13 Fun Ways To Repurpose Flip-Flops Around Your Home & Garden

They come in different colors, patterns, and sizes and are essential to caring for our feet. Beyond this, however, flip-flops have much more to offer to our everyday living. While often looked down upon — literally and figuratively – the ways to repurpose them are as bountiful as their many characters. From minute safety features to unique decorative pieces, we have compiled a list of DIYs to try using this popular footwear. Apart from being useful in your home and garden, the projects are also quite fun. If you need activities to preoccupy your kids, then these are the perfect budget-friendly DIY projects for the summer break, combining productivity and entertainment: the perfect pair.

If you need more good reasons on top of all that, recycling your old or partially damaged slippers helps preserve the environment. Once disposed of, most flip-flops end up as non-biodegradable pollutants in landfills, rivers, and other bodies of water. "One of the largest pollutants in the ocean is polyurethane from flip-flops," says Professor Stephen Mayfield from the University of California. It may not seem much, but repurposing your rubber footwear is one of the easiest ways to make your home more eco-friendly. Why not start by taking a pick from our DIY list?

Greet your guests with a colorful and interesting welcome sign made from flip-flops. On her YouTube channel, arts and crafts enthusiast, Emily Marie shares a budget-friendly DIY home decor project that you can easily replicate. The rather cute welcome sign uses seven slippers in varying colors, each bearing a letter to form the word welcome. They are bonded together using a glue gun and decorated with faux flowers. To keep the flip-flops from wobbling, you can reinforce the backside with wires or popsicle sticks.

Are you thinking of how to decorate your home like a beach house? Cast a romantic seaside evening vibe with this wall-hanging LED candlelight holder. A masterpiece of DIY content creator Lori Byle (YouTube), this stylish project features a pair of flip-flops from Dollar Tree. They are glued together and wrapped around the edges by hemp rope. The slippers' straps pocket two glass votive holders where the LED candle lights are placed. Holes are punched through the flip-flops, where more rope is slipped through and knotted to serve as a sling.

Mom and crafts maker Coffee With My Sunshine shows viewers how to create a coastal-style flower holder on her YouTube channel. Aside from flip-flops, the project also presents a stylish and useful way to repurpose old coffee mugs around the house. A pair of mugs are glued onto the flip-flops while supported by the straps. The slippers are then fixed onto a backboard made of reclaimed wood. This decor piece is ideal for holding light, faux flowers and can be placed on a shelf or table.

If you can source enough flip-flops, you can consider using them as wall padding for a kids' play area. Set up a simple wooden beadboard or wall panel then cover it with your colorful flip-flops with a strong adhesive. Make sure that the slippers are clean. In this project, you will only need the soles and not the straps. Done correctly, this DIY is an easy way to make your home more kid-friendly. Plus, it will produce a vibrant mosaic that will coincide perfectly with a fun playroom atmosphere.

In line with making your home safer for kids, flip-flops also provide a suitable material for making table corner protectors. You can do this by cutting three triangular-shaped pieces out of the rubber soles and gluing them together to form a three-sided cap. Use it to cover the corners of your tables, desks, and counters to cushion any potential collision. Such areas are among the most feared hazards lurking in your home, especially if you have children. Optionally, you can paint the rubber to match the color of your furniture.

To some, having a bulletin board for pinning notes is one of the easiest ways to make the house more organized. Rather than buy a stereotypical one, why not make a unique piece using flip-flops? Choose a pair of your preferred design, but they must have soles thick enough for burying your push pins. If you have a fairly new pair with a torn strap, these can serve well for this project. Remove the straps and glue them onto a firm backboard such as panel wood or even an old chopping board.

If you are a fan of robots, then this arts and crafts idea is perfect for you. Let your inner child have a good time by building a robot model made of old flip-flops. In his videos, YouTube user Flops Crafts shares his method of cutting used slippers into specific shapes and then joins them together using superglue. He also selects the colors carefully to match the needs of his designs. The results are impressive rubber figurines worthy of a spot on the display shelf.

Is your bed's headboard pressing onto your bedroom wall, or is your couch positioned against your living room wall? If yes, chances are the furniture will damage the wall paint. How about helping them from grazing each other with the help of flip-flops? Soft yet durable, your trusty footwear can protect not only your feet but also your walls. Simply cut the rubber soles into the needed shape and size and stick them onto the side of the furniture in contact with the wall.

Flip-flops may sound like an unlikely part of your sewing kit, but these rubber pads serve as alternative pin cushions. Their thick but flexible material is ideal for holding pins and needles. Meanwhile, their flat shape allows them to sit steadily on the table, counter, or inside a drawer. Though unusual, this hack is an effective and fun way of organizing your laundry room or sewing station. It can also prevent potential dangers of misplaced or unattended pins, needles, and other sharp objects.

If you tend a garden, you should understand proper drainage and its importance to the health of your houseplants. Soaking the roots for too long can be destructive. Even with proper-size holes, flat-bottom pots are at risk of drowning their host plant. You can avoid such incidents by raising the planter from the bottom with toes made from old flip-flops. Cut pieces of the rubber soles and stick them evenly along the edges of the planter's underside. Make sure to use waterproof adhesive.

One of the easiest and most regrettable ways of damaging wooden floors is dragging furniture across them, leaving unsightly scratches on their surface. Prevent that by putting foot padding made from old flip-flops on your furniture pieces. This is a useful tip to protect hardwood floors from scuffs and scratches. First, cut the rubber to match the shape of each foot. Then, slice the pieces horizontally to make them thinner and more subtle to the eyes. Once ready, fix them to the bottom of the furniture legs using carpenter's glue.

Do you need art activities for your toddler? Try keeping them busy and creative with rubber stamps made out of flip-flops. Making these DIY stamps is very simple. Simply cut out the different shapes out of the soles. Go for interesting outlines that your child likes — perhaps stars, hearts, or tiny houses. You can also cut out letters or numbers. To make the stamps easy to use, get some bottle caps or stoppers and firmly glue them onto the top. These will serve as knob handles.

If you have a garden pond that you want to accessorize, here is a must-try trick for you. Outdoor ponds are a genious place to put fake plants to make them worth their while. And you can make it extra fun by making them float on the water with the help of, of course, flip-flops. First, create your DIY flowers and leaves using foam sheets. Next, cut circular shapes out of the flip-flops, which will serve as floater pads for the foam flowers.