On a recent Saturday, reuse specialist Mary Elizabeth Cantú opened the doors to her nonprofit Spare Parts to share a versatile DIY holiday wreath recipe in keeping with her mantra: “Trash is the failure of the imagination.”

1. It might cause San Antonio native Joan Crawford to turn in her grave, but wire hangers form the foundation of this cruelty-free activity (sorry Mommie Dearest!). Leaving the hook intact, round out the edges to make a hoop. According to Cantú, this is great for your biceps and only requires the strength of a third-grader.

2. Wrap the hoop in plastic grocery bags, bubble wrap, wadded up newspaper (anything pliable, really) and follow with a layer of packing tape to hold everything in place.

3. Using a hot glue gun, we piled the day’s most coveted wreath with plastic dinosaurs, doll parts and action figures. But the sky is the limit with this step—proven by the crafty elves of Spare Parts (Shannon Gowen, Lauren Salguero, Laura Carter, Shirlene Harris, Gabriela Santiago and Eric Cavazos), who also built festive wreaths incorporating potato chip bags, recycled holiday cards, textbooks and leaves from the back yard.

Photos by Bryan Rindfuss