New Uses for Old Things: Paint Chips

Have you ever read Real Simple magazine?  My favorite thing they do is finding new uses for everyday items.  Since I: a) hardly ever throw useful things away and b) think everything is useful, I am always finding ways to reuse some of the old items I have.  I try to upcycle things I've collected, and only after I have held onto them for a while do I throw them away.  (I'm not a hoarder though... I don't amass that much stuff.  I can't watch that show anymore, it just gave me the urge to clean and throw things away.)

ANYWAYS, one collection I have is of paint chips.  I liberated a bunch from Home Depot (they said take as many as I want!) and I used some in the classroom for art.  But now, I have quite a few at home.  So as I was wrapping a present, I had no gift tags.  Since necessity is the mother of invention, I made quick gift tags with some of the paint chips. 

I thought it looked really cute!  I have these shape punches that I use for school, and I punched some shapes out of the chip and voila! gift tags!  I also had some fancy edged scissors, so I cut some rectangles out of the paint chips and they look cute too. 

I love that you can make them in almost any color!  So useful.  I'll probably never buy another gift tag again.