Making Old Things New Again

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As the weather hopefully begins to warm up and we get ready to see things bloom and grow, I don’t know about you but I start thinking a little bit more about taking care of the earth. In the winter, I’m too busy hiding under a blanket to do much about it, but as I get ready to dig in the dirt, plant flowers, and appreciate the beauty around me, I’m reminded that we only get one planet. I know there are a lot of people who are more conscientious than I am, but I’m trying to do my own little part and it starts right here at home by finding ways to reuse and recycle things we already have.

One way to do that is to take something old and make it new again as a fun upcycled craft project! For instance, Little Crafter is constantly growing out of {or ripping holes in} his jeans. Instead of getting rid of them, I decided to turn them into something I could wear…check it out!

Denim is totally having a moment right now, both in fashion and in home décor. Here’s what you need to turn your family’s old jeans into a stylish new bracelet.

Materials:
– a pair of old jeans
– scissors
– memory wire
– wire cutters
– assorted beads
– super glue
– 3 mm end caps

Step 1: Cut along both sides of the inseam on one of the legs of your jeans. Figure out how long the piece needs to be in order to wrap it around your wrist twice and cut it at that point.

Step 2: Thread a piece of wire through the space between the seams. In between the two lines of stitches, there should be a magic little space that’s just right for sending wire through. Sneaky, huh?

In full disclosure, I feel the need to tell you that this is not as easy-peasy as it looks. I thought this would take all of maybe five seconds. Nope. From my past dealings with memory wire, I thought it was the most stubborn of all crafting materials…that is, until I tried using it with denim. Apparently denim is equally willful, so they didn’t want to play nicely together. It was a slow process, and I may or may not have thought some choice words before it was all said and done. In retrospect, it might help to form a small loop at the end of the wire so that it doesn’t want to catch/poke through the fabric. Or perhaps regular wire would work better than memory wire and it could just be shaped at the end. I did, however, finally win the battle and get it threaded on there…and I think it was worth the effort because I love the finished product.

Step 3: Trim your wire so that about 1 1/2″ remains on either side of the denim strip. Thread on your choice of beads. This is where you get to have fun and personalize it. I personally like a little bit of contrast or the unexpected in my accessories, like pairing leather and pearls, or in this case denim and a touch of bling! You can use any colors you like, though, and beads of any shape, size, and type.

Step 4: Glue an end cap on each end of the memory wire. This not only gives your bracelet a finished look, but it keeps your beads from sliding off and you from getting poked by sharp wire. If you don’t have end caps, you can form wire loops on each end to do the same jobs, but as I warned earlier, memory wire is stubborn so those loops can be a bit of a challenge to make.

What do you think? Something old turned into something totally new! I’m loving it!

There are other great ways to take advantage of making old things new too, and some of them don’t even require you to do the work yourself! For example, have you heard of Energizer New EcoAdvanced Recycled Batteries? These are a pretty big deal because they’re first batteries on the market to ever use recycled batteries/materials. Not only that, they promise to be “Energizer’s longest lasting alkaline ever,” and hold power for up to 12 years. Talk about guilt free energy!

We go through a ton of batteries here in the Artsy House, especially AA, because we need them for the television, DVD player, and Wii system remote controls, each of us has a wireless mouse, and the speed light external flash on my camera takes four at a time. Then there are Little Crafter’s battery operated toys, flashlights, and more. It’s nice to know we have an option that allows us to use recycled products that are better for the environment. EcoAdvanced batteries are available in both AA and AAA sizes and can be found in the Battery Center of your local Walmart {I saw them in the checkout lane too}.

I love finding simple and inexpensive ways to do little things that can make a big impact for the environment. What about you? What are some of your favorite ways to conserve, reuse, and recycle?

Oh, and don’t forget to enter Energizer’s GuiltFreeEnergy Giveaway – $1,000 in Gift Cards! Good luck!

Check out some more inspiration here!