Creative Ways to Reuse and Recycle!

I was browsing around the inter-web yesterday looking for some DIY inspiration, and stumbled across these awesome suggestions for repurposing some of your household items into new and useful things once they've out lived their original purpose. Some of the things I found were incredibly ridiculous, but these two are things I could actually see myself doing!

Heading out on a road trip and looking for a compact and convenient way to keep the older kids busy in the car? Check out this simple Colouring Set in a DVD Case created by Stacey Vaughan. She gives some detailed instructions on how to make the pocket side (you need to remove the click-in wheel where the DVD goes) and on the other side cut some paper to the appropriate size and slide it in under the tabs to hold it in place. When you're all finished drawing you simply close the case the keep your pencils and papers safely stored inside!

The second idea I came across over at A Little Learning For Two is also pretty fantastic. By the time the boy-o is done with his crib the rails will be in pretty terrible shape after all his gnawing on them, so by the time it makes it through a second (and maybe third...) baby it won't be in pretty shape. This clever little way to reuse it though ensures that you'll get the most life out of it that you can! When you're all done using it as a bed, you can remove the front rail and mattress, and install a fitted sheet of plywood covered in "Chalkboard Paint". You can then attach other art items as desired on the remaining crib walls and slide some chairs up to it to make the perfect kid sized desk!

I love both of these ideas and will be sure to let you know of any other awesome DIY's I find that could make life with kids just a little bit easier!