We don't have a linen closet so I have the
top half of my Grandma's Hoosier Cabinet in
our bathroom so I have somewhere to keep all
of the towels.

My old toothbrushes, after being cleaned, are used for scrubbing hard to get to areas.

I fill a pretty ceramic bowl with guest supplies (soaps, shampoo, lotion, etc.) and put it in the bathroom when we have guests, along with a wicker basket filled with washcloths and towels. Works great!

I use the plastic covers that come on store-bought cakes as plant drip trays - works amazingly well and they are STURDY!

I have a screened in patio and had to have the vinyl screen replaced. I saved the old vinyl screen and now cut it to size and put it in flower pots to hold in soil.

I am a true recycler and could go on and on, but I will let others post. I may think of others later.

Well, my I use my first DH's bedroom long dresser as a console in my den. It's a beautiful piece of art deco, 50's style in Pecan with a rosewood finish. His mother bought him the set when he graduated from HS, and gave it to us when we were married.

The flat screen TV hands above it.

I have repurposed my husband as a couch decoration. I'm still thinking about what to do with him for Thanksgiving. After that I will string him with mult-colored mini lights and add tinsel.

I have an antique sewing cabinet in the guest room that I keep filled with entertaining books that don't take too long to read. That way a guest can read something in bed if they want and be finished with it in just a few nights.

And in a nook in the guest bath is a handsome chest of drawers that fits perfectly and it holds some of my craft stuff and some extra towels, toilet paper, soaps, etc.

I repurpose all my kitchen vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, etc to feed my worm farm or put into the compost pile.
I use shredded papers into plastic newspaper bags for stuffing into packages to prevent shifting.

After my divorce I repurposed our 8 x 10 wedding photo as a dart board.....

lazypup (lazypup@yahoo.com, You are a mighty special pereon

When my old coats and jackets arrrive at the end of their useful lives, they live again in the garage. I wear those while doing dirty jobs like oil changes in cold weather; I use the smaller jackets as protective throws across the fenders while working under the hood. Finally, after a few years in the garage, they make their way into the trash can.

So, if you see me under the hood in a sport jacket with wrench in hand, you can bet its not a new jacket.

Electric fry pan:

When we replaced our electric fry pan, my wife asked what we should do with the old one - toss it out? I said, "It still works. Put it on the workbench and a use will come by - someday." And then one very cold winter day, the temperature was 10 F in the garage and I needed to weild a wrench on the car. Every time I picked up that cold hunk of steel, I was getting frost bite, and then the ah-ha momment: That old fry pan. Could I use it without getting burned. It turns out, yes. The control was put on very low and my tools laid in the pan. Now, when I picked up a tool, it was warm!

WARNING: Because fry pans are not normally grounded nor are doubly insulated, a shock hazard exists. Therefore, I can not recommend its use in this manner. Modifications can be made to make it safe, but I leave that to the user to decide. If you can not make it safe, do not try this outside.

The leaf blower works great for moving powdery snow. I especially like to use it on the wooden deck (where I hesitate to use a shovel).

I have a European computer desk that works great as a storage cabinet in my sewing room. The large bottom section is just the right width for staking up many bolts of fabric, the top shelves hold my color-coordinated folded fabrics, the two pull-out shelves are perfect for storing thread, fasteners, needles, pins, and other notions.

I cut old worn-out sheets into squares and use for disposable dustcloths. That's not new, of course, our grandmothers' did it.

Also use the fabric from old woven cotton clothes that are no longer wearable for quilts or rugs.

Heather gave me a challenge one Christmas. It was an old metal alarm clock in the shape of a bust of a medieval knight to go into our olde English style pub family room. I turned it into a towel bar. Looks great and is definitely one of a kind.

LOL Drewsmaga and Lazypup!!!

Since I don't use my KA mixer all that often, I put a clear shower cap over the bowl to keep dust out.

My Grandfather cut two of his Mother's dressers in half, (the kind with two end pieces and a middle section) and he used them for night stands. Three of them are now doing service as the bottom of my computer desk.

I use an old chest of drawers as my pattern file and material bin for sewing. Also use an antique silverware desk as my sewing table. Both of these items were "hand me downs" from my family. :)

My kids put my old shoes on a snowman once.

I have the base of a tredel sewing maching with a piece of granite for my night stand.

Pretty but slightly chipped mugs for holding pens or pencils.
Like Glenda said, old toothbrushes make great little scrubbers.
Store plastic bags used for wastebaskets.

I also use old toothbrushes for cleaning - being small they can into tight places and are good for cleaning around the base of taps etc in the bathroom.
DH wears singlets (some may call them vests) and when they wear out I use them as dusters - they work really well.

Soup cans for pencil/pen holders.

Square-bottomed milk cartons cut up the side, slide two together and staple to make a nice letter file.

ole joyful

I needed a sewing cabinet for my new embroidery machine and didn't want to pay the horrendous price for them so I called my son and asked him if he had any extra, desks. He had just closed down one of his offices so he brought me a desk that is so perfect for my machines.

When we buy new socks, I cut the old ones down one side so that it can be laid flat. I use them for cleaning rags.

If I have a big job..and left with a nasty cleaning rag..it can be thrown away.

I put a small elasticized bowl cover on my smoke alarm when I use the broiler. And to blend this reply into another thread here, I put a note on the fridge to remind myself to take it off.

Redcurl, what a great idea! I've been taking down my smoke detector and putting it outside, but no more - now it gets the bowl cover treatment. :-)

Worn out blankets get turned in to dog beds, as do old rugs.

Windex is often used in my scrub bucket for cleaning floors.

Acrylic ice buckets hold my cooking utensils.

Baskets from dead flower arrangements hold items all over my house.

Toilet paper and paper towel cardboards become seed starters.

Worn out tshirts become polishing rags.

A large old crock became a holder for my brooms and mops.

An old worn out shower curtain is under my dog dishes.

A block of wood with a conch shell glued on it became my door stop.

In each of my bedrooms, the bedside tables hold linens appropriate for that particular bed and bath.

A small kitchen table has been re-purposed into one of my computer desks.

Large flower vases, such as a dozen roses would come in, holds my toilet brushes.

Baker's racks hold cans of stuff in my garage and craft room as well as in my greenhouse.

Wow!!! This is fun to read. We are sure an inventive crew!!

Stacie

I use a paper doiley as a stencil when sprinkling confectioners sugar on a coffee cake. Makes a pretty design on the cake top.

Jan has about a dozen 48oz plastic coffee containers that she uses for cannisters in the pantry,,,works great for bulk dry items like rice, pasta, Bisquick & flour. Just write on the can with a magic marker to label. Being all the same size and square they stack neat and take up less space than round containers and with the wide mouth they are easy to scoop the products out.

I use one of those coffee canisters to hold the wood chips by my smoker on the patio.

Empty velveeta cheese boxes make excellant small parts bins for your shop or craft area. I cut them down about an inch on the front and make a slanted cut along the sides to about half of the box length...they are just like the boxes you see on the shelves in a harware store.

Now ladies,,,don't laugh, I have one of jans small sponges with the scotch brite pad on one side in my shower...it works much better than a loofa for defoliating dry skin.

I have a military style poncho that is camoflaged with a realtree pattern. When I am photographing wildlife I sit on the ground with the camera on a tripod and extend the lens though the hood opening, then sit behind the camera with the poncho over me and the camera to make a blind.

I have an oxygen concentrator machine that I use when I sleep and I have to change the nose canula about once a week. When I change the canula I cut the end loop off, then give the tubing to my friend who has a pet store and he uses the tubing for his fish aqaurium air pumps.

We use old CD's as dish scrapers for hard, stuck on food when we do the dishes. I also use empty toilet paper rolls to wind up electrical cords. (Through the center hole and long ways)I use old newspapers to wash windows in the house.

Lazypup, I wish we had square coffee containers. The only ones we have are round....Maxwell House (now cardboard with the foil pull-back top) and the red plastic Folgers which are also round. They take up a lot of room, I'd love square/rectangular ones!!

Never thought of using a cd as a scraper Mom. I thought it would be too big...I'll have to give it a try.

I think we've had this question before..years ago...and I gave the same answer...

Our home was/is a barn we repurposed it for humans to live in....

patti

I use computer desks for my sewing machines. I have 3 with sewing machines on them in my sewing room and one with my desktop on. I have a dining room table for my cutting table. I am sure I have other things I do, but can't think of any right now.

Sue

Pattico, I didn't know that. It sounds fascinating. I always thought a church would be wonderful to live in. A barn would amazing.

Can you post a pic?

We used to be flooded with AOL CDs in the mail. I took a cue from my son (he's a UNIX guy) and used those for coasters.

I helped my BIL tear down and repurpose an old barn into a large garage/shed. It is beautiful.
I used some of that leftover wood to make a potting shed with lean-to shed on the side to store firewood.

A couple years ago I scavenged some pallets and took off the large square supports on the bottom. From there I cut into about 18 lengths, tapered the sides, drilled holes in the top and made rustic votive candle holders for Christmas gifts.
The only thing I paid for was the candles. (No pictures)

The most recent thing I made is a Christmas gift. The wood is all scrap. I purchased the dowels to hold it together and burnt the design. The antler "knob" was part of a shed found in the woods.

This is the first time linking a phot album - somebody will have to tell me if it works, please!

Here is a link that might be useful: re-purpose

When I was a kid my cousins and I took the hood off an old 51 chevy, turned it upside down and used it for a tobbagan sled..it worked great all winter

OH yeah I can't throw those coffee "cans" away! I use them for my Borax and Washing Soda and for sidewalk salt in the winter and I also have one for use as a bird seed scoop. I then use a milk gallon jug with the bottom cut out as a funnel to put the feed into the little hole on top.

I alway keep smaller pickle jars to put big jars of half used up pickles in to so it doesn't take up so much room in my NOT SO ROOMY fridge! UGH! OH and speaking of pickles, when I buy some that aren't that great tasting, I will slice them into chunks and pour some hamburger dill juice on them(wait a few days before eating), it turns even the nastiest pickle into something yummy!:)

Unloved shampoo or body wash can be used to clean your tub with, just put it on a scrubbie sponge and clean. IMHO it cleans the tub as well as anything else and it's safe! I also reuse unwanted body wash to fill those foaming soap dispensers, just use half water and half soap...works great!

I can't part with my jugs of shampoo and conditioner with the squirt top..I just put whatever shampoo and conditioner I'm using into them. So who knows my Paul Mitchell bottle is really just 79cent VO5! HAHAHA! I really just use them for convenience sake...no one ever comes over to see my tub anyway...HA!

Small box bottoms make great drawer organizers for small stuff.

OH I always use those bottles that stuff like seltzer water come in for the bar for putting water in for our daily walk. They are the perfect size to fit into my Coleman insulated holder that I bought at Walmart but HATED the bottle that comes with them(it leaked like crazy!). I use them a while until I buy a new bottle of seltzer water then I throw it away and use my new one.

I have lightweight plastic snow shovel for the steps and like it inside. To keep the water off the floor, I used an old cookie sheet that was stained more than I like. It is perfect as I keep it on the floor, with the shovel in it but leaning against the wall.