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Salvage Hardware From Old Backpacks

Over the last couple of years, I’ve found some wonderful hardware to salvage before throwing away the old backpacks from the kids’ school year.

If A Closure Can Secure A Pocket, It Can Secure A Minibook

Do you see the pink closure on the minibook in the picture above? I cut it out of my daughter’s backpack a year ago(it was on a side pocket) and added some pink wire and a charm. Here’s how it works:

1. Use a utility blade or scissors to cut away the material that encloses the closure. Then cut the bungee-like cord away from the back pack.

2. Add a charm to one end of the cord (if your charm comes from an old unloved bracelet or necklace, that makes it even better!).

3. Put the two ends of the chord together and wrap multiple times with a thin wire.

4. When you’re almost done wrapping the wire, position the charm over the center of the wired area and feed the wire through the ring of the charm. Then wrap the wire one or two more times.

More Backpack Hardware Ideas

Every backpack has its own sweet surprises. While this year’s packs didn’t have any closures like the one above, Trinity’s did have these:

I love the stitching on these.

This mesh will be a great way to add texture to a layout.

I might feed some ribbon through this clasp. You could probably feed two or three narrow ribbons side by side for a fun mix of patterns.

Remember to examine items for potential before throwing them away. It’s at least as fun as shopping. I promise.

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  • I love hearing what everyone else is doing!
  • Always love your posts. I save all kinds of things, and reuse them... more like memorabilia than anything on my pages. It is so cool to use clothes and personal items... it brings back great memories (like pieces of clothing that are torn or sentimental things that you know you can't hang on to the entire item but can just capture the memory in a tangible way).

    Love the way the posts remind of something I haven't done in some time. Lights the creative spirit and makes me want to scrap. ((HUGS))
  • Mariangeles
    Noell, I woke up this morning thinking about something, do your kids get a new backpack every school year? Just wondering... I hope you don't mind the question :-)
  • Ummm, yes and no. In the states there are basically two kinds of backpacks. There are really high-quality ones that last a long time, and then there are the popular ones for kids that are so cheaply made they don't always make it through the school year (grrr).

    I first started buying my kids the fun cute ones that most everyone gets and found they just don't last. Two years ago my husband gave Blake his nice one and so far it's made it through two school years in addition to my husband's college days--and it's still going.

    When the bottom of Trinity's ripped a month before school was done I told her she was going to have to make it work for the rest of the year and we've been talking about buying the better-quality ones this coming year, even if they're not as cute and fun. That means I may not be able to take one apart next year. =(

    Aiden is starting school this year and will need a backpack, but he's so tiny, my biggest concern is that we find one that he can put on his back!
  • eightisenough
    Noell,

    When my kids start kindergarten we buy them a nice high quality backpack from someplace like LL Bean or Lands End. They embroider so we let the kids pick their pack color and the font type for their name. We pay quite a bit for them, but my oldest is going into 7th grade this year and his is still going strong! We joke about he'll be the only kid in college with his name embroidered on his backpack! Ha!

    We always make sure to get the larger sized backpack too so that they can grow into it. Those junior sized packs only last a year or so. I know it's not as fun because they don't have characters and you can't pull apart the stuff, but it's a very "green" approach which is nice. Not to mention an economical approach!

    You could always pick up those cheapie pack at a yard sale or get one from a friend who's going to throw one away if you want to salvage the hardware.

    I love the great ideas about taking apart clothes and packs. I'm such a saver when it comes to my kids clothes (we hand them down to the next kid) that by the time they wear out I'm pretty attached to them. I could save a piece for a special LO about a whole bunch of the kids wearing that outfit and use the buttons or something. Thanks for the great ideas! :) Kari
  • I LOVE finding "everyday" things to use....
    I just did a layout using one of Ellie's shirts she has grown out of....
    I have a whole list of other things that I need to use....

    Thanks for sharing Noell.....
    Hugs...
    Dedra
  • debbycake
    I did something very similiar to this before I threw away a pair of shorts that had holes in them. I got a zipper, pocket with a decal on it, and a brand logo tag. I had so much fun destroying them it wasn't even funny!
  • Kim
    I just ripped apart an old pair of my dh pants the other day and kept the metal hook (you know the metal hook part above the zipper) and the zipper. Zippers make great pockets on pages.
  • Noell-
    I love repurposing everyday items like this--especially ones that are destined for the garbage! Very cool ideas. I can't wait to give them a try.
    How do you come up with this stuff? Are you naturally inclined to save things? Or are you doing as you said earlier and trying to help the environment by scrapping "green"?

    Happy Summer
    Karen
  • Hey, Karen! I am not naturally inclined to save things--I'm a minimalist by nature and don't like to have a lot of stuff. But it's that minimalist part of me that makes me fairly resourceful. I've always tried to find ways to do what I needed or wanted to do without having to buy something new.

    I was that way with creating and organizing as a kid, with clothes as a teenager, with everything as a new mom when we had no money, and I guess it's carried over into my scrapbooking, although I do have a lot more scrapbooking STUFF than I've ever had of anything in my life. I had to give myself permission to do that when we started doing the show, lol! That goes for clothes right now, too. ;)

    The "green" concept is something I believe in so it just goes well with that part of me.
  • Mariangeles
    I love to examine things before throwing them away and finds surprises :-)

    Thanks!!
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