Hobbies And Interests
Stuffed Animals
You can easily make old stuffed animals that are suffering from rips and tears into something new. Your child may outgrow the need to cuddle with a stuffed animal but she may enjoy using her old cuddle-buddy as a puppet, pillow or bag. Make a bag by slitting the stuffed animal's stomach and removing the stuffing. Than insert a zipper along the rip. To make a pillow, open the stomach and insert extra pillow stuffing, which you can find at many home and craft stores.
Plastic Toys
Turn your old plastic toys into art. A popular artist, Robert Bradford, does just that. If you have a lot of plastic Happy Meal toys, missing Polly Pocket accessories and headless LEGO figurines marching around your basement, help your kids take these plastic toys and glue them onto picture frames or scrapbooks, or assemble them to make statues.
Books
Whether it is children's books, or just old books that you do not read anymore, the ways of reusing old books are numerous. Stack up three books, lace them with Christmas lights, and create a lamp. Tear out the pages and fold them into envelopes or use the torn out pages to wallpaper a room. Take the pages out and use the hardback as a magazine holder or use the books as booster seats and headboards. If you don't want to use books in your decorating, donate your used books to church book sales or the library, sell on the Internet or give them as gifts.