Our generation tends to have a laissez faire attitude about clothing’s life cycle. My grandmother made every bit of her clothing until she was seventeen and kept the skill to pass it on to her children and grandchildren.

I’m not suggesting you become a hoarder, but a stash of old clothes can make a whole new wardrobe if you put a little thought into it.

Steal a worn, oversized sweater from your dad’s closet; he won’t miss it. Measure from your knee or midcalf to your ankle. Finish the wide end of the cut sleeve to the measurement of calf, flip over the cut edge and hand-stitch to prevent raveling. Voila! You are the proud owner of a recycled pair of leg warmers. Call them boot cuffs if you’re feeling fancy.

If Dad’s possessive of his sweaters, do you happen to have any solid sweatshirts? Add a little razzle dazzle with a stenciled design or quote. Love Chanel, but don’t want to shell out the dough? Stencil letters — or iron them if you don’t trust your penmanship — to make yourself a DIY “Creme de la Creme” Coco-inspired shirt.

If you prefer hardware to Chanel, look no further than the garage. A pattern of washers interlaced with a ribbon make an out-of-the-box necklace.

A string of buttons can make for a darling bracelet or necklace. For earrings, just glue posts on your favorite set of buttons, and make sure the glue is appropriate for metal. You can do the same thing to convert clip-on earrings to regular posts.

If you are feeling especially crafty, try your hand at knitting. I promise it is much less intimidating than it seems. If you can’t figure it out, track me down, and we’ll have ourselves a little “stitch ‘n bitch” party. There is no end to the creations you can dream up with a pair of knitting needles.

If you can think outside of the box, you can add uniqueness to your wardrobe and have some fun doing it!