Old goods find new life at Magpie
They say one gal’s junk heap is another’s treasure— or something like that. If that’s the case, Magpie (416 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 617.623.3330) is a treasure chest, a glimmering Xanadu of would-be rubbish repurposed and reclaimed for the sole purpose of improving your accessory collection or coffee table. In addition to racks of T-shirts and a smattering of baby onesies for that punk-rocker-in-training nephew, you’ll find shelves crammed with clever crafts created by resourceful types. “Repurposing is a big part of the small-scale craft community,” says Leslie Dunn, a manager at Magpie. “I’m seeing more and more interesting stuff. There’s a big market for the raw material.”
A) Lock your photographs (yes, some of us still take real pictures) into the banks of your memory with picture frames rimmed with polished old bike chains ($38).
B) Circuit boards transmit information when they’re plugged in. Once they short out, the sturdy boards can have a long life span when they take on a new identity as bound book covers. Motherboard Gifts produces nifty three-ring binders ($26).
C) We love everything about vinyl — except tossing it into landfills. Crafters these days are taking the grooved material and transforming it into all things, well, groovy. One of Magpie’s owners, Dave Sakowski, reworks old LPs into neat bowls. Other innovative types turn them into coasters ($20), wrist cuffs ($30), and earrings ($14).
D) Those keys on your computer are used to make words and nothing else, right? Some crafters think outside the board. Check out the collection of reconfigured plastic squares. Wear your inner nerd proudly on your sleeve when you don a pair of letter key cufflinks ($20), or pick up dangling earrings ($10) and a matching pin ($8).
