MORRISON – People throw things away every day without a second thought. A cracked frame. A busted screen door. Scraps of fabric.

Melissa Hull doesn’t look at those as trash. They’re treasures waiting to be discovered.

Hull inspires others to share that vision at her creative downtown Morrison do-it-yourself studio and craft business, Upcycle Junkie, which revolves around interactive crafting experiences. Customers can utilize her studio as a place where they can turn their ideas into creations, or get inspiration from Hull to find ways to give things a new lease on life.

For Hull, having an eye that can see the possibilities in pieces comes naturally, and she’s gotten pretty good at spotting it in others, too.

“I see other people come in and have this same spark, and I see others that do not,” Hull said. “You either have it or you don’t. It’s the eye.”

Upcycling is the practice of transforming materials into new, higher-value objects. The hobby has gained momentum nationwide attracting people who enjoy adding artistic and environmental value to materials that might otherwise be discarded. After eight years of owning a mobile upcycling studio, Hull opened her downtown shop in 2024. In addition to giving aspiring creators a place to flourish, Hull also offers weekly craft classes: one for adults and one for children.

Hull’s instinct to repurpose started early. As a kid, she watched Pee-Wee Herman roll a growing aluminum foil ball across the set of “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” on TV and decided to try it herself.

“I wanted to see how big I could make it,” Hull said. “In ‘Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,’ he had a foil ball. Every time he’d roll it in, it was huge! I’m half-Mexican and my mom likes to cook a lot, so she’d make hand-made enchiladas in the kitchen, and there would be foil to cover the pans of dozens of enchiladas. I’d roll up the foil and be like, ‘This is a lot of foil!’ I added and added and added to that until I was about 16 or 17.”

She doesn’t remember what happened to the foil ball after she stopped adding to it, but the lesson she learned from it stuck.

“It inspired me to use what I have and find unique ways to repurpose items,” Hull said. “It’s a matter of vision. I just don’t see an item and think there’s just one purpose. I see a lot of multiple purposes. If it’s broken, there are pieces that can be used.”

Hull moved to Morrison 12 years ago after meeting her husband, Peter Thompson. When she started Upcycle Junkie, Hull packed supplies into her truck and traveled to churches, schools, craft shows and people’s homes.

“I just packed everything in my truck and took it with me,” Hull said. “I’d load up a utility cart with wheels and haul tables, and that wound up being challenging. I went to craft shows. I loved talking and meeting with new people.”

Hull’s mobile setup eventually led to her brick-and-mortar business. The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Sauk Valley Community College helped her establish her LLC and provided guidance on how to start a business. It also gave her space to store materials waiting to be upcycled: Fabric, wood, old windows, screens, frames and broken antiques awaiting a spark of inspiration..

Open Studio sessions Hull offers — one where someone can rent and bring their own materials, or another where they can utilize materials she provides for an added nominal fee — invite people to bring unfinished projects and work at their own pace with limited guidance. One woman arrived with an 8-by-8 denim quilt top she had started 15 years earlier; four sessions later, it was finished, Hull said.

“That’s how I feel people learn best, because that’s how I learned,” Hull said. “I only need a couple of days in advance, and if there’s an open slot, you can book it.”

For the workshops, projects range from textured canvas art to preserved moss wall pieces and upcycled textiles. Seasonal themes and guest instructors rotate through the calendar. In February, classes included making clay flower frogs, layered canvas painting inspired by petals and ferns, upcycled wall hangings made from reclaimed fabrics, hand-stamped greeting cards, and preserved mixed moss wall art. Each workshop emphasized hands-on learning and the satisfaction of leaving with a finished piece.

Hull posts her monthly schedules on upcyclejunkie.com, where reservations can be booked. Open studio sessions also are booked there. Classes are posted the third week of the previous month for the following month.

“I think that crafting together creates community,” Hull said. “It’s really fun to see everyone participating, smiling and enjoying themselves. I like to provide something like that.”

The studio also hosts weekly Tuesday Kids Crafts, a drop-in program that allows children to create a project for a small fee without prior registration. For many families, it has become a midweek ritual.

“I make a sample for them, and the children see the sample, get inspired, see the items that I have to use for it, and I help them complete it,” Hull said. “I get a lot of regulars come in every week, and I’ve seen them get more creative and more open. There are children who come in who are very quiet and not outgoing, and by the end of it, they’re really spoken out.”

The studio also doubles as a small shop, featuring items from 13 different vendors who sell candles, soaps, leather goods, and handmade crafts. Displays are often built from upcycled furniture, and Hull has recently begun reselling vintage finds of her own, including church cookbooks.

For Hull, the joy of the space comes from watching ideas spread.

“It inspires more creation, and it also provides the space for people to do it, too,” she said. “I want people to come in here and create, and be a part of the community.”

In a world that moves fast and throws things away even faster, Upcycle Junkie slows the process down. It invites people to tap into their creative side and let the ideas flow, finding value in things where they might not have before.

For Hull, that sense of calming creativity is what everything in the studio ultimately leads back to. She’s in her dream job, she said, and enjoys sharing what she does, and having the community embrace it.

“Sometimes our minds need to be calmed, and there’s so much clutter that you just want to disengage from all of that,” Hull said. “So when you dive into creativity and art, no matter what medium, that’s all you’re think about. Sometimes our minds need rest, and I think that’s important — keep your hands busy, keep your minds busy, and in the end you create wonderful art.”

Upcycle Junkie, 121 East Main St. in Morrison, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Go to upcyclejunkie.com to explore class sessions and to register, or find it on Facebook for more information.