Get Crafty With Old Jeans

I'm a jeans girl. I live in jeans. I love my jeans so much that I even have jeans in styles that range from dark to light and skinny to relaxed.

I have my favorites, of course. I'm beginning to notice that some of them have seen better days, but that doesn't make it any easier to part with them. So, I decided to find new ways to use old jeans that are both frugal and green.

If you have jeans that are in gently used condition, please consider donating them to The or —but if you have a few pairs that can't go to a new home, then here are some great options.

• Cotton From Blue To Green lists ways to get involved in denim recycling. Every year, denim drives are held to collect old denim to be used as home insulation for homes built by Habitat for Humanity. It takes 500 pairs of jeans to insulate one Habitat for Humanity home.

• About.com lists directions on how to make a denim pocket quilt, a purse, a skirt or a yoga bag.

• This Old House has a list of 10 uses for old jeans, including a nail pouch.

When you are done making a yoga bag or a pocket quilt, don't throw out the scraps.

• Instructables gives directions on how to make a denim floor mat out of waistbands and inseams.

• About.com's Parenting Teens gives directions on how to make your teen a cute denim bracelet using a piece of recycled blue jeans and a few beads.