Magazines

• The thick, glossy paper used in many magazines just cries out to be used in craft projects. Make colorful and one-of-a-kind beads by cutting long thin triangles from magazine pages and then tightly rolling them up, starting from the wide end. Dab a little glue on the pointed end of the triangle to prevent the beads from unrolling. You can also cut magazine pages into strips and weave them to create coasters, or use them as mats for photographs or background motifs on scrapbook pages or greeting cards.
  
  

Glass

• Turn empty glass bottles of all shapes and sizes into vases using a glass cutter to cut the neck off the bottle. Even if you don't have a glass cutter, you can repurpose small glass bottles into bud vases and decorate them with decoupage using pictures cut from magazines, or simply paint them with acrylic paint. Add a final coat of varnish if you'd like a glossy finish.
  
  

Bottle Tops and Corks

• Create artistic wall hangings by using different colored bottle tops to make mosaics. If your collected bottle tops are all the same color, paint them in the colors you need. Use an old board from a game (such as checkers) as a backing or base, and glue the bottle tops on with a hot glue. Trace or draw a design, or just make up the pattern as you go along for a random abstract effect. If you have a collection of corks, make a bulletin board by gluing the corks in rows lying on their sides inside a discarded picture frame.
  
  

Wood

• Cut up old shutters to make coffee tables or outdoor planters, or hinge them together to make a room divider or screen. Turn a couple of louvred doors into a display stand for ornaments or books. Connect the two louvred doors with hinges down the length so they'll stand at right angles to each other. Remove a couple of the slats opposite each other on both doors, then slide a wooden plank through the gaps to form a shelf.