Fifty Things to Upcycle Into Something Amazing - Part Four

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Number Thirty One: Coffee Filters Into Flower Puffs

We’ve known people to go and buy coffee filters just to create this craft project for wedding or bridal showers, but in our case we used it when somebody inadvertently purchased the wrong coffee filters for our drip machine! Conveniently, we had a child’s birthday party coming up and were able to turn the extra coffee filters into cute decorative flowers. The best part was that they were easily decomposable after the event. That’s a win in our books.

Image via Popsugar

Number Thirty Two: Honey Bears Into Room Décor

This is another one that’s absolutely great if you have children in the house – or simply like to decorate with a whimsical style. Firstly, begin to sweeten more of your drinks with honey you have on hand instead of refined sugar – it’s healthier for you. Once you’ve done that, you can switch to purchasing your honey in those adorable honey bear bottles. And once you’ve had what we admit will be a significant amount of honey, you can paint the bottles, fill them with flowers and turn them into adorable room décor. These upcycled honey bear décor examples were painted gold, but there’s a whole world of color out there!

Image via Popsugar

Number Thirty Three: Mint Containers Into Travel Candles

We’re a fan of travel candles because, let’s face it, most hotels smell pretty gross. But travel candles can also be the kind of eco-unfriendly one-off that makes us cringe just a bit. Not to worry! Here’s a great DIY to upcycle old candle wax and empty mint tins into travel candles. We think this is a win all around. You don’t waste your old candle wax. You don’t waste your store-bought mint tins. Your hotel room (or tent for that matter) smells great, and you have delicious breath!

Image via Popsugar

Number Thirty Four: Ties Into iPhone Cases

Walk into any Goodwill and there are literally dozens of ties looking to find a new home. They come in all varieties from tasteful to “Wow, somebody actually thought that would make a great tie.” Either way, these items from the land of abandoned ties can be upcycled into clever cases for your iPhone. As an extra bonus, by upcycling a tie for your iPhone case, you not only give the tie new life but you avoid an always overwhelming trip to the Apple store to procure a case that was likely made in an ethical, let’s say grey zone. Wins all around!

Image via Popsugar

Number Thirty Five: Discarded Board Game Pieces Into … So Many Things!

We were originally looking for ideas to upcycle Scrabble® tiles from a game where we’d lost many of the vowels when we uncovered this Pinterest board full of ideas for upcycling old board games. From jewelry made out of Trivial Pursuit® pieces to wall art to more ideas for using a Scrabble tile than we personally ever imagined that there could be. It also got us inspired for some ways to upcycle game pieces for games that weren’t included on the board – and it may do the same for you!

Image via The Supermums Craft Fair

Number Thirty Six: Socks Into Baby Rattles

When it comes to wear and tear, socks are one of the things that we’re hardest on. But your most fun and colorful socks can have a second life as a baby rattle with this easy DIY for turning socks and a jingle bell into a baby rattle. Pro tip: Don’t use socks that you’ve been wearing to the gym regularly and if you have bright socks then of course babies will prefer those. But why on earth would you support the dollar store industry by purchasing plastic rattles when you can give the baby in your life exactly what he or she wants with this great upcycling project. Rattle away!

Image via Homemade by Jill

Number Thirty Seven: Christmas Cookie Tins Into Tea Organizers

Maybe we’re alone in this, but every holiday season we have friends and family bring or ship cookies or treats to us in those traditional round cookie tins. That’s great, because we love cookies and sweets (perhaps more than we should). But what to do with the tins afterwards? Sometimes we save them until the next year to give cookies back to people, but even with that as an element we’re often overwhelmed by tins. So imagine our joy when we found this upcycle guide for turning cookie tins into tea organizers.

Image via More Than Chic

Number Thirty Eight: K-Cups Into … So Many Things

As a general rule, we’re opposed to single cup coffee makers on principle since they create the unwanted environmental waste of all of those tiny, single-use plastic cups that hold the coffee. However, if you can find an upcycled use for those little K-Cups, then that puts an entirely different spin on the situation. And we can help you out with that since we found this great list of twenty-five ways to upcycle your K-Cups. Suddenly, something that was unquestionably wasteful seems to make a great deal more sense. We support that!

Image via Happy Hooligans

Number Thirty Nine: A Six Pack Holder Into a Picnic or Utility Organizer

We admit to having more six pack containers in our lives than one might think is healthy. And normally we simply recycle them because they’re made of paper (or, technically cardboard). But we came across this great DIY to upcycle a six pack container into an organizer. Now, we might suggest that you just say no to the single-use plastic utensils that are used in this example, but you can easily see how this organizer would be great in so many situations. We say run with it … just not after you’ve been drinking the contents!

Image via Home Confetti

Number Forty: Egg Cartons Into Flower Mirrors or Frames

We eat eggs. We like protein, and we’re usually fairly responsible about buying eggs that come in cardboard cartons instead of plastic ones (and, of course, that are cage and hormone free). And part of why we buy the cardboard cartons is that they’re more eco-friendly and can compost or be recycled. But they can also apparently be used to make some great home décor! Skip the homewares aisle at your local big box store and make this upcycled egg carton flowered mirror or frame.