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Saturday, April 20, 2019

A to Z Challenge - 2019 - R is for Repurpose and Recycle

Moving right along in the 10th Annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge we come to the letter "R" which stands for Repurpose, Reuse and Recycle.   I love experimenting with things and when I see some ordinary item I immediately start thinking about what else I could use it for.  Take these Laughing Cow cheese containers.  I really like this cheese so we had quite a few empty ones and I wondered what I could do with them.



This is what I came up with.  A little Halloween container for a mini-album of course.  




There is a string of about 8 to 10 circles held together that pull out from the base. 


I thought it would be fun to put pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes.   


It might also be a cute gift for the hostess of the costume party!


Another thing we seemed to have a lot of was CDs.  They came in some magazines we were getting and they used to get sent in the mail so you could install AOL (yes, I am dating myself!).  


So I decided to cover them and make a Christmas mini.  I punched a hole in the side so I could use a ring to hold them together. 


I think this would make a great gift for the hostess of the Christmas party or as one of the gifts in a Secret Santa.


There is a pocket inside so if you wanted to use it as a gift card holder that would work too.  


There is ribbon around the metal ring that holds it closed. 


These were some water bottles that I used as gift holders for Easter.  Inside I put candy, pencils, little toys and things like that.  I tied a ribbon around the top with a tag with the initial of the recipient on it.  They came out okay but I've never done them again.  Water bottles are too small to use I think. 


My daughter was putting all her CDs into a holder and had lots of cases leftover. 


Guess what?  Another mini album!  This one is for Mother's day.  Inside the case I glued paper so that it opens up and there is a flower pocket to hold a message or a gift card. 



This one is for Halloween.  






And then there are the tea boxes.  I drink A LOT of tea and the boxes were just so cute.


I covered the boxes with paper and put a bunch of tags inside with messages and spots to write notes.


This one is for Mother's Day but I have done them for Father's Day as well.  Ribbon is again tied around the ring that holds the tags together. 


I love the tags and colors in this one.  


I bought some sheets a while ago and they were wrapped around these cardboard holders.  Of course I saved them.  They will make great sturdy covers for... mini-albums!  I just haven't figured out what themes to use yet.  Maybe travel.  I've been meaning to do one of those.    


















Am I the only one who sees these things and wonders what to do with them?  All of them can easily be thrown into the recycle bin and the garbage company will take them away to melt them down or whatever they do but I think my way is more fun, don't you?  You can find these and others on my Etsy site and if you can think of a theme you'd like to see one made into let me know!

"Rib" is the prompt for the #SoCS today so I'm glad I've been able to incorporate it into my little story here.

Tomorrow is Sunday so there is no A to Z.  I missed last week's Song Lyric Sunday but maybe I'll be able to play this week.  I'm going to try to make the rounds to some new A to Z-ers too and make sure I have the letters ready for the last week of the Challenge.  Have a Happy Easter!



#AtoZChallenge 2019 Tenth Anniversary blogging from A to Z challenge letter

16 comments:

  1. I like the CD christmas ornament idea. I reuse my CD cases to make eyeshadow palettes. You are not the only one who keeps cartons and containers for other things. I hate throwing containers away, it makes for a lot of waste. Jackie's Bookbytes Letter R

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    1. That's a good idea for the CD cases too. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Sometimes I get weird looks from my family when I talk about "what I could make with this" LOL. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. CDs are great for very small quilts too, and I have a lot of small boxes everywhere ;)
    R = Rulers

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  3. I’m always saving things. I tear apart the grandchildren’s happy meal boxes as the bottom part makes a great book cover. It has the fold - just needs covering.

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  4. I'm a big fan of R/R/R as well Janet. It's fun to see what you can create from salvaged things, and I love you're able to incorporate recycled things in your biz offerings as well.

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    1. Thanks Deborah. My son gave me another cardboard insert from sheets yesterday!

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  5. Great ideas for reusing and recycling items.

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    1. Thanks Wendy! I love those challenges to figure out something new to do.

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  6. I've been following your challenge I think right from A and I have to say you have some AMAZING ideas!! Every day I am so excited to see what you've put up for your theme and I am never disappointed! I wish I was into making things like this. It looks like so much fun! But I've never gotten into it.

    Giggling Fattie
    www.noloveforfatties.com

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words. When I first started the challenge I wondered if anyone would even be interested. I am equally enjoying your posts!

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  7. A cheese box and tea box would have gone right into the recycle bin at my house. I would have had no vision for reusing them.

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    1. I had to really force myself to get rid of a bunch of them and other things I was holding on to "just in case" when I moved into the studio. I still saved more than I should have so another purge might be in order...that or a creative marathon!

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  8. I started with "S" and kept reading through "R". Your ideas are beautiful and clever.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!