The necklace in the picture was left at my house during a clothes swap party (read more here). The beads are made out of old magazines and I really like it. I don’t think it really suits me though as it is too long for me and I have only worn it once or twice since I got it.

I decided that it would be a great idea to turn it into a necklace and a bracelet and thought it would be as simple as chopping it up in the right places and then tying the ends.

The chopping part went really smoothly although a few beads fell of the ends as you can see pictured below.

The post How not to upcycle a necklace! appeared first on Eco Thrifty Living.

I think though that a few things need to be taken into consideration before upcycling:

1. Can the item be reused or repaired?  Often continuing to use something in the form it was intended to be used is the most eco-friendly as it involves the least interference and use of extra materials.  If you no longer want the item there are lots of options such as selling it or giving it away. 
2. Although an upcycling project you have seen on the internet looks lovely, have you considered whether you have the relevant skills, equipment and need for whatever it is?
3. What will happen to your upcycling creation once it is no longer needed?  Mixing plastic and glass to make a work of art might be great at the time, but separately they can be recycled – mixed/ stuck together they are most likely going to end up in landfill at some point…
4. Are you hanging on to piles of stuff which although you would love to upcycle,  in reality are just cluttering up your home?   Unless you have lots of free time, are you really going to get round to making a greenhouse out of plastic bottles, or a pathway in your garden out of upside down bottles for example?  
5. Upcycling might be a great short term solution to dealing with an item which is no longer wanted.  However if you are constantly accumulating items such as packaging or plastic bottles, rather than turning them into bespoke creations your time might be better spent researching alternative options which help you avoid those items coming into your home in the first place.  It might also be worth looking into ways of recycling things that your local council doesn’t routinely recycle.

When is it worth upcyling something?

• When you can find a use for it / a home for it pretty quickly e.g. making fridge magnet notepads as pictured at the top of the article.
• When you are unable to easily reuse, mend, recycle or give it away.  
• When you have the time, energy, skills and inspiration for a larger upcycling project which is actually useful to you.  For example in our previous home we had some decking which we decided to replace with some new decking.  A friend took our old decking squares and amazingly made a fence around his front garden out of them.  It looked great – I wish I had taken some pictures of it!
• When it has sentimental value  

Which upcycling projects have you undertaken and why?  I would love to hear your stories!

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A few years ago a friend bought me a fridge magnet notepad.  At the time I didn’t get why I needed a notepad on my fridge.  I wasn’t a mum of two young boys then. But now, I totally get it. On a daily basis my house gets turned upside by little hands. They also like to hide things in the strangest places. They tend to leave the fridge alone, so now I know why it’s a great invention. A notepad that I can always find!

Feb 2020 – I wrote this post several years ago and decided it was time for an update! Note: Affiliate links in this post are marked with an asterisk.

That notepad is no longer with us. Page by page it went to recycling bin heaven.  The magnets that were on the back I was able to reuse though and the fridge magnet notepad lives on in spirit!

Make a magnetic notepad from recycled paper

I made a new notepad using old envelopes, junk mail, paper bags and any bit of unwanted paper I could get my hands on. I then stuck the magnets to the back of the pad with sticky tape.  This didn’t work that well though as the pad kept falling off the fridge, leaving the magnets behind.

After a couple of weeks I came up with the idea of cutting open a toilet roll tube and sticking the magnets to that with superglue. I punched holes in the top of the toilet roll card and all the pieces of paper. I then threaded a ribbon through and tied it at the front. It can be topped up on an ongoing basis as needed.

I love my new fridge magnet notepad and although it might not be quite as attractive as my old one, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It’s a useful way to reuse paper, I made it, it is free, it’s recyclable – what more could you want! It is so easy to make. You just need a toilet roll tube, some flat magnets, some superglue, some scissors and some junk paper with blank sides, so why not have a go yourself!

Fast forward a few years I now use this reusable white board* reusable white board on my fridge to meal plan and keep track of notes.

Have you got any tips for using up junk paper?  I’d love to hear about them! 

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