Everything we buy will eventually make it to the trash. Whether it’s because it gets worn out, breaks, or we just don’t need it anymore. However, the following 18 ideas will help you extend the life of some of your items by giving them a new purpose instead of what they probably were originally designed to do.
Using a CD holder as a bagel container or a ketchup bottle to make pancakes are just some of the great tips you’ll find to extend some of your items and prevent them from going to the thrash prematurely.
1) Use a cork bulletin board to pin your jewelry.
2) Transform old cassette cases into imaginative gift card boxes.
3) Have old CD spindle cases? Turn them into bagel containers!
4) Need more upcycling ideas for CD spindles? Use them to store wires and cables!
5) Don’t stain your shirts anymore by using muffin liners to prevent drips from popsicles.
6) Use empty ketchup bottles for pouring pancake batter.
7) Use LEGO bricks to securely hold and organize your keys.
8) Use Mason jars to store your salad for work. Put your dressing first in the bottom of the jar and your ingredients will stay crisp until ready to eat.
9) Recycle used tissue boxes to hold plastic bags instead.
10) Instead of throwing out a broken refrigerator, use it to store your games and as a TV stand.
11) Reuse old utensils as wall hooks.
12) Store food or other items from your pantry in an old door shoe rack.
13) Instead of throwing out expired credit cards, turn them into guitar picks.
14) Bend old wrenches into wall hooks.
15) Transform old bottles or cups into unique lighting fixtures.
16) Have holes in your fence? Use marbles to plug them up.
17) Recycle paper tubes and use them to organize your wires and cables.
18) Transform a wine box into a decorative shoe box.
Turn a broken piano into a hidden workbench.
Turn broken pots into plant markers.
Create a fish tank out of an old computer monitor.
Even if the monitor’s still working, you know nobody’s going to use it.
Make wind chimes out of broken dishes and silverware.
Turn an old dresser into a bench.
Make a glove out of an old or ripped up stuffed animal.
Turn chipped teacups into cute curtain tiebacks.
Or make lighting out of them.
Turn broken rackets into mirrors.
Create a swing out of a broken chair.
Get rid of the broken glass and turn your picture frame into an earring holder display.
Turn old and/or torn books into shelves.
Turn a broken door into a coat rack.
Or use it to create a crafting table.
Get rid of the strings and turn a broken guitar into a unique shelf.
Turn parts of a broken desk into a nightstand.
Create a multi-serving tray out of a broken chandelier.
Melt your old crayons to make new ones.
Turn a broken umbrella into one of those ginormous kid parachute things.
Rip a piece out of your already ripped up jeans and turn them into napkins.
Turn a broken ladder into bookshelves.
Or use them as foundations to a birdhouse.
Create two desks out of a broken table.
Turn a broken screen door into a pot rack for your kitchen.
Turn a worn-out mattress spring into a pinboard and/or desk organizer.
Combine broken mini blinds together to create a picture frame.
Turn broken jewelry into magnets.
Turn a broken rake into a wineglass holder.
Create a sofa out of a broken bathtub.