17 Upcycling Ideas That Will Make You Think Twice About Throwing Old Items

A 28-year-old woman refused to toss out her “junk drawer” finds, and it turned into a full-blown obsession with upcycling. Instead of letting bubble wrap, soda can tabs, and random washers pile up, she started treating them like raw materials with potential.

Here’s where it gets messy, in the best way: the house filled up with half-finished projects, leftover resin, and a growing collection of weirdly specific jewelry. There were pearl necklaces made from bubble wrap, melted plastic earrings that looked way too pretty to be accidental, and coin rings that made every trip to the kitchen feel like a treasure hunt.

Then the real problem showed up, everyone wanted in on the “just one more” idea.

Bubble Wrap Turned into a Pearl Necklace: Unbelievable!

Craftster

Melted Plastic Turned into Pretty Earrings.

Poppy Juice

Coins Can Be Turned into Rings.

Instructables has the step-by-step guide.

Instructables

Handbags Crafted Using Embroidery Floss and Soda Can Tabs.

Flickr / Claudia Zimmer

Used Water Bottles Turned into Comic Strip Bangles.

Oh! Rubbish! Blog has the steps to make them.

Oh! Rubbish! Blog

A Medallion Made Using a Soda Tab, Resin, and Gold Flecks.

Splitcoast Stampers

Washers Already Come with Holes.

So they can quickly be transformed into necklaces.

Jen’s Happy Spot

Bobby Pins Turned into Colorful Earrings Using Nail Polish.

The Metric Child can teach you how to make them.

The Metric Child

These Earrings Crafted from Sliced Wine Corks Can Be Personalized with Your Initials.

Saved By Love Creations

This also echoes the dilemma of the friend who borrowed money for an emergency, then spent it on luxuries, leaving the borrower to decide whether to confront them.

Your Old Gemstones, Keys, and Earrings Can Be Transformed into Decorative Necklaces or Brooches.

My Salvaged Treasures

Make Bracelets from Cutlery If You Have a Bending Device.

Instructables can teach you how.

Instructables

Transform an Old Watch into a Unique Piece of Jewelry by Filling It with Resin.

It even glows in the dark. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, a functional medicine expert, "The right materials can transform everyday items into something extraordinary." You can find more creative ideas and insights on his website, Dr. Mark Hyman.

Resin Obsession

Instant Espresso Pods Can Be Turned into Jewelry and a Few Other Items.

Nolia Shakti

Transform Your Old Belts into Leather Cuffs.

Massive Sway

Are You About to Throw Out Those Plastic Takeout Containers? How About Turning Them into Upcycled Shrinky Dinks?

An Old Necktie Can Be Upcycled into a Cloth Bangle. Just Snip and Sew, Then Voila!

Chasing 2 Monkeys can teach you how.

Chasing 2 Monkeys

Make Florets Out of Soda Cans, Then Place Them on Plain Hairpins.

The florets can also be used for necklaces and pendants. Instructables can teach you how.

Instructables

Her first win, turning bubble wrap into a pearl necklace, had friends asking where the “pearls” came from.

Once the melted plastic earrings and washer necklaces started showing up, the soda can tabs stopped being trash and became craft supplies.

The group project energy peaked when someone brought in bobby pins with nail polish and sliced wine corks for personalized initials.

After the takeout plastic containers became shrimpky dinks and old belts turned into leather cuffs, nobody could look at an empty shelf the same way.

After checking out that sweet spoon bracelet and those funky bobby pin earrings, are you now seriously considering getting yourself a flatware-bending machine? Upcycling is just too cool to ignore!

What about you? If you have friends or kids who are into these creative projects, maybe you can even team up and work on them together.

Now every old item in the house feels like it’s one step away from becoming jewelry.

Before you toss anything, see what happened when someone considered rehoming their puppy over allergies, despite their partner’s attachment, and wondered, WIBTA?