Sometimes old things just need a little love and imagination to shine again. These craftsmen breathed life into forgotten items that most of us would have thrown away long ago. With the help of improvised materials, the heroes of this article showed how you can give a second life to even the most unremarkable things.
Let these ideas be your inspiration. Who knows, maybe you’ll create the next masterpiece with your own hands.
“I made a bag out of a pair of shoes.”
“I made this out of glass picked up on the beach. Alas, blue is not my wife’s favorite color.”
“My wife said it’s beautiful, but cool shades don’t suit her. So, when I make jewelry for her, I use gold. I think I’ll give it to one of my friend’s daughters.”
“The cat tore it up. I was about to throw the chair away, but decided to save it.”
“Found this cute linen dress, but it had stains on it that were hard to remove. So my 5-year-old and I painted it.”
“I got these shoes at a yard sale for $1 over a year ago. I had been planning to do something fun with them and finally got around to it!”
“I asked friends and family to give me holey jumpers to give them a second life. Now people on the street stare at me.”
“Found this old window at a garage sale. Painted it and now I use it as a frame for my favorite wedding photos.”
“A small backpack made from old jeans”
“I work part-time at a consignment shop, and one of our consigners brought us a damaged sweater. I offered her cash for it, as it was calling me to be covered in daisies.”
“My wife fixed my shirt. She used a denim patch and her embroidery machine.”
“I hadn’t used a sewing machine in maybe over 15 years, but my son was so excited to finally use his blanket again.”
“I received this as a moldy chess set with missing pieces, I treated it to salvage it from mold (and from the trash). Glad I’m giving it another chance at life, it’s a key hanger now.”
“One of my favorite T-shirts. I finally fixed it!”
“Upcycled plush squid from sweatshirt sleeves. Used up both red sleeves almost completely for the body, and two black sleeves for the inner pocket.”
And here are antiques that got a second life thanks to the creativity of craftsmen.