I would not label myself a packrat, no…not by any means, but I do like to reuse materials, packaging, boxes and bags whenever I can. I, like many others, flip through magazines and ooh and ahh over the color coordinated and decorative organizers and dream of having a place for everything! In many prominent areas of my house, I do use decorative organizers, or baskets, but in places that it really does not matter, I try to recycle different store packaging to suit my needs. Today, for example, I was looking for a needle and thread and was annoyed when , out of my sewing bag, I pulled out tangled thread, bits of fabric, notions, sewing machine parts, how-to books, etc. I could not find what I wanted quickly. So, I pulled out my box of store packaging that I keep. When I say store packaging, I am talking about those plastic bags that comforters, sheets and curtains come in, or altoids tins, Folgers plastic coffee cans, or anything that I might be able to recycle into something useful. Today, the plastic bags that misc. curtains came in, the bag that my sheets came in, two altoid tins and a Flash drive box and a couple of labels became organizers for my sewing bag. The sewing bag itself is a New Orleans conference goodie bag that I rescued from the trash at work. Yes, I know, pathetic huh?
Anyway, this is how I reused the packaging:
ta-da!
I guess you can tell that I am not a serious sewer. My sewing is limited to curtains, potholders, finger puppets, doll dresses and light embroidery. This method would probably offend some serious sewers, but since I am not inhibited with the title of “serious”, this works for me! I will try to post often on some more creative use/recycling tips. Recycling does not have to be limited to newspaper or cans. There are many every day objects that people throw away that can be reused. I recycle a lot in my scrapbooking too. I will have to show you different items I use from packaging to make cute tags. Recycling does not have to be ugly. If you do it in the right way, you can take something that was going to be thrown away and give it a new purpose.
Check this out, it is a house in New York that was completely remodeled using reclaimed lumber, thrift store and Craig’s List finds, as well as furniture picked up from the curb! I love it!
Andrea
Perpetual Renovator 
nice one Andrea,
I also live in a world of reused. I just cant seem to throw broken or non purposeful objects away or I find myself trying to resist taking home a piece of neglected material that I find in public.
Material like plastic that you know is going to be around forever has life span value and there is no point throwing it back into the recycling stream that uses more energy and I feel it will most certainly come in useful at some point.
Alot of things can be restored, People like you and I have a guilty conscious combinded with a creative passion to create good design.
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