The 17 Most Unique Ways To Repurpose Leftover Ribbon In Your Home And Garden

There's no denying that ribbons are a versatile crafting essential. They can be used to create a beautiful accent on lampshades, add a nice touch to cards, and give wrapped presents an extra decoration. With that said, one downside to crafting with ribbon is that it can be challenging to find a use for the leftover scraps. For example, imagine you've just finished creating a DIY ribbon bulletin board to keep your photos and notes organized but didn't manage to polish off the entire spool of ribbon. How do you proceed? Throwing it away can feel wrong, especially if you're trying to cut back on waste. However, that mindset can quickly lead to a box full of different-colored ribbon pieces of various lengths collecting dust in your closet. Rather than leaving them to become clutter, consider trying some of these unique ways to repurpose leftover ribbon scraps around your home and garden. To give you a few examples, those multi-colored scraps can be used to organize jewelry, increase the biodiversity of your garden, and even give your old shower curtain a stylish lift. 

Regarding supplies needed, some of these upcycles only call for the scrap ribbon itself. For others, you'll need basic crafting supplies like a hot glue gun, beads, and a simple sewing kit. Additionally, not all of these projects require an entire box full of scrap ribbon and are ideal if you only have a scrap or two left over after a craft — although we've certainly got you covered if you do have more. 

You may already be aware of some of the more common ways of attracting hummingbirds to your yard, like hanging feeders and planting native red flowers. But did you know you can also lure those little pollinators to your yard using scrap ribbon? Since hummingbirds are attracted to hues of red and orange, it's possible to entice them to your garden by tying your old orange and red ribbons on trees, plants, and even on the pole to your feeder. On top of attracting hummers, the ribbons also aren't a bad way to decorate your yard.

When your snake plant sprouts a ton of new leaves and starts to bulge in its planter, it's probably time to repot. However, when a snake plant gets really big, it can be difficult to wrangle all those leaves into a new pot without damaging the plant. After all, the last thing you want is for your gorgeous plant to fall apart when you give it a new home. Put an old ribbon scrap to use and solve this problem by tying it gently around the leaves so they stay together while repotting.

If you start to grow tired of your old shower curtain, you don't have to jump straight into buying a new one. Instead, you can try to update the existing one with items lying around the house — like your scrap ribbon. One simple way to do this is to tie little bows to all the hooks for an elegant upgrade. Another idea is to fashion your scrap ribbon into tassels and hang those from the hooks. The tassel idea works well if you have several shorter scraps of ribbon rather than longer ones.

Looking for an easy and fun way to repurpose your old ribbon scraps? Try turning them into adorable bookmarks. One way to do this is to take a longer ribbon scrap (or attach two shorter ones together) and sew or hot glue charms to the end. Another method would be to tie the strip into a bow and then attach that to a piece of cardstock so the paper holds your place, leaving the bow sitting decoratively on top of the book. Or, stick to using unaltered ribbon scraps as a bookmark to keep it simple.

A wonderful way to repurpose shorter scraps of ribbon is to turn them into roses. For this DIY, you'll need a needle, thread, hot glue gun, and something to use as the stem of the rose. To make the petals, you'll take a short strip, fold the corners down, stitch the fold together, and then pull it tight. Next, glue a group of petals together to create the rose. For the stems, you can keep them rustic and use sticks you find in the garden, then paint or wrap them in ribbon scraps to match.

Many of these upcycles call for only using a small strip of ribbon, or scraps of a certain color. But what if your bucket of scrap ribbon resembles a rainbow and the strips are all tiny? If that sounds familiar, you're in the perfect situation to put together a beautiful scrap ribbon wreath. All you'll need is a base for the wreath, like a metal circle. Then, tie the ribbon scraps to the frame, and add as many as you can fit on there to create a fun and shaggy ribbon wreath.

An easy way to repurpose leftover ribbon is to tie it into cute bows. This is a great use of shorter ribbon scraps because you don't need much material to make them. After fashioning the scrap ribbon bows, you can stick them on potted plants, use them to embellish your gift wrapping, or even attach one to a pillow to create a mini accent for your couch. If you end up making several, another fun crafting project would be to hot glue them around a picture frame for an adorable way to display your photos.

Cute, handmade name cards are certainly a fun tablescape idea for every occasion. However, paper isn't the only creative way to denote where your guests sit. Another way to upgrade your table setup is to tie a scrap of ribbon around the wine stem at each place setting. Either leave them plain as cute decor, or embroider the name of each guest onto the ribbon to personalize it. If left plain, use a different color on each glass so your guests can keep track of which glass is theirs, which is particularly handy during parties.

Are your walls looking a little bare? If it's time to spruce up your home decor, you're in luck — old ribbon scraps can easily be repurposed into lovely hanging wall art. All you need is something to hang them from. For a more bohemian piece of art, tie your ribbon scraps on a piece of driftwood and hang it on the wall. To enhance the look, consider adding beads to the ends of the ribbon strips. This will work with many ribbon colors, or stick to matching hues for a streamlined look.

One of the more unique uses for scrap ribbons is to turn them into a holder for sunglasses. For this DIY, you will need a picture frame in addition to your ribbon. While it's possible to use a larger frame, a smaller one will work better if your scrap ribbon pieces are on the shorter side. Or, tie several scraps together to elongate them. Once you've attached your ribbon pieces to the edges of the frame, you can slip the glasses over the ribbon to put them on display.

A garden full of variety is a beautiful thing. However, it can become a challenge to distinguish which plants are which, especially when growing similar varieties. While one popular way of keeping a garden organized is to use plant labels, they aren't the only option. You can also tie your leftover ribbon scraps around the plants to distinguish them or to mark which ones are saplings. Use a sharpie to write the plant name on the ribbon, or even come up with a color coded system to know which plants are marked by which colored ribbon.

Another festive way to repurpose your scrap ribbon is to turn it into Christmas ornaments. Red ribbon scraps will look amazing tied into tiny bows with mini bells attached. Or, you can find a little stick from your garden and tie ribbon scraps down the length of the stick in a Christmas tree shape — with shorter pieces at the top and longer ones at the bottom. Alternatively, create a Christmas tree ornament by weaving ribbon between beads on a piece of twine, like the image featured on the right.

Even with a dedicated jewelry box with earring storage, it can still be difficult to keep tiny stud earrings from getting lost. A solution is to take a piece of scrap ribbon, poke the earrings through the ribbon, and store them that way. With this method, you won't have to go digging through your jewelry box to find a missing stud or worry about them falling off of a hanging display. This can also be a stylish way to display your earrings if you hang them from the wall or display them in a frame.

Creating a bunting is the perfect way to upcycle a large basket of tiny ribbon scraps. In addition to the scraps, you'll only need twine or string to hang them. Even if all of your ribbon pieces are mismatched, that's okay! They can still be used to create a fun and eclectic bunting. Mixing in lace ribbons here and there will give it a more elegant look, and you can also tie the ribbons into bows and attach those to the banner for a unique touch.

We can all use a little helping hand sometimes, and our plants are no different. Supportive plant ties can be a huge help in allowing your tall plants to stay healthy and also in preventing heavy wind and storms from toppling your plants over and breaking their stems. In a pinch, ribbon scraps can be used as plant ties to keep your plants supported. If you're training a plant to vine onto a trellis, using scrap ribbon to shape the growth of the plant can also add a beautiful touch of color to your garden.

Fully embrace the winter holidays by repurposing your old scrap ribbon into a snowman. For this DIY, you'll also need cardstock, buttons, and beads. After you've cut the snowman shape out of the paper, attach the strips of ribbon horizontally to decorate it. Then, using your buttons and beads, give your snowman eyes, a mouth, and his own buttons, then finish it off with a well-placed piece of ribbon for the nose. 

Whether it's a box for your crafting supplies, a filing box, or perhaps even the container that you're using to store your scrap ribbons themselves — there is no reason for it to be plain and drab when you have a large collection of scrap ribbon on your hands. To dress up that old container, glue your ribbon pieces to the outside of the box, which will give it a pop of color and interesting texture. If you don't want to cover the whole box, only line the top for a nice accent.