100 Ways to Repurpose Everything (Mega Roundup!)
Think this title is a tall order? Well, you’re in for a post of epic eco-tastic proportions. So epic that you may need to give your computer or mobile device an extra moment to load all of our pretty pictures.
Seeing as we love to repurpose just about anything under the sun, we’re celebrating Earth Day by serving up 100 of our favorite ways to upcycle, reuse, and transform everyday materials into creative new things to wear, hang on the wall, and give to friends.
1. Newspaper Party Hats: We’ll kick things off with a must for any celebration: party hats! We used newspaper and pom poms to create this quick and easy hats, perfect for any occasion.
2. Shoebox Wall Shelves: How chic and colorful are these shoebox shelves?
3. T-Shirt Bolero: We love this summery take on a bolero jacket.
4. Paint Chip Garlands: Got stockpiles of paint chips in your craft room? Turn them into fun garlands with help from your trusty sewing machine.
5. Sweater Bow Tie: If you’ve got a ton of sweaters looking a little tired after a long winter, you should definitely same them and turn them into bow ties! :)
6. Pallet Dining Set: Definitely on the more complex side, this pallet dining set is as beautiful as it is affordable.
7. Yoga Mat Bulletin Board: The first of 20 ways to repurpose a yoga mat, we love the bright blue hue of this bulletin board. Before using a yoga mat for repurposing, be sure to have it professionally cleaned.
8. One Belt, Five Accessories: We turned one belt into a five awesome accessories.
9. Turn Boxes into Storage Bins: Guess what makes the shape of these colorful bins? Cardboard shipping boxes!
10. Newspaper Wreath: Love the look of this newspaper wreath for any time of year.
11. Chalkboard Dish Set: If you’ve got a mismatched set of dishes, add a chalkboard stripe to all of them to create a cohesive set.
Snap Top Shoulder Top
See? T-shirts can be chic.
13. Balloon-Dipped Mason Jars: Need to decorate in a pinch? Use balloons to create this dipped mason jars.
14. Thumbtack Wall Art: For a quick wall art fix, use thumbtacks to create patterns on canvas.
15. Sweater Planter: We love the warm and cozy look of this planter.
16. Hex Nut Accessories: It turns out hardware stores totally double as jewelry supply stores ;)
17. Remote Control Bangles: Still hanging on to that VHS remote and not sure why? Turn it into a set of geek chic bangles.
18. Bootcut Jeans into Skinnies: Your bootcut jeans are getting dusty – revive them by turning them into skinny jeans!
19. Bobby Pin Pendants: We painted these bobby pins with regular old nail polish to create sweet pendants.
20. Safety Pin Bracelet: It’s time for… the safety dance!
21. Yoga Mat Coffee Cozy: Again, loving the bright blue hue of this yoga mat cozy.
22. Coffee Filter Pennant Banner: Bought the wrong type of coffee filters and can’t return them? Use watercolors to turn them into lovely summery pennant banners.
23. Fabric Shoebox Art: Another shoebox trick, we covered shoebox tops with fabric and studs to make beautiful wall art.
24. Washer Snowflakes: Bookmark this one for winter dinner parties.
25. Vegetable Vases: Repurposing vegetables? Why not?!
26. T-Shirt Necklaces: All you need is a electrical tape to make your own trio of nautical necklaces.
27. Use Balloons as Reusable Ice Packs: How genius is this? When the ice melts, refreeze it in the freezer or… turn it into a water balloon.
28. Newspaper Faux Lantern: This colorful number is great for a playroom.
29. Zipper Bracelets: Next time you need to get a zipper replaced, hang on to that broken zipper and turn it into one of these awesome bracelets.
30. Lacy Mason Jars: So romantic!
31. Hoodie Skirt: One too many hoodies in your closet? Turn one of them into the comfiest skirt around.
32. Colored Pencil Accessories: Never worry about not having a writing utensil again.
33. Safety Pin Ring: A close cousin of the safety pin bracelet, this is the perfect way to use all those teeny tiny gold safety pins you’ve been saving for no apparent reason.
34. Newspaper iPad Mini Case: Love the look of this iPad mini case.
35. Yoga Mat Laptop Case: Speaking of ways to protect your tech, a yoga mat makes a super durable laptop case.
36. Cozy Tablet Covers: And for your bedside devices, turn an old sweater into a tablet sleeve.
37. Safety Pin Statement Necklace: We’d love to do a take on this that involves neon. Stay tuned.
38. Beer Bottle Bud Vases: Next time you have a party, save some of your bottles to create a set of bud vases.
39. Colorful Coffee Filter Earrings: For a boho chic look, combine painted coffee filters with duct tape to make a totally unique set of earrings.
40. Duct Tape Rosette Accessories: Great to use for gifts, on rings, in your hair, and on the wall.
41. Butterfly Coverup: Bikini season is almost here!
42. Balloon Bud Vases: Another quick hostess hack, you can turn any glass into a bud vase by pulling a balloon over it. Genius.
43. Newspaper Outlet Cover: Add a little personality to your power source.
44. Drawstring Tube Top: We combined two t-shirts to create this summery top.
45. Key Ring + Washer Bracelets: We love this hack on making your own bracelets.
46. Upcycle Jeans into Cocktail Napkins: We used bleach to create subtle prints on old pieces of denim.
47. Turn Books into Clocks: The thing we love most about this one is that the book can actually stay fairly functional.
48. Meet the Pocket Tie: Need a top secret compartment?
49. Floppy Disk Planters: Talk about nerd alert!
50. Jewel Case Planter: Who knew jewel cases had a reason to stay around?
51. Sleeveless T-Shirt Hoodie: We might have to add a hood to all of our favorite summer tees.
52. Fabric Beach Wrap: This handy tutorial will show you how to turn any yard of stretchy fabric into a beach wrap. You could even do it by sewing a few t-shirts together!
53. Use an iPhone Case as a Chocolate Mold: We tend to get a lot of random schwag here at Brit + Co, including dozens of iPhone cases. At first, we had no idea how to use all of these cases… until we realized that a silicone iPhone case totally doubles as a chocolate mold.
54. The Universal Party Glass: Combine tumblers with shot glasses to create your own set of universal party glasses. It’s like the mullet of glassware.
55. Newspaper + Magazine Flowers: Last minute birthday party? Add personality to your gift with a simple newspaper flower.
56. DIY Cherry Blossoms: Speaking of flowers made from paper, we used coffee filters to create sweet little cherry blossoms on a found twig.
58. Embroidery Hoop Clock: Never got into the embroidery thing but have a whole bunch of hoops? Check out this tutorial to learn how to turn them into clocks.
59. Coffee Filter Hair Clips: We love these bright coffee filter flowers, even in our hair!
60. Fishnet Mason Jars: You can use fishnets to create fun and unique patterns on mason jars. Bookmark it!
61. Make a Headband from Your Own Hair: Talk about repurposing! Watch the video above to see how to turn your own hair into a hippie headband.
62. USB Message in a Bottle: We finally found a use for all those old USB drives you have on your desk. Turn them into messages in a bottle!
63. Jewel Case Makeup Palette: Such a great way to cart around your favorite shadows, powders, and blushes.
64. Boho String Lights: Make a few cuts in coffee filters and hang over a strand of string lights.
65. Yoga Mat Drawer Liner: Sick of everything in your drawer rushing to the front every time you open it?
66. Turn a Sweater into Fingerless Gloves: Perfect for brisk spring nights and smartphone use.
67. Coffee Filter Gift Packaging: If you need to send a fragile object, shred up some coffee filters for makeshift packaging.
68. Yoga Mat Seat Cushion: You can totally get your yoga fix at the office… or at least on your office chair.
69. Yoga Mat Floor Protectors: Protect hardware floors by creating floor protectors from yoga mat scraps.
70. Yoga Mat Wrist Protector + Mousepad: And two more yoga moves for your workspace. Create a wrist protector and a mousepad!
71. T-Shirt Pom Poms: We. Love. Pom Poms! Especially when they’re made out of free t-shirts.
72. DIY Tea Bags: If you’ve got a favorite loose leaf tea but want to take it on the road, use coffee filters to create your own DIY tea bags.
DVD Clock
Not sure how we feel about the movie Hitch, but love this use of an old DVD.
74. Jewel Case Wall Photo Collage: Jewel cases totally double as photo frames!
75. Sweater Coffee Cozy: Cozy time! These make us want a hot cup of tea… even on this hot spring day.
76. Yoga Mat Cozy: For a little more structure, yoga mats also make great cozie.
77. DIY Pocket Scarf: Turn a stretched out sweater with pockets into a pocket scarf. Win!
78. Cozy Winter Cuffs: We made these cuffs out of yarn and old mason jar rings.
79. Mason Jar Cap Wreath: Speaking of mason jar rings, how adorable is this wreath?
80. Yoga Dish Rack: We still use this as the drain for our dish rack here at Brit HQ!
81. Sweater Skirt: A skirt with pockets made from an old sweater? It’s getting hacky in here :)
82. Ornament Necklace + Crown: Turn old Christmas ornaments into a fun statement necklace or crown for New Year’s Eve.
83. Soft Mosaic Table: This looks like it’s straight out of Anthropologie, but it’s actually pretty easy to make. Stitch a few pieces of old sweaters together and staple onto a side table.
84. Playing Card Gift Notes: For a creative take on a gift note, send someone you love a deck of cards with 52 notes attached to each card.
85. Sweater Boot Toppers: Keep those calves cozy in your boots by using old sweater sleeves as boot toppers.
86. Egg Carton Centerpiece: How cute is this centerpiece?
87. Map Shadowbox Frames: Celebrate a recent trip by creating a custom shadowbox with a shoebox top, a map, and a photo from your travels.
88. Pallet Couch: For a cheap and easy couch, stock up on a few pallets, pillows, and get to work.
Gold Animal Toys
We’re not sure that everyone has plastic animal toys hanging around… but if you do, you’ll love all of these cute DIY projects.
90. Newspaper Manicure: A good style hack for copywriters and editors alike.
91. Patterned Wine Bottle Vases: Wine bottles can get in on the bud vase action too!
92. Paper Clip Bookmarks: Use washi tape to add a little flag to the top of paper clips to turn them into bookmarks. So cute.
93. Nesting Rope Bowls: All we used is rope and hot glue to create our own custom set of nesting bowls.
94. Turn Plates and Glasses into Cake Stands: Setting up a dessert table and have no idea where to get a cake stand before the big event? Simply glue the bottom of a plate to the bottom of a glass and you’re good to go!
95. Watch Wrap Bracelets: We combined an old watch with a broken necklace to create this lovely wrap bracelet.
96. DIY Shirt Dresses: How hot are these dresses made from men’s shirts?
97. T-Shirt Tote Bag: Such a great use of old college or concert t-shirts.
98. Eggshell Candles: We love these sweet homemade candles, made using wax, eggshells, and a wick!
99. CD Tower Earring Holder + Bangle Stand: We knew we kept those CD towers around for a reason… ;)
100. Duct Tape Feather Earrings: Last, but certainly not least, duct tape feather earrings!
