Reduce

As with books and special-occasion wear, if you really can't bring yourself to toss an old quilt, it's very important to store it correctly. Before storing linens, make sure they're clean and dry. If possible, keep them in cedar-lined closets or a cedar chest with mothballs or moth crystals if you can handle the smell. Not an option? Keep those blankets in sealed plastic containers. If you have limited space, get a vacuum bag like the SpaceBag available at most department stores. However you're storing them, check those comforters every few months to make sure they're doing OK. As always, keep them in a dry place.

Reuse

Old blankets make great beds for animals. Scruffy and Fluffy will be warm and cozy, and with your scent on the linens, they will feel as though you are always nearby.

Donate blankets that are still in good shape. Take them to a thrift store or find out from your local emergency services if there is a place to donate blankets that will be used in case of regional emergencies. Refugee and immigration aid organizations might take donations, too.

Old linens, especially sheets (even those annoying-to-fold fitted sheets), make great play forts. Give them to the kids with some rubber bands and let their imaginations run wild.

Remix

With Halloween just around the corner, you'll need all the loot containers you can find. Turn pillowcases into candy carriers. Along the same lines, ghost costumes never go out of style, and they're super easy.

Slipcovers can be expensive. Take old blankets and drape them over your couch to protect it from dog hair, apple juice or judgmental stares.

Feeling funky? Use different blankets in coordinating colors to wrap around individual cushions.

The Creation Care Committee of Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Blacksburg created a booklet encouraging church and community members to conserve. One of the suggestions was to refit old bed sheets as new pillow cases or bassinet mattress covers.

Got old blankets that are torn or discolored in places, but still full of memories? Cut a bunch of them up and sew together for a large-squared quilt that's something to be proud of.

Hanging quilts on the wall can be a great way to display your talents and spruce up a room -- especially if the landlord doesn't allow you to paint.

A group of women in Fincastle called the Rug Rats take old bed sheets and make them into rugs. They use them as welcoming gifts for newcomers at church.

Keep these great suggestions coming! Send us your ideas or questions throughout the series, and we'd love to hear about some junk that may not be on this list for future columns. E-mail jennie.tal@roanoke.com, call 981-3269 or check out our online forum at roanoke.com/entertainment.

Your turn

Here's a summary of suggestions from our creative readers:

After finishing a quilt top made from her son's old sports jerseys, Alice King of Cloverdale found a new use for the scraps from those old T-shirts. She knotted a few strips together and gave the result to her 7-month-old puppy -- she loved it!

Just FYI: Parents Leading Active Play will be selling gently used children's and adults' Halloween costumes and accessories Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Radford Farmers Market. Just another way to reuse!

We're back for Week Seven in our 10-part series intended to help get rid of junk in new and creative ways. This week's focus is on blankets. You don't really need them taking up space in the closet, nor do you need all those mismatched pillowcases, so let's get rid of them.