Brainwaves weekly: home craft projects

When I discovered an elderly relative was having problems fastening his shirts, I had an idea. I stitched squares of Velcro to the opening of the shirt, spaced at the same intervals as the existing buttonholes. Now, the shirt looks just the same, but they no longer have to worry about fiddly buttons to fasten it.Andrea Illingworth, Runcorn, Cheshire

I had an old rusty garden lamp that needed sprucing up. I bought a cheap ball of garden twine, and used glue to secure one end of it to the lamp. Then I carefully wrapped it around the lamp to cover the rusty bits. When I'd finished, I popped some solar lights inside and hung it back in the garden. It's given it a new lease of life. Carol Calvert, Selby, N Yorks

I needed something to keep my two lively dogs Maisie and Ted entertained. I placed a mixture of cardboard tubes inside an old cardboard shoe box. Then, I popped treats inside some of the tubes. My dogs had great fun taking the tubes out and sniffing out their treats! Alison Balch, Strensall, N Yorks

When I didn't have any gift wrap for a present, I knew I had to get inventive. I wrapped the present in brown paper, then cut a picture out of an old calendar and stuck it to the front to add some decoration. My friend was chuffed with the wrapping paper and her gift too! Lizzie Chapman-Walker, Chalford, Glos

The nest of coffee tables in our living room was looking a bit the worse for wear after our kids Robyn, seven, and Georgia, four, had used them for colouring in. So I decided to give them a very special makeover. I painted them with chalk paint, then used acrylic pens to draw a magical tree with their favourite Disney characters on each one. The girls absolutely love their new tables.Karen Hobson, Gleadless, Sheffield