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Upcycle Old Jeans into A Cell Phone Charging Station

Up-cycle a pair of old jeans into a cell phone charging station to conquer the war with tangled cell phone charging cords once and for all! This a fun and easy DIY project which only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, and it’s so super-cute!

I have been on Weight Watchers since December. So I’ve lost 35 pounds and counting. However, that means I have a lot of jeans that no longer fit me. I love denim for its sturdiness and classic American appeal.

RELATED POST: Upcycled: 5 Easy Upcycles With Common Household Items

So, I decided to start a series of posts on how to up-cycle old jeans. This is the first post of the series. We also have a article about how to clean your cell phone by step!

I am using this as a cell phone charging station. However, it could also be used to organize mail or even hold keys near the door. I can think of several ways to utilize this organizer.

Up-cycled Old Jeans Project #1 – Cell Phone Charging Organizer

upcycle jeans
Up-cycle old jeans, don’t toss ’em!

Measure and cut the jeans

I started by measuring and cutting the denim. Firstly, lie the jeans flat with the front of the jeans facing down. Then measure across them from hip to hip and from waist to below the pocket. To determine how long a piece of wood I needed to cut. Remember you need about 1.25″ overlap to be able to staple the jeans to the back of the board. You want to “harvest” the back part of the jeans.

upcycle old jeans
Remember the old adage measure twice, cut once before you cut down the jeans.

Cut down the wood

Cut your wood to the correct length. For my project, I used a 17″ long 1″x8″ board. Yours will vary depending on the jeans size.

Drill holes into the back of the board

Use a paddle bit to bore two holes into the back of the board. Before you begin, loosely drape the piece of jeans over the board and mark approximately where you want to drill your holes. You want it to be towards the bottom part of the pockets. Look at the end of your cell phone charger to decide how large a hole you need to make.

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My husband was nice enough to drill holes so I could take photos.

After he drilled the holes, I took a piece of sandpaper and knocked down the rough edges around the newly bored holes so it wouldn’t catch the fabric or scratch up my walls.

Attach the fabric to the board

Place your fabric over the front of the board. Align the denim exactly how you want it. Make sure it’s in place straight. Then, carefully flip the board so that the pockets are facing a sturdy table and the back of the wood is up.

Use a staple gun to attach the denim to the board. Do this as though you are upholstering a chair seat. Pay attention as you go to make sure the fabric isn’t buckling or rippling or getting messy on the front side. Yes, you can carefully peek as you go!

Make a hanger on the back

I made a hanger out of picture hanging wire and staples. It seems to be sturdy enough so far! You can use proper picture hanging hardware if you prefer. I didn’t have any handy.

One final step

Slide your hand down into the pocket and carefully push out the front of the pocket. Cut a small slit in the fabric that’s still now touching the cord hole so you can feed the wire through. Be careful not to slice your fingers or the pocket!
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This was so easy and so much fun. It’s super cute and very useful. I am planning to use this in my new office when it’s ready for me to move in to!

This is the end result:

upcycle old jeans
So versatile! One cell phone in each pocket or you can keep a pen and pad handy in one pocket.

old jeans pin
 

Deborah
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