We are all creative at some level. I have heard so many people say, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” When I go to their home or see something they have made for a friend and know that they are just creative in a different way than someone else. How you arrange some trinkets on a table or stand frames on a mantle, that’s creative!

I had this old ironing board in my basement for years that belonged to my grandma, I also had her old steam iron and some dish cloths that she had embroidered sometime in her life. These things were tucked in different areas serving no purpose other than stuff to move when I was looking for something else.

I went to Molly’s house one day and she had a vintage ironing board in her bathroom leaning on the wall with a little dress hanging on it. It inspired me to come home and figure out how to use my own similar things. I do not have a country look or strictly modern, but some combination of many decorating styles. The ironing board with the dish cloths and the iron resting on two brackets, that were getting ruined in the weather outside, were arranged on the wall. “Practical Sculpture” is what I call it. Re-consumerism at its best!

Then I started getting primitive pottery as gifts – I loved the colors and usefulness, but didn’t want to always pack it away after the flowers withered.  One particular  yellow vessel holds all the marbles I find on the floor. The kids do not know this. I also use them for my sponges and scrubbers by the sink.

All of the things I gather or collect need to have a practical purpose. Even beauty is a practical purpose. There have been many little things I have passed on and then wished I had brought home to add to a small collection of arranged objects on a shelf. Every few months I change the location of a particular arrangement, this keeps me interested in admiring them AND lets me be creative.

Remember: recycle, repurpose, RECONSUME. I do not mean the cans and bottles you plan to throw away, although you should definitely recycle those. We have started to have this mindset about many areas of our life, especially gifts. I do not mean to go get a unwanted picture frame and wrap it up and take it to a wedding on the weekend. What I do mean is, the next little girl party you need to attend, go to a local thrift store or reasonable antique store with small wares. Choose a dress-up hat, some small gloves and a bead necklace or a set of vintage pillowcases and a hand mirror. For boys, we pick a small hinged tin and two or three old cars, boats or other small toys. For adult friends, we choose salad tongs, cuff links or unique glassware or pottery. The possibilities are endless and the idea of re-giving these items takes our focus off buying another item from a large store that will eventually be sold at a yard sale and end up in the same antique stores. We have seen that the gifts that we recycle in this way are received with surprise and joy, they cost relatively the same price and are far better quality and it inspires others to have an appreciation for the objects that are from eras past.

Happy recycling! Let me know some of the ways you repurpose or reconsume.