the ReFab Diaries

A couple of days ago, a friend sent me a message: "I have a ton of old tshirts that I don't want to throw out. Any upcycle ideas for me?" I was about to fire back links to lots of great ideas when I realized:

a. Most ideas for upcycling t-shirts involve seriously repurposing the shirts. In other words, some serious destruction followed by reconstruction.
b. Most ideas for upcycling t-shirts result in things women will like, use or wear. This friend is a man.
c. Most of the ideas are DIYs. My friend Jason is not about to sew himself... well... anything really.

What do I even call these things? Paper-plate holders? Plate chargers? Wicker plates? Support for floppy paper discs we probably shouldn't be eating off of? Whatever they're called, they were a big part of my life growing up. Why? Because South Africans like to braai (grill out, barbeque). It's a warm place. We wear shorts on Christmas day and eat outdoors a lot. So, I have strong memories of these plate-holder things scratching my bare legs.

My mom started collecting decorative plates when I was 12. Her collection adorns the top of the cabinets in her kitchen. And when I say collection, I mean 40+ plates. I have always been, at best, blind to them. At worst... well, not very nice about her dust collectors. But. I already know that when the time comes to choose what of hers to keep, I will choose a selection of her damned plates. So, in the spirit of imagining (and re-imagining) their future, this is a collection of ideas I really like.