Kerri Miller
Practical Solutions for Paper Crafters is finally here! I can’t begin to tell you the amount of hours we spent planning, creating, and writing this issue. But I will share with you just one of the projects near and dear to my heart.
In planning for the organization and storage section, I knew I wanted to recycle an old suitcase. I went looking in my parents’ basement for my Mom’s old suitcase, but what I found was even better—my great grandmother’s old suitcase. The suitcase was a little beat up and had been storing old Christmas ball ornaments in it. Such a waste!
I went back and forth on whether to recover the suitcase. See the piece of tape by the handle? That’s my great grandmother’s name in her own handwriting. How cool is that!
I realized there was a lot of damage needing to be repaired, but what finally tipped the scale was the Parisian road map fabric I found to recover the suitcase. It was so fitting I couldn’t stand it!
I stripped the sealed fabric from the existing suitcase using a cutting knife. You’ll notice that I couldn’t take off the locks and handles so I had to cut around them. (I hesitate to mention the love affair Jennifer’s dog had with the peeled off fabric. I think her dog actually ate an entire strip. Yuck!)
I wanted to keep the navy blue woodgrain interior so I carefully stripped it to be used again.
And finally I was left with a naked suitcase. There was not much to it really. I was amazed to find that the top and bottom of the suitcase were just thick pieces of cardboard and the sides made of wood.
I used wood glue to mend some damage, glued on the new fabric using fabric glue, and replaced the existing interior fabric. Lots of glue and hours later, here is the final piece!
I think it turned out rather lovely. My mother said my great grandmother would have liked it as well. In the end, having my great grandmother’s suitcase made it just that much more special to me. And more importantly, it’s a fabulous practical—and I dare say pretty—storage solution!
This is one of just many storage solution ideas from Practical Solutions. Leave a comment about your favorite recycling idea by 5 pm MST on March 21st and I’ll choose a winner for a free issue of the magazine!
Organizing in vintage style!
I am always recycling some piece of glass from our local thrift store. I love to spraypaint them and use them for storage in many different rooms in my house.
Love your project. I’m always recycling fabric from old clothes to use on my
mixed media projects.
I recycle all the cardboard that we get, ex.. ceral boxes, paper towel roll, the stuff that new shirts are wrapped around, anything that will work for chipboard for my scarpbooking and card making. Thanks for the giveaway.
I recycle lots of things , cardboard from cereal boxes, old glass jars for buttons and bling . I really love what you did with your grandmothers suitcase it’s really beautiful. Im sure she would love it. TFS.
I think back to how much stuff I gave away or threw away in the past. Now I know that a lot of it could have been recycled. We learn things too late.
Very neat and fun idea!
My husband wanted to toss (recycle) all the baby food jars we’d accumulated in the past year. I said no way! I knew our little one was already outgrowing baby food, so there wouldn’t be any more jars, and they are SO useful!
I like to put paper flowers and ribbons and buttons to glass jars and cans from food
Keri, Your grandmother’s suit case is beautiful. I am sure she would have loved what you have done with it. I recently took an old small metal cabinet with drawers that my husband wasn’t using anymore and put my buttons in it.
I save ribbons from everything. Sometimes they go into craft supplies and sometimes into my gift wrap box.
I love to recycle old jars – they become handy holders!
I’ve used chewing gum holders for gift card holders. The international coffee containers make godd storage boxes. This issue would really be helpful to us crafters I’m sure.
eek, what an amazing find and solution for organizing crafts. I need this issue badly! Thanks for the chance to win it!!
My favorite recycling idea is to use the rack & bins used to store your children’s small toys. I’ve used my son’s to store all my scrap supplies divided by color. This has made my scrapping so much more efficient!
I use cereal boxes for my chipboard! Thanks so much for the chance- this looks like a great issue!!!
Love this idea! I save all boxes of all kinds for future use as craft organizers.
I want to recycle my old audio tapes but make use of the clear plastic cases they came in…not sure what to put in them yet though, maybe cut atc paper? Also want to make use of tins that tea comes in…they stack perfectly, maybe for accessories? Your project looks great. Thank you for sharing!
Katie B.
My easiest recycling idea is to use ceral boxes for my chipboard. I’ve also used empty oatmeal containers and decorated them to hide extra paper towel rolls in the bathroom.
I recycled some old cabinets my husband brought home from a job. They work great!
Such a great way to preserve an heirloom!
WOW, Kerri! this turned out BEAUTIFULLY! i can only imagine the HOURS you must have spent, even just waiting for things to dry. but so worth the wait!
fave recycling idea, or at least one that i put into practice ALL the time, is any kind of plastic packaging. since i go to craft fairs to sell my goodies, i use anything that will fit something i’ve made, and use that to protect it. the little adhesive gem packaging is perfect for mini notecards or little tags, and many stickers are packaged PERFECTLY for cards!
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