Just gone done with spring cleaning? Then, get creative with recyclable household items, and turn them into clever DIY decorative pieces for your home! You save on materials, you hone your crafting skills, and you get to enjoy (and show off!) attractive home accents you’ve made yourself. And a big plus, you do your part to minimize trash by reusing discards rather than tossing them in the bin.
10 DIY Decor Projects to Make from Upcycled Items this Spring
1 – DIY Flower Vase from an Upcycled Light Bulb – This project from With My Hands Dream requires the proper cutting and grinding tools and the right know-how. But if you can follow the described steps, look at the lovely result!
2 – Drinking Straw Coasters – We all know the environmental hazard posed by plastics, including the (once) common drinking straws. So Craft Passion published a series of projects on using these straws to make practical and pretty items, like these woven straw drink coasters. Make them in fun colors for your picnic tables this spring and summer!
3 – Cereal Box Magazine Holder – Cut a large cereal box or similar-shaped packaging container as shown in this tutorial by Rhapsody in Rooms. Then cover it with attractive wrapping paper, and voila! A home-made magazine holder.
4 – Upcycled Almond Milk Bottle Dolls Vases – With almond milk bottles being so shapely, how can you just throw them out? That’s just what Handmade Charlotte thought. So, see how empty bottles get transformed into artsy little dolls or flower vases—or both in one!
5 – Mini Storage Baskets from Upcycled Milk Cartons – You can never have too many organizers for all those odds and ends. Especially when they are as charming as these mini “baskets” from Dainty Dress Diaries, made with empty milk cartons covered with wooden popsicle/lolly sticks painted white, then lined with pretty fabric.
6 – Upcycled Egg Carton Flowers – Whether it’s Easter time or not, here’s a popular craft your kids can help with to create the cheeriest DIY floral arrangements. Just follow the steps in this how-to from Mom Unleashed, using a cut-up egg carton, acrylic paints, pipe cleaners, and cupcake liners.
7 – DIY Upcycled Vintage Magazine Paper Lantern – Got an old paper lantern you were about to toss out? Grab this idea from My So Called Crafty Life, using magazine pages with retro images, recipes, and product ads to make this appealing lantern. Or go with your own choice of motif.
8 – Tin Soda Can Flowers for a Floral Arrangement – Now, here’s a truly unique idea we crafted for a modern bridal bouquet! It makes use of soda cans again. But this time, cut into petal shapes and assembled into “edgy” flowers (as in sharp, too, so not advisable with kids around). Make several blooms to display as a striking arrangement in a modern living room or on your mantel. Styled by Bellenza.
9 – Upcycled Cans as Centerpiece Vases or /Planters – Cans have always been a ready recyclable for dozens of purposes. Why not for vases or planters to brighten up spots in your home with flowers, herbs, succulents—or even to make colorful centerpieces for a party, as in our painting party set? Styled by Bellenza.
10 – Recycled Soda “Pop Art” Bottle Vases – Instead of the usual painting process, we used decoupage to cover empty liter-size soda bottles with brightly colored strips of tissue paper. And there you have ‘pop art”-inspired vases to hold flowers around your home—or to grace your party tables! Styled by Bellenza.
Aside from these featured projects, what other creative ways have you upcycled “trash into treasure” to decorate your home?
