{"id":775808,"date":"2016-04-08T15:51:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T15:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/general\/creative-repurposing-three-fresh-ideas\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:58:22","slug":"creative-repurposing-three-fresh-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/blog\/shop\/creative-repurposing-three-fresh-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Repurposing: Three Fresh Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\nWith Earth Day only two weeks away and environmental consciousness on everyone\u2019s mind, we thought we\u2019d share a little about how Goodwill helps to save our planet. On top of creating a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to reuse one another\u2019s second-hand items through retail stores, Goodwill stock that doesn\u2019t sell after a significant amount of time in stores and outlets is baled and sold to textile recyclers, which extends the life of already manufactured goods. Right there we have two of the three sustainability Rs, now let\u2019s look at the third: reduce. Here are a few fresh ways that people have reduced their need to buy new things simply by reusing the old for their creative repurposing projects!\n

\"Photo1\"\nImage via CanalVie.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nIf you\u2019re still spring cleaning, you\u2019ll probably appreciate a little organization inspiration and this gorgeous reclaimed jewelry sorter is just the ticket! I was stunned by the beauty of well-worn wood studded with jewelry hanging on hand-hooked keys! One click through to the tutorial enlightened me to the fact that the wood isn\u2019t that worn at all, but painted to look aged with a simple technique \u2013 even more amazing! And who knew that bending keys to form hooks would be such a cinch? I bet sifting through your junk drawer to find some old, abandoned keys will be more strenuous, but at least then you\u2019ll have less clutter and won\u2019t be contributing to the landfills when you remove them. Thanks so much to Industries Goodwill Renaissance Montreal<\/a>\u00a0for sharing this charming tutorial on their Facebook page! (Pssst! The website can be translated to English, too.)\n

\"Photo2\"\nImage via ShrimpSaladCircus.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nGet ready for an Earth Day double whammy with this DIY project that repurposes unwanted items while also supporting new plant life: garden markers made from thrifted spoons! After collecting silver spoons from your favorite Goodwill store, see how Lindsay of Shrimp Salad Circus<\/a> uses metal stamps to produce whimsical plant labels. One great tip she offers for metal stamping is to fill the letters in with permanent marker then rub the excess off with a nail file. This establishes a distinct patina to make the letter stand out without a lot of extra work. Now I feel like I want to stamp letters into any metal I find. What a fun crafting skill to have!\n

\"Photo3\"\nImage via GiveIt2www.goodwill.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nRepurposing keys and spoons may seem a little more intuitive seeing as both are useful tools to begin with, but how about saving textiles from the landfills by turning clothing into art? When you see the eclectic fabric collages that Jim Hornsby of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee<\/a>\u00a0(Nashville)\u00a0has been constructing, that won\u2019t sound like such a crazy idea. These fun create-your-own puzzle pictures are perfect for anyone who can wield a pair of scissors and since static allows fabrics to easily cling together, not much else is required! Where does Jim find his medium? Here\u2019s a hint: he says that the inside of a Goodwill is \u201clike an artist\u2019s palette, with all the reds and blues\u201d and admits that he\u2019s very inspired by shopping there. I know exactly what he means!\n\nSo when you\u2019re looking for a good deed to do this Earth Day, it really can be as easy as shopping at or donating to your local Goodwill! If you reduce your need for buying newly made necessities, reuse what others have donated, and support an organization that recycles whatever doesn\u2019t sell in its retail stores then you\u2019ll already be making a great start.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Earth Day only two weeks away and environmental consciousness on everyone\u2019s mind, we thought we\u2019d share a little about how Goodwill helps to save our planet. On top of creating a wonderful opportunity for neighbors to reuse one another\u2019s second-hand items through retail stores, Goodwill stock that doesn\u2019t sell after a significant amount of time in stores and outlets is baled and sold to textile recyclers, which extends the life of already manufactured goods. Right there we have two of the three sustainability Rs, now let\u2019s look at the third: reduce. Here are a few fresh ways that people have reduced their need to buy new things simply by reusing the old for their creative repurposing projects!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":775810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-775808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":775809,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775808\/revisions\/775809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}