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.

Featured Company: TerraCycle Turns Trash into Useful Products

It's great to see upcycling make it to the news headlines and big companies with funding emeging as a result:

TerraCycle make millions recycling trash and turn it into useful products, such as fertilizers.

Watching their video gives you a clear view of how much the company is doing for upcycling! Look at how they re-use glass bottles:

Or take a look at their chair beautified by candy wrappers!

Great cause to participate in!

Crafts from Trash: Scrapbooking with Found Objects by Christy Strickler

Welcome to our next edition of "Featured Readers' Crafts"

Today we are featuring a great series by Christy Strickler over at MyScrapbookEvolution.com

Christy uses all possible items she can find (including shopping bags, plastic lids, and metal pop tab lids) to add texture to your papercraft projects and create awesome-looking crafts!

Please check out Christy's series here: Scrapbooking with found objects

Here are some great scrapbooking supplies:

From Shopping Bag to Layout:

From Scraps to Woven Layers:

DIY Stencils from Lids:

Thanks for sharing these with us, Christy!