A blogger made a list of every creative reuse center in the United States.
That means it must be time for some local shopping and/or a road trip!
A creative reuse center is one of the best and most eco-friendly ideas ever to hit the modern crafting world. Imagine buying all the supplies you need for your favorite craft second-hand! Imagine having access to endless amounts of materials perfect for upcycling, from bottle caps to doll heads! I visit my own local creative reuse center, Art Remains, every time I need a specific supply, and often I find that after that, I don’t have to hit up the big-box craft store at all. And when I travel, I usually hit up someone else’s local creative reuse center just for fun. You never know what you’re going to find!
If you also like thrifting and creative reuse, and especially if you like to have a nice little nosy around the local thrift stores when you travel, I think you’re going to love this mega list of creative reuse centers published by the Swoodson Says blog. The list includes stores in almost every state, from Treasure Trader in Alaska to Hello Happiness Creative Reuse in Wisconsin, plus some international stores like Thrift/Craft Alternative Art Supply in Canada and Creative Junk in New Zealand. And there’s even a place to submit a store to be added to the list, so The Craft Room in Alabama and Laramie Creative Reuse in Wyoming don’t get left out!
One thing that I think is so interesting to do when you see this whole list of arts and crafts thrift stores all in one go is compare and contrast how they’re run. I imagine that every place organizes itself based on the resources and needs of that specific community, so it’s fascinating to see what’s the same for everyone and what’s unique. Some places, like Trove Arts and Crafts in Oklahoma City, only stock traditional arts and crafts supplies, not recyclables/upcycled materials, and some get even more specific–Gemma Arts and Crafts in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, for instance, only stocks secondhand fabric and sewing supplies, not even other craft materials. Other places, however, like Reconsidered Goods in Greensboro, North Carolina and the Upcycle Parts Shop in Cleveland, Ohio, also stock items that can be upcycled and creatively reused. And some places, like the Hub Shop in the Cincinnati Recycling and Reuse Hub, are meant specifically to save items from the landfill, so specialize in lots of items that the less creative-minded might see as trash.
But what, specifically, can you buy from a place like this? Well, when I was making my daughter’s bookshelf quilt, I felt like I wasn’t getting enough variety in the book blocks using fabric just from my stash, but with a stash as large as mine I certainly didn’t need to be going out and buying yards of new fabric, either. So for the next few months, at home and when I traveled, I poked into a few creative reuse centers, and found lots of smaller fabric scraps too small to ever buy in a proper craft store, but perfect for stitching individual books in a bookshelf quilt. I even bought a few pieced quilt blocks that I cut to size to make books that looked like they’d taken a ton of work to sew!
When I was first trying out cross-stitching, before I knew if I would like it or not, I bought a few different types of aida from my local creative reuse center. I tried out a few different types of open-weave cloth and plastic canvas, and that helped me figure out that my absolute favorite fabric surface is 14-count aida, ideally in black! Now I’ll even check out the center before I buy new embroidery floss–embroidery floss purchased new is already quite cheap, but finding it second-hand means that I’m also saving it from the waste stream!
These kinds of centers are also a huge support to non-profits. My mending group will be volunteering this autumn at our local hands-on museum teaching visitors how to stitch simple patches, and we’ll be sourcing all our materials–the embroidery floss, denim, felt, buttons, safety pins, and needles–second-hand, including from our local creative reuse center.
And, of course, even though I’m terrible about hoarding my craft supplies, I can’t forget about how important it is to have a place to donate these kinds of materials. Even when you no longer want a supply, you can put it into the hands of someone who will treasure it!
Is your local creative reuse center on Swoodson Says’ list? Better check and see!
