Oh - I have this book on my want list…..!!!
If I were to win - it would go to my friend in the US who needs a pick me up right now!
I used some recycled wood beads that were on a Tshirt from goodwill, saved the two kinds of wood beads off it. GREAT collection to my other beads!

I have some typewriter keys and scrabble tiles that I want to make into jewelry. Also, mounds of magazines (with an earth day resolution to pare down my magazine subscriptions) that I can turn into beads and also picture frames.

This isn’t my idea, I found it in the ReadyMade book, but it’s a great idea that I tried and loved (it was a great conversation starter at my last apartment) - use your empty cd cases to create a wall mural. Go to http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/ to create a giant mural from any image (no matter the original size), cut the pieces to fit into cd cases, both the front & back sides, and stick them onto your wall using whatever sticky method you see fit.
Another reuse idea - I was given a paper airplane page-a-day calendar, and they make the best cat toys! I won’t have to buy any cat toys for a whole year, and I don’t feel so bad about tossing the paper after he tears each one to shreds.

I found a great tutorial for using old t-shirts to make a crochet rag rug. I’ve been hording my husband’s t-shirts for this idea for months now, just waiting for him to be out of the house long enough for me to cut them into strips and start a rug for the kitchen or back porch.
The best part, getting rid of those college freebie t-shirts that have holes in them.

[…] done, thank goodness), but I wanted to quickly mention that my lovely friends Jenn and Karina are offering up a copy of Bead Simple this week over at their fantastic blog, Tiny Choices! Just leave a comment on this entry by Monday, April 28, […]

mother’s day project:
I had my students save their tissue paper from christmas and birthdays these past few months, as well as their toilet paper rolls and water bottles (which are actually hard to come by! horray!). For mothers day, we are transforming the toilet paper rolls into flowers, painting their pedals, and stuffing the middle with wild tissue paper colors.

The only bought part is bbq sticks, but I have a package left over from last year. The sticks are used as a stem, which poke through the toilet paper and tissue paper, making a sturdy stem to stick in the “vase,” which is the water bottle, decorated with the reused tissue paper.

…still looking for a way to make my own glue…i think we need a “green classroom” post…

I really loved these candles that Target sells and even though they last a long time, eventually you are left with a bunch of candle holders. I got some ceramic paint and painted them and now use them as cacti pots and storage cups in my bathroom:

I make belts and camera straps from soda can tabs, and I made my Christmas tree out of discarded wine bottles. Reusing is my favorite form of craft!

in high school, i used to wear toe socks, and when the toes wore through (which happened pretty quickly for me), i just cut the toes off and wore the sock remains as armbands and leg warmers!

I have this plan for my old t-shirts to make huge floor pillows out of them. I’ll make sets of 8 or 10 panels and arrange them by theme. It’s going to be so cool someday. I also saw this great idea in a magazine to use the 6 cell plastic things from new plants to hold the hose in place while watering.

I fell in love with this One String Bag tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-onestringbag

Rather than going out to buy new mesh, I raided my mom’s closet, where she stored all of my old ballet costumes, and used one of the tutus!

I’m so annoyed with all of the plastic shopping bags that come home from the grocery store…we’re working on the resusable bag situation…one step at a time…I’m going to knit or crochet a reusable (and sturdier!) bag or two from all of the bags sitting in my pantry.

Some day, when I can find the time & space to lay it out, I’m going to make a quilt out of all the old T-shirts from my college theater days.There’s lots of memories in those shirts from all the time I spent in the theater, but I don’t wear them anymore. With a quilt, I’ll get to see them more often (instead of the shirts being buried in a box or closet), and actually USE them!

I cut the legs off of old pj pants and put in drawstrings to make bags for the produce and bulk food departments. Much better than plastic!

well my idea isn’t as sexy as say, the cd wall mural, but it is functional: we take tp & paper towel tubes (i know, baby steps on the paper towels) a little plaster of paris, a little tempra paint, and we make giant sidewalk chalk. it’s fu for the whole family!

Wow, I am plannig to buy this book, as everybody is telling good things about it.
So here is my entry =)

My fantastic reuse idea is using a glass cutter to make beer bottles into tumblers.
And this is my entry.

Let’s see, I recently made a coupon holder/envelope out of an old denim shirt and a spare button. I also make fire starters for my mother for xmas out of dried herb stalks, twigs from the yard and newspaper. She loves them. For camping, I also make firestarters out of tp tubes stuffed with lint from the dryer (thought I mostly hang my clothes).

This morning on the radio, I heard a woman saying her mother took one of those giant old satellite dishes, painted it blue, appliqued some frogs, and used it as a goldfish pond.

I rescued a rusty, old bicycle from the trash down the street. We put it out in the garden and plant stuff in the basket on the front. We’ve even used it for photo shoots!

I also recycle our old clothes and sheets into quilts, other clothing, artworks, and home decor.

I have this really pretty lacy dress that I tore the other day—just ripped the lace hem right off. The dress is ruined, but the lace trim isn’t, so I tore it off and plan to use it to to embellish a plain camisole or t-shirt!
And speaking of t-shirts, my mom cuts up old ones and makes quilts out of them!

Happy Saturday! I had read that this book was coming out soon! I am a novice bead junkie and learning the basics. I take the tea from used tea bags and eggshells and put them around my flowers. Please enter me in your drawing for this wonderful book. I appreciate it…..Cindi

Would love to have this book!

I collect buttons & beads - usually recycled from finds at thrift stores, rummage and garage sales. I enjoy using them to decorate the tops of those little paper mache boxes, and choose various themes - victorian, retro, country, grunge. The boxes are painted to coordinate and I sometimes add wooden bead “feet” to the bottom (I bought a huge container of various size wooden beads at an auction and used some of them to put together bead stringing activity kits for the kids in my life).

Cynthia

I scavenge wooden wine boxes from my local wine shop and made a pantry by stacking them on a wire shelf set in my tiny and primitive kitchen, I am going for more to make a shoe stack!!!!

I make rugs out of strips of wool sweaters woven on my loom to make a fluffy recycled and virtually indestructible floor covering!
*PS my entry!

I line my dresser drawers with pretty, used gift wrapping paper (usually birthday, mother’s day or other floral.) My Grandmother showed me how to do this when I was a kid. Thanks for the chance to win such a great book.

Certainly not an original idea but I use vintage fruit boxes for bookcases.

I used to make little beaded people and have collected a lot of beads from broken (and some not-broken) jewelry bought at yard sales. Have gotten out of the groove though. Maybe this would be just the inspiration I need to get started again. Thanks for the opportunity!

I would love to win this book — reuse idea — about maximizing, old Mark Shale Wool Skirt - cut out lining for stuffing, wool felted for scarf, zipper reused in new skirt and button for knitted scarf. oh yea one more - dryer lint from felting used to make fire starters. Who would have thunk a skirt from a $250.00 suit could be used up some 23 years later. ….and does it feel good to shed the corporate clothing and re-use.

[…] Brdgt! You are the lucky winner of Friend of Tiny Choices’ Susan Beal’s Bead Simple, a book […]