5 EASY Ways To Re-Use Stained & Outgrown Kids Clothes

I WANT to believe it's Spring, but it's 29 degrees outside and my car window was covered with sfrost this morning! Ugh! And even though I CAN'T (grumble, grumble) put away the kids' Winter clothes just yet, I'm starting to purge. They've both grown over the last few months and some things are just not fitting. Still, being a crafty, frugal person, I'm physically unable to just throw out some of these items. 

Sure, I'll donate some clothes, but I'm going to reuse a good amount, too. Here's how:

Tie-dying is a GREAT way to re-use clothes

1. Hand them down - The teenager's sweatpants and t-shirts come to me. Yep, mom wears her son's clothes! They're great for hanging around the house in and for use as exercise clothes.
   
   
   
   
2. Turn old dresses into shirts and tops - My daughter's old dresses get cut in half. The top, obviously, becomes shirts. Fringe the bottom to make them look a little more modern. The bottoms I turn into skirts. Just turn over the top few inches, add a little elastic, and they're great for wearing over leggings.
   
   
   
   
3. Tie-Dye - Stained clothes get tie-dyed. I've become a mistress of tie-dying because you can easily cover stains by just using a darker dye. My favorite colors for this are dark blue and black. Add a little glitter paint to the item and it becomes a veritable work of art!
   
   
   
   
4. Make pillows - Sentimental tops are turned into pillows. Just sew any openings, fill with stuffing, and they look great on a kid's bed. 
   
   
    

   

   The pink pillow used to be one of Diva's dresses.

    
5. Pass them on - When my son was a baby, my mother-in-law balked at me accepting hand-me-down clothes, but I see nothing wrong with giving and receiving perfectly good used clothing. A friend gives me her daughter's clothes and I pass Diva's old, non-stained articles to other families.

No matter what your economic situation, re-using is a good thing. 

Purge and use the tips above to get extra use from your kids' old clothes. 

~~~

Thanks for reading!