Junktiquing for Dummies

Have you ever visited a rummage sale, thrift store, or garage sale and found an item that may at first seem totally bewlidering as to its original purpose? What about that slightly frayed leather belt? Can you see anybody ever reusing clothes pegs? And what's the deal with those mounds of old plastic ware?

Even if you're not terribly creative and have never channeled your inner Martha Stewart, you can, with even a tiny bit of imagination, take these (usually) inexpensive castoffs and breathe new life into them once again.

Some call this "junktiquing," or creating something useful or attractive from old junk. Designers, Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer of Junkmarket Style, have made an entire career around such a practice.

In the recent feature on HGTV.com, "Junking Up the Bedroom," they discuss some of their re-creative decorations for the bedroom by simply looking at old items and seeing beyond the original design and viewing something entirely different.

Got an old ice cube tray? You could turn it into a catchall in the garage for small screws, nuts, or nails.

What about that leather belt you picked up at the church rummage sale? You could use it to hold tools together or perhaps hang something from the holes.

Clothes pegs, (who hangs up their clothes outside anymore?) can be attractively strung along wires and used to hold holiday cards for an unusual display. The possibilities are endless.

So next time before you pass up that stack of slightly scratched 45 LPs or dusty jelly jars, take a second look. There might be a real treasure just waiting to be unearthed. After all, you can't take it with you.