Leave those disposable paper napkins in the grocery aisle and get busy adding style to the reusable pile!

Now that we are all invested in organic, reusable cloth (wash in cold, hang dry, of course), spruce up your table and thrill your guests with fun green napkin rings. Calories burned removing them? At least two. More if you juggle a set at the table for your guests.

Where to find ‘em? Here are a few highly tactile circles we trust:

Ring around the Rosy! Hand forged iron floral ring, Rain Collection. $38 each.

Stainless Steel appeal, $19 for two  from Velocity.

Ivory organic crochet rings with amber glass bead fasteners, $10 set from Makalewakan.

Tanned Pierced leather rings with red wine ribbons, from Etsy’s Greenbelt, $20 for set.

Spotted Shell Rings, fairly traded from Indonesia, $16.50 from Green with Glamour.

I red the news today, oh boy! Love these recycled newspaper rings, $8 at Ecoist.

Fuzzy Friends encircle your napkins, $15 from Fuz Farm in eco felt or black rubber.

Main Image: Amazon

They’re already talking about their costumes, those candy-crazy girls of mine. That’s how I know fall is here, just a wink and a nod after packing them up for summer camp.

Design-wise, it’s one of the easiest seasons for stylists since it involves scavenging for leaves and twigs to tweak our vignettes for free. Ah, there’s that “F” word, again, a favorite at EcoSalon.

Want to spruce up your rooms for autumn without much of a budget? Take one of the following paths most traveled by the frugal M. Stewarts among us:

The Centerpiece: Leaf it Alone

The Toast and Tables blog gathers no moss but plenty of leaves for centerpieces (images below). The simplicity is enticing. You can also make your own wreath with bundles, or layer them along the mantle to be set aglow by beeswax candles.

The DIY Twiggy Cabinet Door from Apartment Therapy

Bring the outdoors in by assembling twigs to embellish the typical cupboard cabinet (image below).

Basket Cases for Giving Thanks to the Autumn Bounty

Most of us have a caterer’s supply of baskets stored in the house. Fill a few with aromatic apples, Indian corn, leaves, pumpkins and other colorful objects for a cornucopia of delights. Don’t forget to toast your pumpkin seeds and put them in a bowl on the coffee table for another tasty treat of fall.

Scatter Bowls of Fall Potpourri with Old Fashioned Living’s Blend of Earthy Balsam Scents

Collect dried leaves and flowers from the ground, blend with fragrant oils and make your own yummy potpourri. Follow the DIY recipe and bring the woods and celebration of the equinox into your nest.

Image: J. Charpentier

Felt Leaf Napkin Rings and Placecards for Your Fall Dinner Party

Design Sponge has the skinny on these orange and brown napkin rings and cards (images below), easy to make with felt, scissors, glue, buttons, thread and your imagination. I love the chic, homemade texture of these festive gems.

Main Image: Design Sponge

Is there a hole in the heart of that beloved camel cashmere from your freshman year at Stanford?

Don’t become unraveled! The crafty set – people like Stefanie Girard, who wrote Sweater Surgery – take the green approach to spinning yarns, reconfiguring new objects d’smart from those ratty pullovers that once warmed our bones.

Handwash your old sweater (I like to use baby shampoo) and treat it for unsightly coffee or red wine stains. Then circumvent those Jarlsberg cheese holes in the wool and make something cool!

Here’s a look at 10 reclamations, from Ugly Dolls to pretty petal pins:

1. Stuffed Toys

A favorite project at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco, parents are asked to contribute old sweaters for the students to conjure their own, arty Ugly Dolls. My own 10-year-old, Lauren, made this creature in just a couple of days and they instantly became BBF’s.

2. Bitchen Boatneck

Deborah Lindquist makes her groovy dog wraps from recycled cashmere sweaters, and you can do it, too. Just find a square without holes and make two for the front legs. Then your pet can walk the walk!

3. Beaded Cuff

I love this upscale take on the 70s tennis sweat band. The beaded cuff woven by Olive Brown is simple to make, by cutting your own elongated rectangle from your rescued sweater, stitching the borders and embellishing with beads or other hot glue glam.

4. Pet Bed

Lately, my pug has taken to sleeping in the laundry basket. Why not take your old sweaters and other scraps and make a patchwork pet bed, like Apartment Therapy suggests? Gather an assortment of old sweaters and a pillow and get working on that soft place for your pooch to land.

5. Pullover Coasters

Olive Brown made these from a shrunken woman’s fair aisle v-neck pullover. The set of eight, sold at Etsy, is something you can also try to make by cutting the circles and top-stitching the front, leaving a zigzag stitch on the back. The edges are finished with an overlock stitch.

6. Snuggly Slippers

Follow the footsteps of Craft Stylish, and avoid booties made from yucky  synthetic materials. These old woolen slippers are stitched with love. All you need is paper, a pen, scissors, an old sweater, thread, a machine, a scarp of yarn and a crochet hook. Have fun padding around!

7. Doll Clothes

If you or your child can knit, this book from Amazon provides patterns and ideas. I always loved sewing my own Barbie clothes from discarded items that wound up in our rag box. Let your kids try their hand at Project Runway ensembles using old sweaters. Try some lederhosen for that Heidi doll!

8. Flower Brooch

Thick rose wool felt from a rescued cardigan is paired with a heavy vintage bronze shank button in this classic flower. Found at Etsy, you can arrange your own floral jewelry with scissors, glue and a pin from your neighborhood craft store. Add a center flourish and attach to blazer lapel. You grow, girl!

9. Cell Phone Cozy

Craftbits is calling! Pick up and read the steps for making your own, fetching felted mobile phone pouch with a key ring at the top for attaching to jeans or your purse.

10. Teapot Cozy

We adore these at EcoSalon and even touted the beauty of the pot sweater for Mother’s Day this year. This one from Etsy is ideal because the pretty blue yarn is washable. Accented by a handknit multicolored flower with a vintage button for the center, it’s about 19 inches around and stretches over a 4″-to-6″ teapot. Not handy with a needle? Ask a friend to help.

Main Image: Amazon

After major holidays and lifetime milestones, you clear your mantle of thoughtful cards from your family and friends and hesitate on the way to the recycling bin. After all, such artsy stationary could be put to some better use, right? You bet! Here’s a list of creative projects to reinvent your stack of old greeting cards.

Learn how to give old greeting cards new life as a small gift box.
Cut the front side of the card into strips and use them to hold your place in your latest reads. Never again will you have to fold over the edge of a page in absence of a bookmark.

Use these instructions to create handmade ornaments from old greeting cards.

All you need to transform the front side of a greeting card into a postcard is an address and some stamps. Pretty resourceful, huh?

When your grandmother, the Food Network or a colleague passes on a new recipe, jot it down on the back of a greeting cards beautiful imagery for a visually appealing cookbook.

Using the front side of a variety of greeting cards, follow these steps to make a uniquely colorful journal.

Set the cover of an elaborate greeting card on a cutting board and use an exacto knife to slice it into pieces of different shapes and sizes. Wondering what you could possibly do with these? Give them to the little ones as a homemade puzzle.

Make your own luminary from old greeting cards.

Image: vieux bandit