Usually, where there is a purpose, there is a re-purpose. Re-purposing is when you take an item, such as pillowcase, and use it for a purpose it was not originally intended for, like placing over a broom like a dust mop. Real Simple magazine highlights re-purposing monthly in a column called “New Uses for Old Things,” which covers everything from using a shoe organizer to store art supplies to using an old ketchup bottle as a pancake batter dispenser.
Who, as a child, did not offer their mother a gift of an old soup or coffee can, painted and perhaps decorated with glitter? I know I did (I believe mine was wrapped in old wallpaper). There is a sense of joy in re-purposing, finding new and different uses for items that might otherwise end of up in the trash.
I have spoken before about my dislike for single-purpose items, like cherry pitters and avacado slicers, so I am always delighted to find ways to re-purpose items like melon ballers or cookie scoopers. The way I see it, if I can find 10 uses for a melon baller, I am getting much more bang for my buck than just using it to ball melon.
Sometimes the re-purpose of an item is for decoration, such as using empty wine bottles as candle holders or turning empty salt and pepper shakers as bud vases. Other re-purposes are more functional, like using a turkey baster to change the water in a vase of flowers. Either way, I am delighted when I find a nifty re-purpose idea that I can actually implement myself. And I am not the only one, check out this blog entry on Waste Not Want Not from Young House Love.
For tons of Sweet re-purpose ideas, check out Real Simple’s 101 New Uses of Old Things.
