Welcome back for another Monday round-up of goodies!

I am in awe of all the creative and BEAUTIFUL ways people think of reusing. I found a variety of interesting re-use projects and inspirations that will have you sifting through your unused junk. Some of these projects are more purposeful while some are just meant to be pieces of art.

Step 1: Re-Purpose

Mount your old ladder on the wall and stack your books! Bring the workshop indoors with this ladder bookshelf. I found this via Dude Craft - a totally cool blog (I love the name!).
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Decorate a Christmas tree, mobile or bedroom with these aluminum can ornaments. Make them into cute animals or make them super small to use as charms on a bracelet.

Step 2: Random Crafting

I love to recreate expensive accessories and jewelry for an affordable price. Studs and Pearls made this cool Gem and Chain Ring modeled after the Harrison Ring by Dannijo
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Add some flair to your room with painted and beaded light bulbs. Perfect for a childs room or your crafty workspace.

Step 3: Technology

This Trace of Time clock is a unique way of planning out your day. Notes are written on the glass surface of the clock with a dry erase marker and are erased by the hour hand as time passes.

found via make

Step 4: Unique Re-Use Inspiration

Insect Lab combines real insect specimens with antique watch parts and other technological components to create these sci-fi critters.

Jason showed me these and I thought they were beautiful! The beetles and butterflies are my favorite.
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Hubcap Creatures designed by Ptolemy are made from found hubcaps and other recycled metals. These gorgeous sculptures prove that beautiful art can be made from unwanted trash.

Step 5: Weekly Challenge

Every week, as part of this round-up, I want to pose our crafty community a challenge.
Take the inspiration I provide and make your own Instructable from it. Everyone who participates will get a special patch!

This week's challenge is: Under Armor

Under armor is correct! These industrial intimates created by Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch are made out of all sorts of metals from recycled aluminum cans, stainless steel mesh, rivets, grommets, hooks, and more. For this challenge, fabricate your own garments out of found metals!

Once you've made your instructable, be sure to add it to the Check It Out! Challenge Group, so I'll know to give you a patch.

Previous Challenges :

Unique Clocks: I have seen some really unique clocks on instructables. I thought this clock make from a recycled bicycle could be inspiration to make some unique clocks from found objects.

Salvaged Barbie Doll Parts: This is one of the more unique re-purposed jewelry ideas that I have seen. At first I thought the faces and body parts were photos or maybe paintings. However, the interesting and comical compositions are created using Barbie parts! The Plastic Body Series designed by Margaux Lange is a jewelry line that combines salvaged Barbie doll parts with sterling silver and pigmented resins.

Create your own instructable that uses salvaged barbie doll parts in a unique way (doesn't have to be jewelry but can be!).

Transparent Trends: Watch your toast while its toasting! Super cool. For this challenge create a project/product transparent that is not normally transparent.

Wacky Memo Pads. I found these adorable fruit slice memo pads on gallery nucleus while looking for a gift exchange project. There are so many wacky memo pad possibilities!

Lego Jewelry by JacQueline Sanchez
I heard about this high-end lego jewelry from a woman I met at MakeSF event. I decided to check it out. It is beautiful jewelry but I'm a DIYer and I don't think I could shell out this kind of money for something I think I could make myself.

Peel-away wallpaper made by ZNAK as seen on dornob.com is still open. HINT: think shelf liner, vinyl contact paper, etc...

I can't wait to see what you make!

Step 6: Events

There are likely hundreds of events going on in your community. Meetup is a great resource for finding out about events put on by groups of people with similar interests. Upon moving to San Francisco I have used meetup to find events in the community. I made some friends out of it too!

Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design by Faythe Levine will be shown in the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco Sunday, September 05 from 2:00pm - 3:30pm. This is a documentary on the increasing popularity of DIY, crafting, and art. I haven't seen it yet but I am intrigued and plan on seeing it.