• Lynsey from SwirlyArts has been in touch to tell us about two of her recent reusing projects – turning a unwanted old diary into an expenses notebook and how to make pretty padded envelopes out of old books & bubblewrap, as an alternative to boring Jiffy bags.
• The Cottage Smallholder is having a reusing/recycling gardening competition this month – how are you reusing/recycling things to get ready for the next growing season?
• Speaking of getting organised, check out My Tiny Plot for a great idea for keeping up with seed sowing – it’s not strictly a reuse but it could be — an old floppy disk box/card file would be great for this.
• Mrs Green on My Zero Waste has written about a new initiative to recycle crisp packets in the UK.
• I really like the aesthetic of cardboard for home decor so love this idea of making wall art using toilet roll/kitchen roll tubes.
• Julie on Crafting a Green World has written a great round-up of baby projects made from old tshirts.
• And finally, make a feature wall at home a bit different – don’t use generic feature wall wallpaper, use old books (or music scores) instead. As a booklover, I don’t know if I could take apart a still-could-be-read book for such a purpose but it’s a great idea for books that are falling apart.

We’ve had another email from Maja, saying:

I bought myself an iPod AT LAST. It’s a violet Nano, and I need some decos for it, like a cute sock or a charm.

What can I recycle into some nice iPod stuff?

Playing with Nancy’s necklace idea recently, I made myself a cute charm out by stacking tiny circles of plastic on a piece of thin wire – the circles punched out with a regular hole punch so they were both tiny and even. A few pretty buttons on a length of pretty thread would work in the same way.

As for the sock, you could quickly and easily sew a little pocket using fabric any item of old clothing – I like it when upcycled things include features of the original clothing, like buttons or belt loops from the original item.

I’d also be tempted to crochet, knit or weave some unusual material just to see what happens – the pocket is so small it wouldn’t take long to try out a few different things. Narrow strips of old carrier bags? The shiny insides of crisp packets? The wire from old knackered headphones?

Any other ideas?

Statement necklaces are apparently where it’s at fashion wise at the moment and Nancy from 21centurydressmakers made herself a fab piece to wear on New Year’s Eve – made from old shampoo bottles.

I love the different colours (such pretty blue and a lovely vibrant orange!) and the oval shapes – and how the curved shapes of the original bottles add to the finished shape of the necklace.

Awesome work, Nancy! Check out the how-to on her site if you want to make your own.