Who knew saving the planet could be so much fun? Transform stray items—buttons, stubby crayons, chopsticks, and even used pencils—into stylish, functional new things.

BUTTON THUMBTACKS
Update thumbtacks with spare buttons. To make, apply a quick-drying, super-sticky adhesive (we like Gorilla Glue) to the tops of office-supply thumbtacks; affix buttons and let dry. Use on corkboard to post notes, cards, and photos. Look around the house for other things to turn into stylish tacks, such as sea glass, foreign coins, and pebbles.

CHOPSTICK EASEL
Display postcards and photos on this simple chopstick easel. Gather three chopsticks and attach them together using quick-drying glue to create a tepee shape. Using rafia or rubber bands, attach two more chopsticks to two of the chopsticks in the tepee. Leave 1/2 inch of the ends sticking out to make a “shelf” for pictures.

CRAZY CRAYONS
Recycle crayon stubs into whimsical shapes. Sort crayons by color groups—greens, blues, oranges. Peel off the paper and melt the crayons by color in a Pyrex measuring cup over a double boiler of simmering water. Pour melted mixture into plastic candy molds (available at a crafts store) in fun shapes, such as flowers, shells, and insects. Let cool and pop out.

PENCIL COASTERS
It doesn’t get any easier than this: Collect six to eight short pencils and glue them to a thin piece of cork to make a coaster. Use longer pencils to make a colorful trivet.

Green Tip
Did you know that more than 200 million cell phones are in use in the United States, with another 130 million cell phones going into retirement? Take old cell phones and rechargeable batteries to stores like Lowe's and Best Buy to be made into new metal products (www.call2recycle.org). Drop off old eyeglasses at Lenscrafters stores for the Gift of Sight program (www.lenscrafters.com). While you're at the mall, M.A.C stores and stores that carry M.A.C cosmetics will take empty M.A.C makeup packaging via the Back-to-M.A.C program (www.maccosmetics.com). Six empty containers will get you a free lipstick!