glued the map letters onto poster board and cut these out as well.
5. Once I had all my letters, I laid them out face down on the floor in order, careful to get the spacing and alignment right. I used the grooves in my wood floor as my guides.
6. Next, I stretched two lengths of monofilament (fishing line) over each set of letters (I created my banner in two sections, to hang one above the other). I taped the monofilament down to the floor.
7. Using a glue gun, I attached the monofilament to each letter.
8. I hung my new banner! It may shift or drape when you hang it. Gently pull it taut to straighten it out.

Voila!

The wall decorations (seen above and in the image below):

1. I started by selecting travel-themed graphics from a simple Google search.
2. I printed the images onto paper and cut them out to create basic shapes
3. Like the letters, I traced these onto maps and cut out out the outlines. For the moment, I left the interior cuts (e.g. the car windows) alone.
4. I glued the shapes to poster board and cut them out. The board made the images more stable. I used a craft knife to cut out the interior shapes for those images that had them.
5. I cut small pieces of coloured tissue paper and glued them to the back of the shapes with interior openings to create a “stained glass” effect.

Here are some of the other shapes I made.

To fill in blank wall space, I hung up all of the extra maps.

The signpost:

For the arrows, I used an old pack of wooden stakes that I hadn’t gotten around to using in my garden. For the post, I used a scrap piece of 2x2" lumber. Rather than building a support for the bottom, I opted to put the post into an old Christmas tree stand, disguised with a piece of scrap black fabric.

1.       Paint the post and stakes your desired colours.

2.       Choose locations that are relevant to your event or theme. Use Google Maps to find out the distances from where you are.

3.       Paint the locations and distances on the stakes in the correct directions.

4.       Pre-drill each stake for two screws (to avoid splitting the wood) and then screw each stake to the post. I opted to put stakes on all four sides, but you could easily do one or two only.

5.       Set the post in the Christmas tree stand and straighten it. Tighten the screws and cover the stand with fabric.

Where's your next destination?

Bon voyage!!

- RuthAnn (volunteer)

All photos provided by RuthAnn