We’ve had an email from Jamie:

Hey. I’ve got a broken Guitar Hero guitar. Don’t know what to do with it and saw your page about game controllers so thought you might be able to help.

Depending on how/why it’s broken, you might be able to send it back to the vendor: if it’s their fault, they should replace it. If however, it’s broken because you got a little too into the Rock moment and smashed it on the floor… they’ll probably be less like to replace it ;)

Again depending on how it’s broken, it might worth eBaying it for “spares or repairs” – I know the head and neck separate on the newer guitars, I wonder if if the broken part could be swapped out… If it’s broken for an electronic switch issue, someone that way inclined might be able to fix it in a shot.

Aside from that, a toy for a kid?

Other ideas?

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

The other day on Things To Do Today, I mentioned marbles in passing and it made me think of the stash of marbles we have in our board-games-and-assorted-toys chest. You know, the stash we’ve probably touched once in five years.

They could, obviously, go to a charity shop for another generation to enjoy but since the orbs were so fiercely won in many heated battles over the years and hold fun memories, it would be nice to reuse them from something around our house or the like.

My ideas so far: jewellery (albeit heavy jewellery) with the marbles held in bead cages, on display in a clear glass vase or somehow made into a lightshade.

Any other ideas?

What about the really really bashed up ones that won’t look so nice on show? I imagine they’re handy weights – any good uses for them?

(Photo by asolario)

This is a bit of an anticipatory post since said cone is still currently covered in a few of hundred grammes of yarn but anyway…

Yarn/wool cones. I bought a giant cone of yarn on eBay the other day from someone clearing out their yarn stash. I thought I’d use it for for my next big crafting project, a crocheted blanket but as the yarn is, well, sunshine (read: oh-my-God-so-bright) yellow, I’ll have to get another one in a less retina-straining tone to calm it down a bit – and that means I’ll then have two of these hollow cones.

The one I’ve got at the moment is about 20cm (8″) tall and tapered to around 7cm (3″) in diameter at the base from around 2.5cm (1″) at the top. It’s made of heavy duty cardboard – so recyclable – but you know me*, I prefer to reuse instead of recycle. I’ve also seen a lot of similarly sized plastic cones about which aren’t so easily recyclable.

Since it’s a craft-related item, I’m sure there are loads of crafty reuses – but what about practical things too?

* if you don’t know me, hi, I’m Louisa. I like to reuse and repurpose random things. It’s nice to meet you.

We’ve had a message on our suggest-an-item page from Kaye:

what can i do to reuse/create something useful out of old sports trophies? i have only seen ideas for coat racks, but i already have one. these are the “plastic-people frozen in place and mounted on a block of stone” type ones.

i’ve also heard about giving them to a trophy shop to recycle. but what else??

Coat rack = awesome! As I mentioned on Things To Do Today last Friday, we need a new coat rack – if either John or I had ever achieved any sporting prowess, you can pretty much guarantee that’s what I’d be doing with our trophies around about now. Unfortunately we both preferred sitting to running about on fields and they don’t give out anywhere near as many trophies for that.

Anyway though, Kaye’s not up for a coatrack so any other ideas?

(Photo by coldphase)

We’ve had an email from Josh:

Hi, I’ve got one for you, playing cards. I play a lot of poker with my buddies and our cards get bashed up pretty quickly, the edges bent over primarily so we can’t play with them anymore. They’re plastic (?) coated so can’t be recycled with cardboard, right?

Just because you can’t play with them any more though doesn’t mean that they’re at the end of their useful life.

Yes, you’re right that they can’t be recycled as paper if they’re plastic coated – but they’d make fun bookmarks, the non-face cards could be used for shopping lists and if some still have strong edges, you could drag them between keyboard keys to pull out the stupid amount of cat hair and sesame seeds collected in the gaps (maybe that’s just my keyboard).

Any other reuses?

They can also be included in a number of crafts/decoration projects – for example, they could cheer up dull storage boxes, and could also be used as a fun way to differentiate the boxes or label them if they need to be in sequence. Some brilliant people have turned them into business card wallets, MP3 players/iPod cases, or even a fantastic bag. They can also be used for any type of small scale papercrafts that require a light card.

Any other suggestions on what to make from them?
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