The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Try upcycling old items to give them new life
Krista Montelpare is all about embracing the quality and charms of vintage life.
The Glace Bay, N.S. woman loves thrifting for sustainable items and renewing appreciation for older pieces, as well as updating our usage of the household items that our parents and grandparents had previously kept tucked away for a special occasion.
Montelpare has such a passion for this that it's become the subject of her blog, Love Letter Lifestyle, where she teaches others how to thrift and repurpose items.
"Repurposing items saves the time and cost of shopping for a new object to fulfill a need," she says.
More importantly, she believes the benefits of upcycling or repurposing items far outweighs any effort required to adapt an object to make it work for you.
“Not only are you helping reduce consumption by choosing a more sustainable option, it also often results in something that is more creative, more unique, and has more personality than an otherwise massproduced object from a store,” says Montelpare.
It was her quest to find items to use as storage that set Montelpare on her thrifting crusade.
“I like to stay organized and prefer to always have a place to put things, so it was natural to start using canisters and other such containers to help with storage,” she says.
"Sitting at a desk cluttered with various pens, scissors, and random ephemera I'd held onto for some reason or another, I decided to take some of the vintage dishes I had stored away and used them to sort and organize my office stationery and supplies."
Montelpare says it feels good to divert containers from the landfill by giving them a new purpose as well as knowing that something made of metal or even a solid glass will likely be much more robust and longer-lasting than the plastic storage solutions commonly seen today, she says.
"I'm a big proponent of reusing (after reducing) when it comes to being mindful of our consumption and lasting footprint on the earth," she adds.
So how does she do it? "Before an item is ready for the recycle bin or to be donated, etc., I think about any other uses it might offer. Can it be used for storage? Can it replace something in the home that's plastic? Can parts of it be used for crafts?"
Montelpare offers the following tips and tricks to get you started on thrifting and repurposing:
1. Try using vintage sugar bowls and creamers to hold your office supplies like pens and scissors.
2. Canisters or goblets make great planters or succulent gardens.
3. Mismatched barware or milk glass mugs can be upcycled for DIY candle making.
4. Antique sheet music or advertisements from old magazines can be framed for fun decor.
5. Vintage butter dishes can be flipped upside down and used for plastic-free food storage.
6. Fabric from clothes that may have holes or be otherwise unwearable can be stretched over embroidery hoops to be used for stitching.
When thrifting, Montelpare always looks for things that are both good quality and in good condition.
"If something is beautiful but cracked or even delicate, it's not likely to withstand an upcycle for everyday use. It's also about choosing materials that are natural or sustainable," she says.
"I always go for glass or metal over plastic and cotton or wool over synthetic fabrics."
In addition to thrift stores, she also checks yard sales — virtually these days — and belongs to a local "buy nothing group" for swapping items.
It also helps to put the word out when you're looking for specific items, she adds.
"When your friends know that you're always looking for a particular item, they tend to keep you top-of-mind when they're ready to pass that item on," she says.
Blogs are amazing resources for outside-the-box ideas for upcycling, suggests Montelpare. Other ideas can be found on Instagram searching the tag #upcycle, which currently has over four million posts.
Go online: Learn more at Loveletterlifestyle.com