Got a gift card that's all used up? Don't throw it away! Check out some of these ways to repurpose old gift cards instead.

It's so fun to receive a gift card, but once they're empty they're just another throw-away piece of plastic. Boo on that! Instead of adding waste to our landfills or contributing to the growing plastic pollution problem in our oceans, you can keep those cards out of the waste stream instead. Here are a few projects to give those gift cards a new life when the shopping spree is over.

1. DIY Guitar Picks

Grab yourself a Pick Punch, and make your own guitar picks from old gift cards. Don't want to spring for a Pick Punch? You can also make gift card guitar picks without a punch.

2. Paper Clips

Over at Instructables, learn how you can turn those used gift cards into totally cute upcycled paper clips.

3. Gift Card Necklace

Got a few gift cards in your stash? Turn them into a beautiful faux shell necklace!

4. Upcycled Earrings

With just a few simple supplies, you can transform an old gift card into a very cute pair of earrings.

5. Reclaimed Bracelet

Finish off this gift card jewelry set we are apparently working on with a recycled gift card bracelet!

Have you guys made anything fun with old gift cards? Tell us about it in the comments!

You don't have to toss those giftcards in the bin! Upcycle them into a super cute necklace instead.

Don't you just love getting a gift card? You get to shop and choose exactly the thing you want. The only trouble with gift cards is that once that balance hits zero, their usefulness is pretty much done. Some stores let you reload gift cards - now there's some regifting we can get behind! - but if you're stuck with one that you can't refill, reusing it is the next best thing.

Crafter Vicki O'Dell - aka The Creative Goddess - shares a tutorial for turning an old giftcard into a cute necklace. What I love about this tutorial is that you'd probably never know that she used a giftcard to make the sparkly shell-like beads on this necklace. All you need to make your own are:

• a good pair of scissors
• alcohol inks - don't want to spring for them? You can make your own alcohol inks from reclaimed markers!
• a heat gun - though I wonder if you could melt these on low heat in the oven instead
• tweezers or a wooden clothespin
• 3 yards of jewelry cording
• hole punch
• jump rings

Ready to get making? Click here for the tutorial!

Single use plastic is a scourge on our environment, yet we continue to produce and use plastic products that are designed to head straight to the landfill after we use them just one time. Products like plastic straws and baggies are so ingrained in our culture, many of us can't imagine not using them in our day-to-day.

The problem is, all of that convenience is destroying fragile ecosystems and harming our health at the same time.

Many plastic products, like Ziplock bags are not recyclable, because the plastic is of too low a quality. Instead, they're landfill-bound, but often they don't make it that far. Whether they fall off of a trash truck or someone carelessly tosses them on the ground, those plastics make their way into waterways and eventually to the ocean where they become part of one of the huge plastic gyres. These gyres are massive areas of the ocean that are too polluted to support life.

Plastic is no good for our bodies, either. Plasticizers like BPA leach into food and water that they come into contact with. These chemicals are often untested, so we don't full know how they'll impact our health. Others are endocrine disruptors or even carcinogens. No, thank you!

Any time you replace a disposable option with a reusable one, you're making a huge impact on your health and the health of this planet. Here are a few simple ways that you can replace single use plastic with reusable alternatives.

1. Reusable Snack Bag

Just say no to wasteful plastic baggies! There are lots of companies making reusable snack bags, or you can make your own reusable snack bag!

2. Cloth Diapers

You might not think of disposable diapers as a plastic product, but those Huggies use a layer of plastic on the outside to prevent leaks. Cloth diapers have a hefty price tag initially, but you buy them once, and you're set! Compare that to the cost of buying disposables over and over, and you're not only reducing your plastic waste but saving between $900 and $1900 during your child's diaper-wearing years!

3. Glass Straws

Of course, you can skip the straw all together when you're grabbing a drink on the go, but if you don't want to give up your sipping habit, choose a reusable glass straw instead! Most glass straws are dishwasher safe, so they're easy to care for. They're also way cuter than clear disposable straws!

4. Picnic Ware

Next time you're heading to the park for a picnic, pack yourself some proper utensils instead of disposable plastic ones. If you're traveling and don't want to carry dirty dishes with you, opt for more sustainable disposables made from wood or bamboo instead of plastic.

5. To-Go Cups

When you head out to the coffee shop for that next latte, bring your own cup! The cup they put your coffee in may be made from paper, but those paper cups usually have a plastic coating to prevent leaks, and they come with a single use plastic lid. Boo!

What other ways can we replace disposable plastic products with reusable alternatives? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

photos by Becky Striepe

Moxie Glass makes hand-blown glass straws that are reusable, dishwasher safe, and so cute!

Some drinks are just better with a straw, aren't they? The trouble with those ubiquitous plastic straws is that they're a one-and-done situation, and you know how I feel about single use plastic! Glass straws are a great replacement for the plastic ones that are polluting our beaches and oceans.

Melissa sent me a set of her straws to try along with a reusable glass jar tumbler made just to pair with her glass straws. The tumbler is super awesome! Its screw-on lid has a hole in the middle where you insert the straw, so you can take your drinks on the go in a totally reusable, totally plastic free container.

Melissa from Moxie Glass - aka Many Minis - makes every glass straw by hand in her Colorado studio. The glass she uses is the same sort used to make Pyrex dishware! If you've ever owned any Pyrex, you know how durable this stuff is. Even I have a hard time breaking our Pyrex plates, and that is saying a lot. I'm the clumsiest clutz in Clumsy Town!

The review packet included a few different straws:

• 2 "bendy" straws - OK, they don't bend, but they're angled, so they kind of feel like drinking from a bendy straw
• 2 straight straws
• 2 embellished straws - a fish and a tree frog
• 1 wide-mouth straw

I tested them all out on a couple of different sorts of drink, and they are great! The wide-mouth straw is the one that actually comes with the tumbler she sent - it's a to-go smoothie cup, so of course I whipped up a green smoothie to try out in there.

It worked great! The wider straw didn't clog at all, and the smoothie I made was on the thick side. When I would take my breakfast smoothie to go previously, I was putting it in a to go coffee mug, and it was not super ideal. I can't wait to pack my next to go smoothie in it!

The other straws were a regular diameter for drinking regular drinks, so I just tried them out with some water. Drinking from a glass straw does feel a little bit different from a plastic straw, since glass isn't pliable like plastic, but I really liked using these!

She sent embellished straws with a tree frog and with a fish. The fish one is probably my favorite. When you pull it out of the package, it kind of looks like a crack pipe, but! When you put it into the tumbler, it's freaking adorable. The fish goes on the bottom, so he's swimming in your glass!

One of the things that's made me hesitant about glass straws is the thought of having yet another thing to hand wash. It turns out this isn't an issue at all. Even these embellished straws are dishwasher safe!

You can find Melissa's glass straws in her Etsy shop or on her website!

Mother's Day is just 3 little days away! If you haven't made anything yet for mom, we've got some DIY last-minute Mother's Day gift ideas to help save the day.

When time's running short, it's tempting to head out to the store to buy a Mother's Day gift, but a handmade gift for mom doesn't have to take much longer to make than a trip to the mall. Handmade gifts have more heart than something mass-produced, and when you make a gift yourself, you're opting out of the cycle of big box store waste, to boot!

1.  Mother's Day Plant Flag

Does your mom like to garden? Instead of cut flowers, you can gift her with something that she can nurture, and make it extra special with a customized flag made from reclaimed paper.

2. Fabric Flowers

If she's not into gardening, you can still skip the cut flowers and the massive carbon footprint that goes with them. Check out these simple-to-make fabric flowers that you can create in a flash!

3. Wine Cork Pendant

Does your mom dig jewelry and a nice glass of wine? Make her a personalized necklace from an old wine cork!

4. Blue Ribbon Brooch

Show your mom that she's #1 today with an upcycled brooch made from book pages.

5. Upcycled Photo Album

Get nostalgic, and gift mom with a handmade photo album full of photos of the family.

Do you have a handmade Mother's Day gift in the works? We'd love to hear what you're making!

Mother's Day is on May 12 this year, so if you want to get crafty for mom, you've only got a few days left!

This Sunday is all about making mom feel special, and what says special better than a sweet blue ribbon that you made yourself? Bonnie over at Crafting a Green World used a page from a reclaimed book to create a super cute blue ribbon brooch for her momma, and she shared a tutorial so that you can make one for your mom, too!

What I love about this project is that not only is it totally adorable, it won't take you too long to make. Perfect for us procrastinating children, right?

It only takes a few materials to make an upcycled Mother's Day brooch of your own:

• an old book
• scissors
• white glue
• hot glue
• crayons and markers
• brooch pin - the sort with a flat back

Ready to whip up a blue ribbon brooch for Mother's Day? Click here for the tutorial!

Image Credits: Creative Commons photos by Bonnie Getchell

Do you hoard wine corks like I do? Let's bust that stash with some upcycled wine cork crafts!

Unless you're buying box or screw-top wine (no judgement here - lots of good bottles come in boxes or with screw tops these days!), chances are every time you pop a bottle of vino, you're left with a cork in your hand. Don't toss those suckers into the trash! Save them in a bowl for some rainy day crafting instead!

Wine corks aren't always made from actual cork, which for most of these projects is a-ok! The plastic corks are just as fun for crafting as the natural cork ones, and those plastic ones are actually a lot easier to cut up than natural cork. For either sort, a sharp, serrated knife gets the job done nicely if you need to slice and dice your corks.

Ready to get crafty? Check out some of these wine cork crafts!

1. Wino Cork board - If you have a nice stash of corks going, you can turn them into a mini cork board to keep your a little bit more organized.

2. Micro-Planters - Make your self the teeniest garden ever by transforming your old corks into micro-planters for succulents.

3. Plant Markers - This project works best with natural cork, but if you use a permanent marker that contrasts with the color of your synthetic cork, you can even use the plastic sort to make these cork plant markers!

4. Decorative Heart - Another project that's best with natural cork, though you could modify it with some artfully-placed synthetic ones. Gather your corks and make a sweet cork heart to hang on the wall!

5. Pendants - Use paint to add a pop of color and stamps to embellish your very own handmade wine cork pendants.

Have you made anything cool out of old wine corks? Tell us all about your favorite cork crafts in the comments!