Home Decor and Functional Crafts

There’s this heap of junk in my closet—fabric scraps, a jar, washers, just random stuff. Didn’t match, didn’t care, suddenly I’m using it all over my apartment. Not clutter, I swear. I just grab whatever’s closest and it turns into something I actually use. Well, sometimes.

Crafting Coasters and Placemats

I had a drawer full of cork disks, fabric bits, and a cereal box with “Do Not Throw Out” written on it (I tossed the note, obviously). Layered fabric or glued cardboard makes okay coasters—unless you spill wine, then it’s game over for the thin ones.

Placemats? I braided T-shirt yarn together once. Or I ironed scrap fabric onto interfacing, stitched a wonky square, and called it done. Mixed a floral with ugly plaid and, weirdly, it didn’t look awful. Using scraps is less stressful, and I don’t freak out if someone drops a fork.

Quick Reference Table

Creative Candle Holders

Turns out, I collect jars. Jam, pickles, old candles. I wrap them in rope, string, or whatever ribbon’s left from last Christmas. Glue gun’s still alive, surprisingly.

Tea lights fit fine. For tall candles, I dumped beads in the bottom (spilled half, cats went wild). Glued mesh or a doily around a jar—suddenly it’s “boutique.”
Once, I glued broken jewelry all over a jar. Looked nuts, impossible to dust, but people talk about it. My aunt tried to steal one. Chipped teacups? Throw in wax, instant candle, just don’t microwave the wax unless you want smoke and weird neighbor questions.

Building Wind Chimes

Making wind chimes wasn’t on my list. Found bent forks and bottle caps, so I hammered holes in them (dangerous, don’t recommend). Noisy but fun.

Threaded washers, keys, screws—if you’ve got a stick (mine was from the park, not the beach), that’s your top. The sound’s chaotic, but I kinda like the noise storm on windy days.

Tied in some old beads, ribbon, a bell from a Christmas ornament. None of it matches. Who cares? The wind chime’s a conversation piece, or maybe just a way to ditch junk.
Sometimes I walk into it and whack my head. That’s just life. Maybe it’s less decor, more warning sign.

Eco-Friendly Organization Projects

Coffee rings, tangled chargers, and honestly, I only try to tidy when I get distracted by something else. Stacking up takeout containers and packing cardboard—are they useful? Maybe? Here’s what sort of worked, at least until I forgot about it.

DIY Desk Organizers

Cereal boxes, pasta jars, oatmeal canisters—grabbed whatever wasn’t sticky. DIY desk organizers sound cool, but mostly it’s tape stuck to my socks. Stacked boxes, cut a hole in cardboard (cable portal? Sure), covered it with fabric or junk mail, and now it’s “modern.”

Here’s a table of stuff I actually used, not that it matters:

Measuring is overrated. Jagged edges? “Handmade texture.” Scissors always vanish, no idea why.

Magazine and Storage Holders

I can’t toss old magazines—what if I need that beet chip recipe? So I hacked up cardboard boxes (shoeboxes, not the big ones, though I’ve thought about it), taped them into magazine holders. Angled the tops, labeled with sharpie on duct tape—my new “system.”

Storage boxes? Empty tissue boxes, shoved under the desk, and forgotten. Found a receipt stash in one last week. People online glue fabric to boxes for a “custom look.” Tried an inside-out chip bag; peeled off in days. Not all ideas work.

Nesting small boxes in big ones? Feels organized, but I’m still drowning in stuff.

Creating Pencil Holders

Coffee cans, bean tins, yogurt cups—basically anything cup-shaped that’s not moldy. Not Pinterest-worthy, but stick some packing paper on with washi tape or a bandaid, and now it “matches.” Tried to shape one like a rocket—ended up crooked, cat loved it.

If it holds pencils and doesn’t smell, it’s a winner. Stack containers for “tiers,” but overdo it and everything falls over. Keep meaning to sand sharp edges, but where even is my sandpaper? Friend suggested glitter paint—looks shiny, still lost my favorite pen.

Yogurt cups: MVPs of accidental organization—until I toss one with a full set of markers inside.