In our continued efforts to divert items away from the bin, relegated to the back of the cupboard, or landfill, we’ve gotten creative in finding uses for bits and pieces you might have lying around. Keep heirlooms in use, or add individuality to your every day by making these items a part of your life in a whole new way.
1. PET BOWLS
If you’ve visited any second-hand store recently, you’ll notice there’s always plenty of glass and crystal available. It can be a little intimidating to use crystal every day for its ‘fancy’ connotations, and second hand pieces often don’t come with enough to make up a matching table setting. So what to do with it all? Have you asked your cat?
1. PET BOWLS
If you’ve visited any second-hand store recently, you’ll notice there’s always plenty of glass and crystal available. It can be a little intimidating to use crystal every day for its ‘fancy’ connotations, and second hand pieces often don’t come with enough to make up a matching table setting. So what to do with it all? Have you asked your cat?
[IMAGE: A second hand pressed glass bowl, and a very excited cat]
Easy to clean in the sink, and just a little bit fancy, it’s a great way make meal times with your furry friend a little more special, with only one small bowl (or parfait glass) needed. Our model here knows that when the crystal comes out he’s in for a special treat.
2. VASES
The last time I went shopping for a large glass vase for displaying a faux arrangement, I ended up paying over $50 new. It was large, plain, and simple, and continues to work well for its purpose.
[IMAGE: An overflowing, portable faux flower arrangement in a large tea pot]
But out of all the ‘vases’ I own, one of the best is a vintage teapot with multiple cracks. No longer food safe and divorced from any matching cups or saucers, no longer ‘useful’, it can be hard to envision a new purpose for something no longer fit for the shape it was made for. The handle helps too!
TIP: If you’d like to try this out, try to find a teapot with a wider base to provide extra stability. The usual tricks such as sand or pebbles work to add extra heft, or in a pinch, dry rice.
3. CONTAINERS & HOLDERS
If you’re reading this, you’re very likely to have trinkets. Keys, pens, hand creams, receipts, a watch, rings, elastic bands, medications, letters, the usual detritus of life. Make tidying and sorting a little easier on yourself – and a bit more stylish – by repurposing old dishes for a different purpose.
A small serving tureen, soup bowl, sugar pot – all make excellent receptacles for hand creams and hair ties, a silver plated bread basket for removing your end-of-the-day watch, and an old depression glass jar for a pen cup. We can highly recommend the trusty toast rack, which doubles up as an excellent place to keep letters, notebooks, cards and notes.
4. PINCUSHIONS
This one takes a little bit more DIY knowledge, but not much!
An old broken teacup, a silver plated wine coaster, even the lid of a teapot - all make a great base for an elegant pincushion. A hollowed out shape can be fitted with a scrap of your favourite fabric, a bit of padding – either other small scraps, rice, old clothing, or wadding - and simply pad out the insert for an adorable, decorative pincushion.
[IMAGE: A pincushion made from a silver plated wine coaster, that gets plenty of use here at OSR!]
This is just the start of what can be done, easily, simply, and reversibly – so if you’re inspired, share this post around with those thrifty people in your life. We hope to see you again soon with another instalment of repurposing ideas!