Crispina recycled rugs, clothes, toys

Based in Housatonic, Massachussetts, Crispina is all about the repurpose.  They take your beat-up denim jeans, t-shirts, your huddled sweaters yearning to be pillow shams.  They turn these cast-offs into Ragamuffin stuffed toys of the dog, rat, dinosaur and mystery "pot-belly" variety.  Every piece (in a similar way to Worn Again shoes) is utterly unique.

The rugs are a tad on the expensive side, although considering they're hand-made and available in a variety of colours, the value is good. Carpets are particularly important to be careful with since they're loaded, loaded, loaded with vile chemicals. If you must have one, either go with the ultra-cheap polypropylene variety (since polypropylene is as inert as plastic gets) or go with this kind of hand-made variety. [GT]