Make use of clutter to decorate your home! Sounds strange? Believe me its possible! While moving into my new house, I had to get rid of a lot of old pots, torn clothes, cracked dishes and chipped china. At my wit's end trying to figure a way out of the mess, it struck me that I could actually use a lot of these to make decorative accents for my new home.

I got my 6 year old daughter involved as she was the only one who was willing to get her hands dirty in the act! Every body thought I was crazy, but that didn't stop me from going about my business.

First, we sorted what could be re-used and what HAD to be thrown away. It soon turned out that I could reuse most of the things that I had discarded earlier.

There was my mother-in-law's old iron chest; a wooden bookrack with jammed hinges; a couple of cracked clay planters; dozens of paper bags; old shabby pillow-covers; torn bedsheets; my daughter's old woollen garments; old magazines and more...

The first thing that we did was to paint the old iron chest in black. My daughter simply loved the idea. With a fresh coat of shiny paint, the chest sprung back to life as it were! We cut out different colored pictures of kids, flowers and cars from the old magazines and pasted them on the lid of the chest once the paint dried up. Looking bright and cheerie, the old chest was transformed into a treasure chest for my daughter's toys! In it went all her dolls and blocks and cars whatever toys there were scattered all over the house.

Next, came the planters. I smeared my little daughters palms with bright red, green and yellow paint and asked her to stamp the planters. Needless to say, she was delighted at the offer! As most of them were cracked or chipped, they could no longer be used as planters. We found a way to re-use them as dust bins instead. Inside each, we neatly tucked in a paper bag. Now they stand smart in every corner of my new house and have attracted attention of all the guests I have entertained so far. All I need to do, is replace the paper bags when they are full with new ones that comes in with the grocery.

We found a way of re-using the shabby pillow covers and the woollen garments too! I cut the sweaters, booties, caps and all the woollen garments that were discarded into small pieces. Next, I turned the pillow covers inside out, stuffed them with wool and sewed the open side firmly. My cushions were almost ready. I just had to make them more attractive. I made use of the large round and colorful show-buttons that were taken off the old sweaters and booties. I stitched them on the cushions, in groups of three, and soon my cushions looked as attractive and inviting as ever!

You too can reuse a lot of your old stuff and turn a lot of trash into cherished treasures. Look around you, put on your thinking caps and if you're willing to get your hands dirty, you'll soon learn to reuse and not just reject!