Sign and Sink

An old sign from a venerable local landscape and an old porcelain sink make an excellent pair!

Old Corbels for New Supports

Old wooden corbels salvaged from an old house are used to create some very sturdy supports for the new window box.

Old Bowling Ball As Lawn Ornament

Don't throw away that old bowling ball.  Place the ball in your landscape as eye candy.  This old purple ball is the perfect accompaniment for the star shaped ball.

An old tool tray becomes a perfect flower holder and sits atop an old metal milk create filled with bottles for impact.

Train Light Cover for Candlelight

An old train glass light cover provide the perfect cover for battery operated candles!

Plant These Table Legs!

This old iron table has lost its' top, but the legs still support a large plant beautifully!

All Purpose Bench

This old wooden plank bench was used in the 1950's as a decoration in a lamp store.  It now functions as bench for plants or to pull up near the firepit.  Sturdy, sturdy, sturdy!

Hedges Bust

This beautiful old bust with many dings, discarded by a neighbor, found its' niche tucked in a row of hedges.

Fountain of Flowers

Don't throw away that non-functioning fountain...let it flow with colorful flowers!

Plant Stand

Looking for a sturdy and  interesting plant stand?  Use small concrete blocks placed on angles to create an interesting graphic that will be sturdy enough to hold even your heaviest plants.

Umbrella Coffee Table

Don't throw out those old umbrella stands, put them to good use to create a rustic coffee table.  This table complements the old metal glider and creates a comfortable seating spot.

Bottle Tree

Why throw those old glass bottles out when you can create your very own bottle tree!  In fact you don't even need a tree, just use an old telephone pole for the base.  String some Christmas lights and create a festive atmosphere year round!

Old Seedbags - A Feast for Your Eyes!

Feedbags or seedbags... whether intended for people or animals are a colorful reminder of our past!

Old Billboard Tags

These old billboard licensing tags make a colorful display on this repurposed window screen!

Vintage Dining Buffet Repurposed as Bathroom Vanity!

Love your grandmother’s old furniture but just don’t have a place for it?  Why not consider a new use?  We repurposed our old dining buffet as a bathroom vanity by cutting a hole in the top and placing a new top mount sink.  The downside to this repurposing is that the buffet can never go back to being a buffet; the upside is that it is now a useful, functional bathroom vanity with plenty of storage!  This repurposed piece of furniture is now a functional part of our household.  Repurposing, reusing at its’ best!!  Grandmother would be proud to see her furniture as such a functional part of the household!

Seashell and Champagne Cork Repurposed as Vintage Bottle Stopper!!

Don’t throw that champagne cork away!  The corks provide the perfect wide mouth fit to hot glue a large shell.  The shell hot glued on the cork creates on a colorful vintage bottle stopper.  Now the question becomes what materials can we use to fill the bottle?  Colored sea glass?  Marbles?  Old buttons?  The choice is yours…fill with your own repurposed materials!

Cedar Plank Repurposed for Old Fishing Gear Display!

Fish hooks, sinkers, bait and other fishing paraphernalia can be shared with all your fishing friends when you mount them for an eye catching wall display.  In this case an old cedar plank provides a great backdrop to show off those vintage baubles….hook and sinker!!!

Churning Up New Life for an Old Milk Churn!!

When I found this churn the top was missing and the pottery sides were starting to decay.  The decayed sides made for an interesting patina and a unique raised pattern on the side of the old churn.  What not to do? – Make butter.  What to do? – Place some interesting vines in the churn and you have a beautiful pot that won’t go sour!!

Large Bird Bath Morphs into Yard Sculpture

An old copper bird bath was beaten and dented within an inch of its’ life.  A little work with a soft mallet pounded it back into a circular shape.  Objects can frequently be repurposed into eye-catching non-traditional eye candy.  In this case the copper bowl, turned on its side is complemented by the rusty rebar and decoy pigeon, a sight to engage the maddest recyclers!!

Yard Debris Becomes Colorful Yard Focal Point!

Our yard is filled with bamboo.  Instead of hauling it to the street for yard debris, I decided to spray paint the stalks, different colors, stick them in the ground and Wallah!! ….an interesting focal point was created by the side of old potting shed.

Repurposed Ladder = Two Unique Displays for Photographs and Quilts

An old wooden ladder had seen better days.  It had sat in the wind and rain for many years.  All the metal attached had rusted.  It was splitting at the top.  What to do? 

Why not split the ladder into two pieces? With a quick coat of paint, we soon had two perfectly great display racks!!

The back of the ladder had rounded rungs that provided the perfect respite for some old quilts.  We could now see up to 7 or 8 quilts at once, making it easy for guests to choose their favorite!

The steps on the front of the ladder created a great display for 8 X10 framed photographs in the studio.

Two display pieces from one very old, tired ladder!  Repurposing at its best!

Bamboo Covers Old Farm Pasture Gate

Looking at a farm pasture gate is not the most appealing sight.  What to do?  We sealed bamboo and attached it to the gate with clear electrical ties!  A few black electrical ties were added to create an innovative pattern.  Now we have a beautiful gate that wind can blow through but prying eyes cannot!!!

All Clammed Up Over a Dining Table Centerpiece!

What to do with that big shell that just sits on the shelf?  Why not put it in the center of your dining table and fill it will shells, Christmas bulbs or whatever tickles your fancy!!

Old Signs and Sinks

A metal sign from a now defunct local garden center, pairs well with everything including the kitchen sink!  We couldn't bear to throw the old kitchen sink away that we removed from our kitchen.  We attached it to the garage wall and have used it for everything from cleaning fish to holding pots!!

French Doors Become Wall Art

The old French screen doors that previously covered our exterior French doors were no longer needed.  We had to find a way to use them.  Those were zinc screens inside the doors!!  This screen remained one intact piece.  We painted the entire screen and then created the lizard patterns on the screens.  The entire screen was then mounted to the wall as exterior repurposed wall art!!

Saw Lizard!!!

My husband found this rusty old saw someone had thrown away in the woods.  What to do?  The ends are painted with a soft yellow and this lively lizard has found a new home on our outdoor potting shed! 

Repurposed Collander

Don't throw that old metal collander away!  This collander makes a great container to stash pencils etc. on your desk top!

Old Room Darkening Roller Shade Creates a Sunny New Pattern!

Old window roller shades typically dry up and crackle away their final days.  Our shade created a whole new vibe. Patterns were cut in the old roller shade that allowed light to filter through and create the series of star fish and Buddha patterns. The shade was placed inside an artist’s canvas sized for the door glass.  The canvas was attached to the door and a new, refreshing view came into focus!     

Downspouts and Bases

I live in an old house that was built in 1928.  The old galvanized steel downspouts and old umbrella bases created trash in an unused part of my yard.  I couldn't bring myself to send such material off to the landfill. There had to be a way I could repurpose these items!  I decided I could make these old downspouts and umbrella bases visually appealing yard art, rather than yard trash.   I couldn't just stand the downspouts up alone, the wind would continually knock them over!!  So the downspouts were painted and inserted over rebar steel rods inserted in the ground.  The rods provide a simple structure for keeping the downspouts upright.   The umbrella bases are extremely ornate.  No one ever guesses they are old umbrella bases!  The bases are simply placed horizontally against  found rebar for an artistic landscape vignette.  Solar spotlights provide interest to the yard sculpture at night.

Thanks for visiting “Repurposing Relics!”  This website focuses on taking old things that have survived from the past and repurposing them into newfound enjoyment!

Relic Recycler

Relic

Rel -ic [rellik]

-old thing surviving from the past

Retrieved from the Internet October 3, 2010 from Encarta Dictionary English (North America).