Upcycling ideas

I am a big fan of repurposing old items into something new (my office desk), pretty and useful, especially if it keeps junk out of the landfill. This holiday season, I am aiming to buy gifts locally or make as many as can. I started doing this when my oldest son was a baby. One year everyone in my family got tailor made "fridge poetry" (back before non-magnetic stainless refrigerators were everywhere). Another year I made dog bed covers (which was really quite exceptional because I cannot sew to save my life). In my early years of soap making, they got a lot of bath and body products. Everyone should be suitably impressed because this was way before the days of Pinterest and even Google.

I really like some of the items here, particularly the knife block crayon holder, kids kitchen and dog bed hideaway. There are great gift ideas here as well. Some of them are a bit ambitious (the wine bottle chandelier) but others look quite easy. A good bit of the projects require you to knock over a paint store (101 craft projects with paint chips...). There are lots and lots of projects made with old maps, plastic bags, and the inevitable mason jar. This site has the motherload of upcycled gifts, including this awesome suede fringe purse!

I haven't decided what I will make this year though I am hoping to come up with a good sewing project. My 11 year old daughter got a sewing machine last year and, even though I don't know how to use it, I think she can teach me. I have a lot of gorgeous African fabric so perhaps we'll make something with that.

***When possible, I used a link that shows all the items on one page because I HATE slideshows.