Turning an IKEA Bedspread into Kitchen Towels

From my project archives: Several years ago, we bought a cotton bedspread from IKEA. It was rough, not soft. Nobody wanted to use it as a blanket, so eventually we decided to cut it up and turn it into hand towels for the kitchen. We used an old towel to measure the right size. 

After we cut the whole blanket into over a dozen pieces, Mom hemmed the edges, folding it over twice to prevent fraying. Then I added decorative stitching on each edge. This was an easy project to practice with the sewing machine.

Upcycling Plastic Straps from Boxes

I saved some plastic strapping pieces from cardboard boxes of heavy items. My dad wanted to throw them away, but my mom coiled them up to store neatly. We used one piece to tie up an extension cord to store it without getting tangled. I tried to think of something else to use them for, but after a few months my mom decided to use them to weave a basket.

She cut 14 short strips for the bottom and 7 long strips to go around. After weaving the bottom, she clamped the edges to keep it together. Then she folded each strip up to form the sides. There was enough black and white to make a pattern. The final row has extra layers to hide the cut ends. The strapping was split lengthwise to make thin strips to stitch around the rim to make it secure. 

Electric Car Cable Holder

 We recently acquired an electric car. It is convenient to charge it using the wiring I had originally installed in the garage for my welder after replacing the outlet. However, I needed a place to store the adapter for the welder and the charging cable to prevent them from getting tangled or run over.

I used scraps from other welding projects to make a rack with hooks and holders for everything. There was a hole in the wall from when I installed the outlet, so I added a piece of square tube that lines up with the hole to store the car end of the cable.