I Lost 21 Pounds in One Day!

For years I've been saving old blue jeans with the idea that I would one day use them to make darling quilts for my boys. Whenever Robert or any of the boys wore out a pair of jeans, they got stacked on the shelf in a closet. Wednesday I looked at the shelf and asked myself an important question: Am I really going to take the time to cut up each of these pairs of jeans into useable squares that can then be used to make a quilt?

The answer was a resounding NO!

The decision to part ways with the stacks of jeans (a 21 pound stack of jeans, no less) was quite freeing. I no longer had a dreaded project hanging over my head and I was about to get a whole closet shelf back. It felt great.

However, I didn't want to throw the jeans in the garbage. It seemed like such a waste to relegate the stack to a landfill. And I couldn't give them to Goodwill. As if someone would actually pay money for jeans with holes in the knees! I decided to offer my stack to my Facebook friends, but shockingly, there were no takers. (Well, I did have one friend from Wyoming express interest).

Finally I posted them for free on Craigslist and I found a taker.

I was surprised that I didn't have more interest in my 21 pound pile of jeans. After all, there are a plethora of crafts one could make from old jeans. The word du jour is "repurposing." Or, if you prefer, "upclycling."

A quick google search turned up online instructions for using old jeans to make not just quilts, but wallets, purses, a kindle case cover, a notebook cover, a lunch sack, baby bibs, an apron, Christmas stockings, a vest (or at least that is what she's calling it), and this amazing, but very heavy looking dress.

I was impressed, however, with all the footwear you could make repurposing old jeans.

These slippers seemed pretty comfy, but for the life of me I could not find directions to make them. (Not that I'd have any old jeans for the project anyway...)

Not sure what to say about these slippers.

A creative use of pockets for sure!

For the baby in your life, these cute little booties.

For sale on Etsy, these cute mary janes.

I could get excited about these, maybe. But again, I'm all out of old jeans. 21 pounds lighter!!!