Upcycle an Old Book into a Purse (+Instruction)

One of my readers emailed me asking for some instructions on how to turn a book into a purse. I did some research and picked some of the nicest looking DIY projects to answer the question.

I have already listed cool book purses but there are no instructions. This time I made sure each project had a detailed instruction.

Here you go: How to upcycle an old book into a cute purse:

1. How to make a purse/clutch from a Book

 

I LOVE what it looks like!

Full instruction: How to make a purse/clutch from a Book

2. Turn an Old Book into a New Purse by A Beautiful Mess 

Depending on the book color you'll need to pick a matching material. I wish it had a holder but it looks neat nonetheless! You look like smart fashionista!

Full instruction: Turn an Old Book into a New Purse

3. Homemade Book Clutch 

This one comes with a very details instruction and it looks like a real book from outside. But the inside looks very practical!

Full instruction: Homemade Book Clutch

Bonus: Book iPad cover!

This one has no instruction but what an idea! If you get excited by one of the above purses, there's nothing stopping you from implementing the same techniques to create a cool iPad cover!

(Source)

More upcycled purses for your inspiration:

• Candy Wrappers Purse
• Stylish Vinyl Records Purse
• Recycle Tetrapak into a Coin Purse 

3 Upcycled DIY Ideas for Cute Photo Frames

It's spring-summer time! The season of traveling and family time: LOTS of memories to keep, share and decorate your home with.

Here are three fresh ideas to create upcycled photo frames to store and display your cherished memories:

Old tart pans (old flan tins) into picture frames

Very neat and touching idea: Collect your memories! These could be good for family pictures, food photos, your fitness tips or your memories captured through Instagram.

(Couldn't find the source!)

Metal trays into magnet boards

Turn those old trays into your family message board! Exchange notes with kids and clip your to-do list here. This looks cuter than a fridge!
Source

Clothespin DIY Frame

The beauty of this clothespin DIY frame is that you can change the pictures as often as you want! Plus it looks really neat:

Happy decorating!

More photo frames:

• Magazine Paper Photo Frame
• Expired Plastic Cards Photo Frame
• Plastic Straw Photo Frame
• Rolled Recycled Magazine Pages into the Mirror Frame
• Recycling Idea for Reclaimed Wood

Old Socks into Stylish Gloves

Great idea for fashionistas! And for moms looking to educate their little girls on sustainability and upcycling (as well as have fun time with them).

Turn your old sucks into neat fingerless gloves. Let your imagination fly: Come up with different-colored decor elements to match your manicure!

Instructions are here; Discovered on Pinterest. Thank you, Dr Elaine Nicholls, for sharing this great resource!

For more upcycling fashion ideas, subscribe to the awesome Pinterest board: Refashion

More upcycling fashion ideas from this blog:

• 5 Awesome Book Purses
• Repurposing Last Season's Sandals
• Vinyl Record into a Cool Necklace
• Film Negatives Handbags
• Chick iPhone Outfit
• Candy Wrappers Purse
• Pop Tabs Wristlet Bag
• Cool Newspaper Handbags
• Stylish Bracelets Made of Negatives
• A Geeky Keyboard Belt
• Stylish Vinyl Records Purse

Recycling Idea for Reclaimed Wood [from Our Reader]

Francesca Crolley of Nansulate.com has shared this cool tip with us:

We've had a few people that use our clear lead encapsulation coating to repurpose relaimed wood. This company is one that uses the reclaimed wood from Hurricane Katrina for picture frames

By using a clear coat over the wood that's a lead encapsulant, you can make sure that it is safe for use by others while keeping its unique look.

Gardening Bench Workstation: From Our Readers

Rhonda White of Her Christian Home has a very neat idea of a gardening bench workstation to have all her pots and tools there. So she turned her “Baker’s Rack” into her very own Gardening Bench Workstation! And a really beautiful one! I think it will make any garden prettier and cozier!

Please check the whole tutorial here!

Rhonda also has an awesome Pinterest board where she curates all kinds of fun upcycling ideas. Check it out and follow!

An Old Door into a Cute Bench

Staci Edwards at Switch Studio used an old door to create this awesome piece of furniture. What a lovely idea! The bench looks really stylish and neat: I love the minimal feel, yet the cozy atmosphere it creates! It doesn't look like huge work too! Another proof that stylish home doesn't need to cost a fortune!

Steal the idea!

Before:

After:

A special thanks goes to Wayne for sharing this awesome project (and many more!) with me!

Old Farm Machinery Bits into Garden Decor

We continue featuring our readers and frugal living advicates. In today's edition David Leonhardt shares how he has turned old farm machinery into garden decor and tools

I've placed a few rusted, but nicely-formed, bits of old farm machinery in my garden.  Rather than ship it all to the dump when cleaning out the old barn, I used some as decor.  I had also found a couple old metal pots (from 100 years ago, perhaps?) which I now use to water plants beyond the reach of the hose.