To a 'T'

If you have old t-shirts that are no longer stylish/wearable, you may think you have three options if you don't want to just throw them out:

• Hope a friend wants them.
• Give them to Goodwill.
• Offer them up on Craigslist or a freecycle group.

Those are all great, but have you considered eco-crafting? This would allow you to:

• If you knit or crochet, rip or cut the t-shirts into yarn strips.
• If you enjoy quilting, make your own t-shirt quilt (or you can hire a company to do it for you).
• If basic sewing is more your thing, make a t-shirt pillow.

There is something time-tested and beautiful about creating something with your own, two hands. Giving a new life or a new usefulness to something you already have used makes it even better.

Handy Craft

Maybe it's because I like thinking I'm more than a cog in America's retail machine, but I love having unique things - the scarf I crocheted myself, the necklace a friend made for me, even the long skirt I bought at a chain store but then got hemmed to be a knee-length skirt. (It's something!)

I also like to buy local. Why enrich some factory owner in China when I can enrich an individual craftsman in my community or, at least, my country?

Enter Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/.

I think my great-grandmothers would have adored this handmade item online marketplace (and not just because each of my great-grandmothers was, herself, excellent at needlework). Among the ways potential buyers Etsy can search or sort are by the type of craft, the area where the craftperson lives, the colors in the craft or traits of the intended recipient. Sometimes, to get inspired for my own projects, I hit "refresh" to see the updates (every 15 seconds!) to the "recently listed items" part of the site.

I don't know much about listing through the service but it looks like it is free to set up a virtual storefront, 20 cents an item to list and a 3.5 percent commission on sales. Even a frugal great-grandma could probably handle those prices!