Passion for Repurpose

Omg, I feel like I have a million things to talk about tonight. I’m really excited to share with you guys some ways that I repurpose a few common household objects that are usually thrown away and forgotten about. The thing is, nothing just goes “away.”  It’s in a landfill, taking hundreds or even thousands of years to decompose! Once I started noticing that certain sauces comes in pretty nice jars and that there are lots of crafts you can make with wine corks and bottle caps, it has become harder to toss most things in the trash. I know I showed you before my recycling system with my big bags and that’s where most stuff goes if I decide I can’t use it for something else. I like to make sure I can’t use it, someone else can’t use it, and it’s not recyclable before throwing anything away. Just something to think about. We could all stand to be a little less wasteful!!

These are cute little bins I got from Dollar Tree. I hot glued some magnets on the back and stuck them to the fridge so they can collect my crafting supplies 😊. 

This is my repurposed cork board turned necklace display. Just some push pins strategically placed makes a nice way to hang necklaces so you can see them and they won’t get tangled. 

For earrings I cut a piece of plastic canvas and slid in into a picture frame. Works great for keeping them organized! I hardly ever wear earrings so it also works great for catching the dust and keeping it off my dresser 😉. 

My bracelets go on an old coffee cup tree. They’re easy to get to and easy to see. Ha, I just made a rhyme 😂. 

I store some of my rings on a pretty straw stood up in an empty essential oil bottle. 

All together it makes a pretty cute setup! (If I do say so myself 😉). 

As I was organizing my craft supplies the other day, I took a pic of the colored pencil sorter I made a while back. I cut a large oatmeal container in half and pushed toilet paper rolls in so that they fit snugly. I covered it with some duct tape to make it pretty and then separated my pencils by color. You guys all do that too, right? Right? No, just me? Whatever. 🙄

Lastly, I reuse spice jars when they become empty to store my seasoning mixes. Today was a perfect Fall day for making chili. Since I was mixing spices for a batch I just went ahead and made two more so next time I can just dump one in and go. No need to waste money on the seasoning packets at the store. They’re made of the same spices you most likely already have in your pantry and you get to control the amount of salt you use. I always think they’re too salty. 

While the chili was cooking I mixed up a batch of pumpkin cream cheese muffins that Phil(ip) said are delicious but I’ve been having an attack of the killer allergies and haven’t been able to taste anything for days! 😩 Total bummer. I was hoping when I woke up this morning that my taste would be back because we got some really great coffee in the mail yesterday (Philz Coffee, if you’re curious. I originally bought it because I thought it was funny to give Phil Philz Coffee but now we love it. It ships from CA and costs too much so we don’t get it often but it’s so worth it. Get the Tesora blend if you’re looking for something to knock your socks off 😉).  Anyway, I patiently waited for the kettle to boil and then loving poured the steaming water over those luxurious coffee grounds, first letting it bloom and then adding more a little at a time until the kettle was empty. I should’ve known something was off because the smell was very muted but my senses were clouded by anticipation. I creamed it up and added a little sugar (I know, I know 🙄😕). I took a small sip so I wouldn’t scold my tongue...and I got nothin’. Stupid allergies, I’m so over you. I should’ve just drank it black and saved myself the calories. Blah. 

Anyway, I’m hoping I’ll be able to taste these babies tomorrow!

The only plants still producing in the garden are the peppers. I cut one up for the chili and then chopped the other two for the freezer. That’s what I plan to do with the rest, as soon as they get slightly bigger.  I love my Food Saver system so much! I don’t get paid to say that but I wish I did so if any Food Saver execs are reading this, get ahold of me 😉. Seriously though, super useful for preserving frozen foods but we also use it to reseal chips, brown sugar, and well, pretty much anything that comes in a bag. 

I told you that we froze a ton of tomatoes and planned to can with them..well we did and it worked! No need to blanche them, just run under some warm water to thaw and the skins peel right off. However, beware, the inside is still frozen so peeling an entire bag full of tomato popsicles isn’t exactly fun. The resulting pizza sauce was pretty awesome though! We made a small batch a couple of weeks ago and we’re already have half through it. What can I say? We’re saucy people. The tomatoes to left in the pic below were warmed and the ones in the middle had been skinned and were awaiting coring and chopping. 

We finally had to remove the tomato jungle. It was sad because there were still lots of green ones on the vines but they were just falling and rotting. I wanted to leave some of them but Phil(ip) thinks tomatoes don’t have feelings and cold heartedly started ripping them all out while I was tilling up the fairy garden! 😳 

They were quite a mess. Lesson for next year, figure out a system that is...not this. 

We have one more bed to tear out, Disaster Zone Minor, aka bed 3, and of course, the pepper bed when it finishes. My indoor plants are doing great! This is my beautiful basil, below. 

Coming soon: a hydroponic garden! It’s on the never ending list of projects but it’s pretty high up. We recently resumed work on finishing our basement bathroom drywall that’s been on hold for the last 8 years 😳. I’m just gonna say that sanding drywall sucks and I remember why we haven’t finished it before now. However, I’ll be very pleased when it’s finished so onward we go! Because no project could ever be completed without our trusty supervisor, Sansa had to sneak in and oversee 🙄. Oh well, she washes I guess. The carpet will be gone eventually, too, when we lay tile. 

One last thing I wanted to share: our newest hobby (other than figuring out all the ways not to do things) is making paracord crafts. I really like it, even though the para is short for parachute and we all know I don’t wanna see another one of those anytime soon! 😂 




We even stitched a new band for my watch in a joint effort. Unfortunately it was just a tad too small and I tried pulling on it to loosen it and broke the fastener (another lesson learned 🙄). 

I also created this cute little guy with the help of a YouTube video. You can find how-to’s of anything on YouTube, I swear. I learned how to change the headlight on my car today by watching one. Philip would’ve showed me but I’m a big girl so I wanted to do it myself 😉. 

And here’s a final pic, a goodnight from Sansa-butt (it’s a fitting nickname, trust me).