Repurposing is a way of life for "stretchers" but every now and then we still come across a new creative or just plain "crazy" idea - the kind of idea that makes you go, "Hmmm...now, why didn't I think of that?"   I thought it would be interesting to share some of our more "different" repuposing ideas.

Here are a couple of crazy ideas from my family

• An uncle made his own barbecue grill.  An old wheelbarrow, some charcoal, and a wire shelf, salvaged from a large old oven and voila ...instant grill, very basic but worked!
• DD13 had a pair of panties with a pink camouflage elastic waist trim.  Not only had she outgrown them, but the elastic started to come away from the cotton fabric.  DD removed the elastic from the waist and wore it as a headband!  When her friends asked her, "Cool headband, where did you get it?" DD simply deadpanned "Oh this,  it was just a little something I found around the house!"  Too funny
• I needed to organize my belts and scarves but didn't want to spend any money.  I hooked a few of the cheap plastic hooks that came with various shower curtains onto plastic hangers for a free storage solution
• We had a wooden mug tree which mysteriously lost several pegs.  DD13 simply removed the remaining pegs and stacked her bangles on it.
• DH occasionally uses odd socks as protective pouches for his sunglasses.  It's a lot cheaper than buying a microfiber bag from Sunglass Hut!

Any other repurposing ideas? 

I think my favorite repurpose is the veggie drawer (from a fridge seen lying in a ditch by the road) turned into a vermicomposter.

A recycling bin (we don't have home pick up) is now a container for potatoes.

And a friend was discarding a quince bush (very thorny) and I needed something to keep riffraff from coming through the edge of my yard...now it is not only a fruit producing tree, it is a home security enhancement.

My sister uses the bags that t-shirt-fabric sheets come in as a cap while doing house work (keeps her very long hair out of the way and clean)

I use a t-shirt as a turban and shower cap (just take it most of the way off...stop when the neck is tight around your head and use the sleeves to tie up the rest of the shirt with your hair in it.   I've actually had people ask about my "cool scarf" when I'm out working in the garden or doing field work.  HA!

I had too many cloth grocery bags given to me so now one is my garden tools tote and another is for muddy boots in the back of the station wagon.

I have cloth bags filled with all sorts of things around the house.    I know I have some strange things around here but can't think of them at the moment.  the treadle sewing machine is the cockatiel cage stand for the moment now to reduce the clutter in the living room.

Most of us stretchers use plastic shopping bags to line small trash cans. What I do that I think is a little odd and fits this thread is I use any plastic bag that is large enough, as a liner. Bags from items like paper towels, the bag the tissue paper comes in, as long as there are no holes in it, a bag is a bag :)

Any cardboard packaging or the cardboard roll from inside paper towels, cereal boxes, any cardboard boxes get torn into small pieces and put inside a small kleenex box to use for fireplace kindling.  This one I only do during fall and winter.

This one I've mentioned on here before, but I have a pencil holder I absolutely love and will never toss out. I made it out of a scrap of leftover wallpaper border that I pasted onto a washed can from frozen concentrate orange juice. It was a perfect fit lengthwise.  Pretty blue roses (my favorite). I also have washed various sizes of tin cans and reuse them. I have a tiny tomato paste can that I keep paper clips in, and this is the odd one.. I regularly get new clean holders for the toilet brush. They are about 10. minimum to buy and I refuse to clean one of those! So occasionally I buy something in a large tin can like an oversized can of tomatoes or something know we will eat soon, and I wash out that tin can and voila, it's a fresh clean toilet brush holder. Sometimes I decorate them a bit if I'm feeling artsy but usually not. Once it is clean the tin can is pretty shiny.

The only other ones I can think of offhand are the pretty usual ones.. will try to think of more. Great thread!

I use an empty paper towel cardboard core as a protective cover for my long kitchen knives and a toilet paper core for my shorter knives.

I have taken one of the expandable coat racks and hung it in my craft room to hold my embroidery hoops.  Made a kind of abstract art for a blank wall too.

re-tired

 Loading pieces of an old pigeon coop on trucks, hauling it home, made modifications and now it is a chicken coop.  Also shower doors on cold frames as garden season extenders.

I wanted full-length mirrors for my basement, so I can correct myself when I am practicing Taekwon-Do - a friend who was helping renovate a house brought me 2 old mirrored closet doors - free, and just the right size for what I wanted.

Now that's clever!

Just remembered another one - DH took the plastic basket/ tray from the bottom of an old stroller, cut off one side and screwed into the inside of one of the kitchen cabinet doors so that I could store the foil, waxed paper, and cling wrap neatly without taking up limited kitchen drawer space!

DD13 was helping in the "recycled treasures" stall at a fundraiser.  Among the items to be dumped was a faux leather picture frame serving tray.  It was coming apart at one corner, and one of the handles was broken.  DD salvaged it and will repair the corner with DH's glue, and replace the glass with a piece of plastic canvas.  It will then be hung on her bedroom wall to organize her earrings. 

   Here's my most recent one:   I had the metal tubes from one of those over-the-toilet storage units (the shelves are long gone).  I anchored two 4.5-foot sections in my garden and tied some leftover fencing to them --  presto!   A trellis for my pole beans!

When Elder Cat needed sub-q fluids, a bent coat hangar hung from the shower rod made a good IV stand.   I also stored the bag of fluid in a cloth grocery bag .. it hung nicely on the back of the door.  It also had an added bonus -- a wet spot on the bag meant that we hadn't shut off the flow properly.

Cheryl:

Most of us stretchers use plastic shopping bags to line small trash cans. What I do that I think is a little odd and fits this thread is I use any plastic bag that is large enough, as a liner. Bags from items like paper towels, the bag the tissue paper comes in, as long as there are no holes in it, a bag is a bag :)

Any large bag is usually repurposed into a trash bag at my house, too.  25lb cat litter bags, bags from mulch, larges shopping bags all get used.  Thank heavens the city isn't particular about what kind of bags we use.

Cheryl:

Any cardboard packaging or the cardboard roll from inside paper towels, cereal boxes, any cardboard boxes get torn into small pieces and put inside a small kleenex box to use for fireplace kindling.  This one I only do during fall and winter.

 hadn't thought about putting it in a tissue box ... you just throw the whole thing in?