Do-It-Yourself Trash-Crafts

Making crafts from trash is easy and fun following my Trash-Crafts method. I'll teach you how to find and fix all kinds of things from old furniture, cabinets or book shelves to room decor. It's easy and fun! You could even start a business selling the one-of-a-kind items you'll create. I love to take stuff I'm not using any more and turn it into a new piece I can't live without. I'll talk about where to find stuff and then give you some great ideas on how to go about making it that unique piece everyone will ask about... and tells a story.

One piece I'm particularly fond of is an old coffee table that had bite marks from when my son Logan was an infant. Logan was learning how to walk and would hold himself up by the coffee table... well... and bite it. You can see the bite marks across the front.

My wife was ready for a new look but I just couldn't part with it so... it found a spot in our bedroom for about 2 years. One day my wife had the idea of turning it into a desk. What a spectacular idea! It was a really nice coffee table from Pottery Barn and I knew we'd never get our money out of it so, turning it into a desk was a great solution. The desk is pictured to the right so just imagine it without the legs and the center part (where your legs go) was a shelf. All that had to be done was to remove the center part and attach some sturdy legs that complemented the design and wallah... A Trash-Craft and an awesome desk!

Since that went so well and we were creating an office out of a spare bedroom we went looking another trash-craft project. We found the next one at the Habitat for Humanity Store. It was an old make-up table, and a pretty large one at that. It had the right dimensions... and the price was right... i mean it was a steel! Anyhoo... after some sanding and some foe paint and stencil craft you can see it's a prize desk that really sets off the office by it's uniqueness.

How to find trash-craft projects. As I mentioned previously, we found the second desk at the Habitat for Humanity store. Below is a list of places you can look for finding your next project

Garage sales are an obvious choice, get there early so you get first-dibs on any good items.

Thrift Stores like your local Goodwill, Samaritan House or Habitat for Humanity store.

Trader Newspapers are a great source of old but refurbish-able items. My town has something called the "Tidewater Trader" where people can list all kinds of things for sell. I like to look for old tools I can refurbish... like old hand planes