Dallas upcycle store turns trash into creative treasure

If you need yarn, sewing patterns, or amputated parts of dolls, you could get it new at a craft store or new-ish at Pegasus Creative Reuse in Dallas.

"It's just a treasure trove of stories in here," co-owner Dorothy Villarreal said, sorting through a box of donations.

"In here, you're kind of forced to explore, and it makes your synapses snap in a way that you couldn't exactly predict."

Villarreal and her fiancé, Ernesto Diaz Jr., opened Pegasus Creative Reuse in Dallas' Tyler Station to satisfy their creative needs and sustainability goals.

"I couldn't understand how, in a city this large, we didn't have more creative reuse centers," Villarreal said.

"They're just so great for the community and they're great for sustainability efforts."

"It would go into the landfills most likely," Diaz said of their donated inventory of ribbons, frames, pens, and patterns. "A lot of times people don't know what to do with this."

Some of the inventory is used. Some are new and never opened. All of it is waiting for someone to create a new life for it.

"Well, we have one world," Villarreal said. "While it's difficult for any one person to be able to address the issue of sustainability and to save the world, I think that each of us can do our part to contribute."

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, each person in the United States throws away an estimated 4.9 pounds of waste a day.

'It feels doubly exciting to be doing something that's good for the environment, for the planet, for the community, and also really good for your wallets," Villarreal said. "Because I'm a cheapskate!"

Prices reflect that. Most items are set prices for however many can fit in a small, medium, or large bag. Teachers shopping for classroom materials pay nothing.

"There's a place for everything and for everyone," Villarreal said. "And it makes my heart flutter!"