Using Up and Making Do...and My New Addition

My new and exciting edition to our home...is my new bookshelf for the kitchen! Mainly needed to house homeschool curriculum and everyday arts and crafts supplies, which have previously been located in various places around the kitchen with no real home. The end of the dining table and the top of the refrigerator can now(hopefully) remain clutter free. My next task is to load the shelves!

The shelf is made from picket fencing I saved from our 1939 home renovation. We sold it and moved 3 times since then, 2 1/2 years ago, and I have kept bringing them along, to my husband's dismay at times. I kept telling him I wanted something made from them, but just didn't know what. My first thoughts were a potting bench or a sitting bench for the patio. When I just couldn't get things organized in the kitchen it dawned on me that I needed some kind of shelf. Not wanting to spend any, or very little, money if possible I remembered the pickets housed in my in-laws shed. They were just the thing to match my old paint-chipped cupboard and barnwood shelf. My father-in-law was happy to have a project and now here it is! We have a baseboard heating unit next to the shelf, so I can't center it under the barnwod shelf. Ah, I will get over the need for symmetry eventually.

Another use-up-and-make-do project was the making of a pseudo headboard. This was made with a combination of an item saved from our home renovation, and something new. When we replaced a couple of windows, two had what I call "fancy glass" in them. I liked the pattern of the glass and it was in really good shape...but wasn't sure what to do with it at the time. Later, I decided I could frame them and hang them over our bed as a psuedo headboard. I took my time, as I wanted it to be done as frugally as possible, and used two 40% off Michael's coupons on the frames. We then removed the backing and glass and took the frames and our own "fancy glass" to the glass shop. They cut the glass and put it in with tabs to keep it in place. They also kindly cut some coasters from the remaining glass, about a 4 inch strip we didn't need, and finished the edges for us. You can see one I keep on my nightstand, on the left. I really like how the light from our window plays on the glass and creates different designs.

These are just a couple of my ideas, if you have made projects with recycled or salvaged items and wish to share, please leave a comment and feel free to add a link to any pictures. I am always interested in how people use-up-and-make-do. Off to organize the shelves now!