In my post 21 Frugal Tips To Try This Year I mentioned that one thing I wanted to work on was the idea of repair/reuse/repurpose.
With that in mind, I researched some ways that I could upcycle/repurpose my daughter’s holey jeans (which are beyond donating them to Goodwill).
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You could make cute little pencil pouches like these from Papemelroti
via etsy seller GPyoga
Here are a few ideas that I think are bit different from what I’m used to seeing.
I’ve seen one or two bloggers make slipcovers for their chairs out of denim. This beautiful chair is made by Legend Blues who uses recycled jeans to make one of a kind furniture.
This cute upcycled denim placemat (there’s a tutorial on how to make it) is from Today’s Nest.
How about some cute denim potholders? These are made from recycled jeans via Aarnilintu
People have been making skirts out of jeans for years but isn’t this a beautiful take on that idea! This is from Etsy seller Bohémienne Ivy
This upcycled patched pocket panel organizer is from Sew Daily (pattern available)
How about making some squeaky balls for your dog? These are from etsy seller Smiling Frog Pets
These denim flowers would be great as hair bows if you add a clip or as embellishments to anything from clothes to pillows. From Fabric Bows and More
Make some cool jewelry like this recycled denim necklace at ecoutrre
Threading My Way has a very thorough tutorial for how to make these useful Upcycled Denim fabric baskets
This is an amazing idea and would take some time to put together. A denim cotton rug! This handstitched rug is $367 at overstock.com!
This is just a small sampling of ways to upcycle denim. There’s tons more!
Hope this inspires you to reuse/recycle/repurpose those old jeans!
Check out my other post : 10 More Ways to Re-pupose Old Jeans
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I have a great Upcycle Board on Pinterest. Check it out!
We have a small quilt made out of squares cut from old jeans, backed with flannel, that my older girls did as a homeschool project when they were around 8 and 9. It made a great “play” quilt to lay on the floor when the younger girls were babies and toddlers.
Your pinterest boards are great! Lots of good stuff there — I hit follow on several of them. I have Pinterest boards also, but I think my settings are on private since I set it up back when I was kind of leery and paranoid about things like pinterest and Facebook. I’m over it now, lol, and ought to go back in and reset things.
Let me know when you reset them to public!
Lots of cute ideas – thanks for sharing. Was just telling someone I need to replenish my jean supply, but don’t think my rejects are even good enough to recycle. 😀
those are great! I really like that pocket organizer and the denim roses.
I am a big fan of Pinterest too. I used to bookmark things I would want to go back but still could not find them. Pinterest keeps everything organized and it is much cheaper than printing all those good things to remember too,
Oh your link at Threading My Way has so many things I’d like to try. So glad that you’re on Pinterest. I just joined last week. I’m quickly becoming addicted.
I REALLY LIKE the chair. I have a chair that this would be perfect for!
I also like the little lined basket for sewing. I made some similar to these with drawstring in them for my grandsons last year. I used a pant leg. Pretty simple. (has to be, I’m just learning to sew!)
these are great tips. I think I’m going to PIN this post!
thanks and have a great weekend.
Pat
Lots of ideas, Manuela! I’ve done aprons and a skirt myself. I’d love that pretty long one you have pictured, but realistically I’m sure I’d just be tripping over myself. : ) I made mine go to the knee and gave it ruffles.
I LOVE this idea!! I have one of those skirts too, I got it at the thrift store! One of my favorites! And the denim rosettes are adorable, I need to make those! 🙂
Kristi
ps- how did you get the box on the bottom to detour spammers? I would love that, I have had an incredible amount of SPAM 🙁
Hi Kristi,
Thanks! Lucky you finding a skirt like that! I’m going to have to put it on my list of things to look for at the thrift store.
I use the GrowMap Anti SpamBot plugin. I get a teeny bit of span of the human kind (since they need to be able to check the box). But those comments are held in moderation and then I just mark them as spam and delete them. I’m not sure it’s something you can use since you have a blogspot blog. I’m sure they must have a way to change your settings so you don’t get so much spam. I used to have a blogspot blog and I rarely got spam.
Thank you Manuela! I have thought about new blog (typepad or wordpress) but I’m not the savvy-iest when it comes to computer stuff. I would love to customize mine more (like a header with tabs) but again, I need help, lol!
And for the spam, I get at least 15 a day 🙁 sometimes more! Crazy!
Hi Manuela,
Great ideas…love them all! I have been stacking our old jeans and my husbands old work shirts in the closet with the idea of making something with them someday 🙂 Now I have some ideas!
Thanks for sharing!
I would love to have you link this up to The HomeAcre Hop this Thursday! Love to have crafts and decor that uses recycled items!!!
Thanks so much for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop!
Wow, I love the chair it’s awesome. The placemats are really cute too and they look pretty easy to do. You found some great ideas for those holey jeans!
That chair is just incredible! I’ve got a huge collection of old jeans, mostly Hubby’s so they are threadbare in places. I’ve started wearing the stretch jeans. Have you found any ideas for those?
Those are all fabulous ideas! I love the skirt and the basket and the flowers. But the chair is my favourite, that upholstery should last a very long time. Hugs, Cindy
HI Manuela! Oh, these are cute ideas. If I were skinny, I’d love the skirt. But since I’m fluffy, my favorite is the shabby roses.
Tanks for popping in to see me.
be a sweetie,
Shelia 😉
Such fun ideas…I especially love the placemats and potholders!
These are great ides, the chair is super cute and clever. Thanks for sharing these.
Cynthia
Manuela, those are all such great ideas! I have a couple of denim quilts that I truly love. One is backed with flannel, the other is denim on both sides, and weighs an absolute ton, but it is so warm and cozy, it is my all-time favorite quilt. I recently saw a “Rag Quilt” that was made of denim squares, sewn so the edges were sticking up around each square, the edges frayed in washing, and I thought it was amazing. Alas, I do not quilt, but I can do most of the projects you show here, and I shall!
Thanks for sharing, sweet friend.
Wonderful ideas, I have a stack of old work jeans that I plan to cut up. I will have to take a look here first!
Fantastic ideas! I’ve made quilts for the kids out of our old jeans, but I love the smaller projects. I’ll be thinking about denim all day! Stopping by from Tilly’s Nest.
Yay! I’m so gad you found some ideas that might help you recycle those jeans in a new way.
What terrific ideas for reusing denim! Thanks so much for putting this post together. I am always wondering how to do this type of thing. Have a great weekend!