Trash to Treasure

I've never watched the television show, "Hoarders", but I've heard all about it from Facebook comments and Yahoo headlines.  Being a fairly tidy and relatively organized person, I'm nowhere near eligible for the program.  However, there is one little pile in my craft room that might make the casual observer think that I am only one step away from a show appearance myself.

For awhile now, I've saved boxes from things like cereals, teas, macaroni and cheese, Skinny Cow ice cream treats (yum!), coffee filters, butter, and, yes, Nerds candy. 

I figured that one day I would get a book binding machine, and all these boxes with their interesting and colorful advertising graphics would make great book covers.

And, of course, that day has arrived!  With my Cinch, I am a little bookmaking cottage industry.

When I made my second book, for drawing while on vacation, I cut papers from a 9x12" pad of drawing paper.  The resulting pile of leftover papers gave me materials for three additional little notebooks, and I decided to pursue a "tea theme":

They make happy little notebooks, don't you think?

So now, I've turned my kids' outgrown clothing into gift tags and magnets; old jeans into a ring, bracelet, bookmarks, and magnets; and now I've taken boxes that would get tossed into the recycling bin and turned them into notebooks.

'Fess up:  What's the craziest thing you are "hoarding" right now?  What do you think you might do with it someday?

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Chris, of Parabolic Muse, was kind enough to blog about some things I sent her way recently as a thank-you for her own arty generosity.  Check out her post here!

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