Instead of throwing away an old bed sheet, use it as a fresh canvas. Collect a variety of items that you can use to paint, such as spray bottles, shoe strings, old tennis balls, turkey basters and empty spice containers. Wash the bed sheet and the items. Spread out the sheet on the ground or attach it to the side of a building--use newspaper or a painting tarp to protect the wall. Put acrylic or water color paint in the different containers and apply the paint onto the sheet. Dip the tennis balls and shoe strings in the paint and toss them at the sheet.
Create an artistic bowl from recycled paper products. Take a bowl from your kitchen and cover it with plastic wrap. Turn it upside down. Rip up pieces and strips of paper from a brown paper bag. Dip the pieces into wallpaper paste or a papier-mâché paste such as Modge Podge. Press the pieces onto the bowl to form a layer. Form two more layers with pieces of newspaper, then apply the final layer with pieces from the brown paper bag. Let the bowl dry overnight and then remove the kitchen bowl from the papier-mâché cast. Decorate and paint your papier-mâché bowl and set it on display.
Turn an empty milk carton into a home for the birds. Wash and dry the carton, then glue or staple the top shut. You can paint the birdhouse your favorite color or rub brown paint on the carton with a cloth to resemble bark. Cut a large hole in one side of the carton so that the birds can enter and exit. Poke a piece of dowel rod into the carton below the hole to provide a place for birds to perch. Make another hole in the top of the carton and string twine through it to hang it from a tree.
Recycle a decorated T-shirt into a case for a throw pillow. Use a marker and a ruler to draw the dimensions of your pillow onto the T-shirt. Allow an extra 1-1/2 inch on each side for the seams. Cut out the two squares for your pillowcase from the front and back of the T-shirt. Pin them together with the right sides of the fabric facing each other. Sew three sides of the pillowcase shut. Turn the pillowcase right-side out and insert the pillow. Sew the remaining side shut or insert a zipper to close off the fourth side.